Manager, Strategy & Commercial Advisory

Key Responsibilities

• Lead assigned integrated planning workstreams, translating event objectives into coordinated functional plans with agreed milestones, owners, assumptions and dependencies.
• Work with functional leads to challenge planning gaps, align interfaces and resolve conflicting requirements, escalating decisions that need senior direction.
• Facilitate planning workshops and maintain clear records of actions, decisions, risks and issues, with accountable owners and follow-up.
• Develop practical governance and reporting arrangements that show progress, emerging constraints and the decisions needed to protect key milestones.
• Support readiness planning by agreeing evidence requirements, identifying gaps and coordinating corrective actions with the relevant teams.
• Venues:
• Contribute to venue operating models, business planning, feasibility assessments and benchmarking where these support event planning or wider advisory assignments.
• Sports:
• Contribute to strategy, governance and commercial advisory assignments across sport where required, while prioritising the integrated planning engagement.
• General responsibilities:
• Manage day-to-day relationships with assigned client stakeholders in English and Arabic, facilitate alignment across teams and escalate material decisions to the Director or engagement lead.
• Build and maintain Trivandi’s network across the Saudi sport, events and destination ecosystem
• Lead Arabic-language client deliverables and presentations, ensuring outputs meet local expectations for procurement, governance and presentation.
• Manage assigned consulting workstreams, including scope, workplans, resourcing, budgets, deliverable quality and deadlines, and coach junior colleagues through delivery.
• Support proposals, expressions of interest and RFP responses by developing relevant methodologies, workplans and credentials, with the level of responsibility agreed around client delivery priorities.
• Drive innovation and entrepreneurial thinking within the team, identifying new opportunities for growth and leading initiatives that expand Trivandi’s offerings and market presence.
• Drive collaboration across Trivandi’s global offices, fostering a cohesive and high-performing team environment.
• Mentor and develop junior team members, building the next generation of leaders within the Strategy & Commercial Advisory Team.
• Support the development of Saudi talent within the team, in line with Trivandi’s localisation commitments.
• Provide support to colleagues and to the wider business including central business operations, internal processes etc.
• Lead structured research and analysis to assess options, test assumptions and develop practical recommendations, using financial and commercial analysis where relevant to the planning question.
• Participate in marketing and communication activities related to business development initiatives

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Demonstrated experience planning a mega-event or comparable complex international event, with personal responsibility for coordinating multiple functions, milestones and dependencies.
• Strong strategy and advisory capability, demonstrated through structured problem-solving, research, options appraisal and recommendations that influenced a client or organising committee decision.
• Experience developing integrated workplans, facilitating planning workshops and maintaining clear governance, action and decision records.
• Ability to turn complex information into concise reports, executive presentations and practical planning tools; strong working skills in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Expo planning experience is strongly preferred, particularly in an organising committee, central planning or programme integration role. Relevant experience from other mega-events should also be considered.
• Management consultancy experience is desirable. Equivalent strategy and advisory capability developed within an organising committee, host organisation or delivery partner is also relevant.
• Saudi national strongly preferred (GCC nationals will also be considered), with fluent written and spoken Arabic and English.
• Highly numerate, with strong quantitative and conceptual problem-solving ability
• Demonstrated interest in major events and the ability to connect strategic objectives with practical delivery requirements.
• Self-directed, proactive and entrepreneurial
• Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to thrive in a team environment
• Strong interest in sports, entertainment, venues, strategy, finance and economics
• Able to work on international projects in different parts of the world, sometimes at short notice.
• Experience working with or for Saudi government entities, giga-projects or PIF-backed organisations.
• Strong understanding of Vision 2030, its Vision Realisation Programmes and the Kingdom’s sports and events sector.
• Familiarity with Saudi public-sector procurement processes (e.g. Etimad) is an advantage.

• Excellent team leadership skills with an open, friendly, and supportive style
• Excellent networking and relationship-building skills
• Communicate clearly and persuasively in writing and presentations, adapt messages to different audiences and work effectively across cultures and professional disciplines.
• Resilient, detailed, and creative.
• Be able to handle shifting demands.
• Self-motivated and resourceful.
• Loyal, displaying the highest levels of integrity and commitment.
• Flexible and adaptable in a dynamic company.
• You will also be able to travel both within the Kingdom, the wider GCC/MENA region and the UK as required.

Benefits