Group Head, Business Development and Strategy at Bridgemead Consulting

About the Role

• We are seeking an accomplished Group Head, Business Development and Strategy to develop the Conglomerate’s corporate strategy and convert Board-approved strategy into growth, market share, and margin across each of our Strategic Business Units (SBUs).
• Reporting to the Group Executive Director, Strategy & Business Development, the successful candidate will own the Group's business intelligence capability - market, customer, competitor, pricing, and demand data - as the single trusted evidence base for Board, Ex-Co, and SBU decision-making.
• The role holder will sit with each SBU Managing Director and Sales leadership on a monthly basis to review performance and agree growth and counter-competition actions.
• Will drive the Group's market expansion strategy across Nigeria, West Africa, and the wider African market.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the Group corporate strategy and Three-Year Plan with the GED-SBD, GCEO, Ex-Co, and the Board, facilitating the annual strategic planning cycle and ensuring every SBU plan is aligned to and traceable against approved Group strategy.
• Build and own the Group's business intelligence capability - a single trusted source of market, customer, competitor, pricing, and demand data - and design the commercial dashboards and reporting used by the Board, Ex-Co, and SBUs, including sizing and forecasting demand across steel, construction, mining, and energy markets.
• Track policy, tariffs, import substitution measures, macroeconomic, commodity, and FX trends, and translate them into commercial implications for each SBU, commissioning external market studies where internal capability is insufficient.
• Convene and run the monthly business review with each SBU's Managing Director, Business Manager, and Sales Head, interrogating variances to root cause, agreeing corrective actions with named owners and deadlines, and preparing the consolidated performance and growth report for Ex-Co and the Board.
• Develop with each SBU the growth, market acquisition, and penetration strategy - target customers, segments, channels, and conversion targets - and support major tenders, framework agreements, and strategic opportunities, including win-loss analysis.
• Develop and maintain the Group pricing framework, analysing price realization, discount governance, and price-volume trade-offs, and advise SBUs on competitive pricing position and the impact of input cost, FX, and energy movements on margin.
• Maintain a live competitor profile for each market - capacity, pricing, distribution, and competitive moves - identifying threats and attacks early and developing counter-strategy with the affected SBU.
• Produce and maintain the demand forecast by product, segment, channel, and geography, establishing a single agreed demand view for production, inventory, procurement, and sales, and building the annual market plan with each SBU.
• Develop the Group's geographic expansion strategy across Nigeria, West Africa, and priority African markets, including market entry plans, AfCFTA and ECOWAS opportunities, partner qualification, and export/FX coordination with Treasury and Finance.
• Identify and originate growth opportunities, maintain a structured opportunity pipeline, lead feasibility work, and prepare decision-ready business cases for Ex-Co, the Board, and the Board Investment Committee, handing over sanctioned transactions for execution and conducting post-implementation reviews.
• Translate approved strategy into a portfolio of strategic initiatives with named owners and milestones, maintaining the initiative dashboard, driving commercial optimization across SBUs, and tracking benefits realization against approved cases.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the business development, strategy, and business intelligence team, setting standards for analytical rigour and building capability in market analysis, pricing analytics, demand forecasting, and commercial modelling.

Requirements

• HND/B.Sc. in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Marketing, Engineering, or a related discipline; MBA or master's degree in a related field is an added advantage.
• Professional qualification such as ACA, ACCA, or CFA, and/or certification in business intelligence, data analytics, pricing, revenue management, project management, or corporate strategy, is an advantage.
• Minimum of 12-15 years' experience across corporate strategy, business development, commercial or sales management, business intelligence, or strategy consulting, including at least 5 years at senior management level.
• Demonstrable experience partnering with business unit leadership and sales teams on performance review, growth strategy, and market development.
• Proven experience in pricing strategy, margin analysis, competitor response, demand forecasting, and market share analysis in a competitive market.
• Experience originating opportunities through to Board-approved business cases, and preparing and defending strategy papers at board level.
• Experience within a holding company, conglomerate, or diversified industrial group, and within manufacturing, steel, mining, construction, infrastructure, or heavy industry, is highly desirable.
• Experience of export, regional, or cross-border market development in West Africa or the wider African market, and working knowledge of AfCFTA/ECOWAS trade arrangements, is desirable.

Required Competencies

• Structured Strategic Thinking
• Steel, Mining, and Construction Market Economics
• Advanced Analytical and Financial Modelling (Excel)
• Commercial Credibility and Business Partnering
• Sound Commercial Judgement
• Intellectual Honesty and Analytical Rigour
• Negotiation, Influencing, and Relationship-Building
• Board-Level Communication and Presentation
• Leadership and Team Development