Chief Development Officer at Smartcity Plc

• We are seeking an accomplished and visionary Chief Development Officer (CDO) to establish and lead our Development Management Office (DMO), a strategic company-wide function responsible for the governance, coordination, technical oversight, and successful execution of our growing portfolio of real estate developments.
• Reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, the successful candidate will build and institutionalise a world-class Development Management Office that sets the standard for project governance, engineering excellence, contractor accountability, construction technology adoption, quality assurance, and delivery performance across multiple developments.
• This is not a conventional project management position. It is a senior executive appointment for a proven development leader with a distinguished track record of delivering complex, high-value real estate or infrastructure projects and leading multidisciplinary technical teams at scale.

Key Responsibilities

The Chief Development Officer will:

• Establish, lead, and continuously strengthen the Company's Development Management Office (DMO) as an enterprise-wide delivery and governance function.
• Provide executive oversight for multiple developments simultaneously, ensuring projects are delivered safely, on schedule, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.
• Lead project governance across engineering, quantity surveying, planning, quality assurance, HSE, procurement coordination, contractor management, and project controls.
• Design and implement project governance frameworks, delivery methodologies, reporting systems, technical standards, and operational policies.
• Exercise technical authority over contractor prequalification, project delivery reviews, change management, quality assurance, and payment certification.
• Monitor project performance, budgets, programme schedules, construction risks, and delivery milestones while providing strategic reporting to Executive Management and the Board.
• Drive the implementation of smart infrastructure solutions, including renewable energy systems, digital connectivity, intelligent access control, security technologies, EV infrastructure, and IoT-enabled developments.
• Champion the adoption of digital construction technologies including BIM, GIS, drone monitoring, digital project controls, performance dashboards, and construction analytics.
• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing multidisciplinary technical organisation capable of supporting an expanding development portfolio.
• Foster a culture of operational excellence, accountability, innovation, safety, and continuous improvement across all projects.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate must possess:

• A Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Architecture, Quantity Surveying, Project Management, or a related discipline.
• A Master's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Project Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
• A minimum of 15 years of progressive post-qualification experience, including at least 8 years in senior leadership or executive management overseeing large-scale real estate, mixed-use, industrial, township, or infrastructure developments.
• Demonstrable experience establishing or transforming project delivery organisations, project governance frameworks, or development management functions.
• Extensive experience managing complex development portfolios from concept through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover.
• Strong commercial and contractual expertise with a deep understanding of FIDIC, procurement strategies, contract administration, cost management, claims management, and risk mitigation.
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams comprising engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, planners, HSE professionals, contractors, consultants, and project managers.
• Practical experience implementing digital construction technologies such as BIM, GIS, project controls, ERP systems, digital dashboards, or similar platforms.
• Excellent executive leadership, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, decision-making, and strategic planning capabilities.
• Membership or registration with relevant professional bodies such as COREN, NSE, QSRBN, NIA, PMP, CIOB, RICS, or equivalent professional institutions.

What We Are Looking For

• We seek an executive who has earned credibility through successful project delivery and possesses the technical depth, commercial judgement, and leadership maturity required to build and lead a high-performing Development Management Office.
• The ideal candidate will have a reputation for execution excellence, uncompromising standards, disciplined governance, and the ability to deliver transformational developments while balancing quality, cost, programme, innovation, and stakeholder expectations.
• Candidates without substantial executive-level development leadership experience in complex real estate or infrastructure environments are unlikely to be competitive for this role.