Business Support Manager

Job Purpose: An Exciting Opportunity to Join one of the leading travel &
Destination Management Companies in the UAE. Arabian Adventures, one of the
leading and award-winning Destination Management Companies (DMC) based in
Dubai, is seeking an experienced, innovative and results-driven Business
Support Manager to join our dynamic team. Arabian Adventures is a Destination
Management Company that's part of the Emirates Group with over ‎30 years of
experience in servicing our clients in our destination. Our outstanding
reputation for creativity and attention to detail has established us as the
top choice for many of the world's leading tour operators and international
clients. As a Business Support Manager, you will play an instrumental role in
leading our Business Support functions, which provide strategic and technical
support across the business, to enable the success and growth of Arabian
Adventure. In this high-impact role, you will lead and motivate a diverse team
of specialists in a fast-paced, multicultural environment to drive key
strategic and operational initiatives to improve efficiency, plan for growth
and provide insights that drive commercial decisions for the business. We are
looking for a natural leader with a proven track record in process
optimization and change management. The ideal candidate should have excellent
people and stakeholder management skills and the ability to influence at all
levels of the organization. Strong project management, analytical and problem-
solving skills are essential as is an in-depth understanding of lean business
processes. If you are an experienced Business Support Manager looking for your
next challenge, and you're passionate about continuous improvement,
innovation, enjoy complex problem solving, data-driven decision making and
developing people, then this is the opportunity for you. Develop and implement
the Business Support department long term plan in conjunction with internal
stakeholders, ensuring alignment with the overall DMC strategy. The job holder
is responsible for the successful delivery of the Business Support portfolio
which includes: - Management of Strategic cross-functional projects - Business
Improvement and Efficiency - Operational Forecasting & Planning - Data
analysis and Business Intelligence - Safety, Sustainability & Quality -
Training & Development The Job holder will have specialists leading each of
the verticals reporting directly to them. Business Improvement and Efficiency
- Drive the programme for delivery of strategic and cross-functional
initiatives to drive the long-term success and profitability of the DMC. -
Manage strategic projects across the DMC business units to drive productivity
and continuous improvement. - Maintain, update, and monitor the projects plan
to account for changing requirements of the business. Ensure completion of a
financially sound business cases to support all recommendations. - Conduct
regular benchmarking of DMC competitors (both locally and internationally) to
order to identify and recommend industry best practice improvements to safety,
resource utilisation, systems, processes and standards. Operational
Forecasting & Planning: - Accountable to deliver an effective resource
planning and rostering tools for the key Destination Management operational
resources, manpower and equipment. - Contribute to the long term and annual
budget planning process for operational resources in support of the agreed
business strategy. Data analysis and Business Intelligence - Ensure proper
architecture for data, perform assessment on all reporting requirements and
develop long term strategy for various reporting solutions. - Analyse data to
provide insights to support business decision-making for commercial and
operational teams. - Supervise efficient working of all Business Intelligence
projects and ensure appropriate tests are done to maintain data integrity.
Health & Safety, Sustainability & Quality: - Oversee the development and
ensure the implementation of HSE policies and procedures, and quality
assurance framework in line with the Group standards and policies. - Ensure
the implementation of environmental and sustainability projects and quality
assurance framework across Destination Management brands, with effective
monitoring of compliance. - Accountability for achieving and maintaining
accreditation from industry bodies. Training & Development - Oversee the
development and delivery of learning programs to a multicultural audience of
DMC employees which are aligned to the brands customer service standards and
product quality. - Assess training effectiveness via agreed metrics and
reporting.
Qualifications & Experience: Required Qualification: - Bachelor's or master's
degree (‎12+‎3). - Project Management qualification desirable. Required
Experience: - Work experience within travel industry in areas related to
operations efficiency, process improvement, and long-term resource planning. -
Experienced leader of people. - Demonstrated process improvement experience
and change management, experience in managing large projects with
accountability for implementation. - A proven capability to organise,
distribute and complete work within a multinational and multicultural
environment. Knowledge/Skills: - An established network within the UAE tourism
sector, along with a deep knowledge of the travel industry, including
competitor activities. - In depth knowledge of the functioning of all units
within a DM. - Strong analytical and problem solving skills. - Good creative
and lateral thinking skills. - Qualification on Lean, Six Sigma, and other
process mapping tools is preferred. - Strong knowledge of business improvement
processes. - Strong leadership skills and can work well as a team player. -
Self-motivated, highly organised, pro-active and flexible. - Excellent written
and verbal communication skills, with powerful ability to persuade and
influence people, and manage stakeholders, internally and externally, at all
levels. - Strong work ethic with a real commitment to continuous improvement.