Chief Business Development & Operating Officer

The Purple Scripts

The Purple Scripts is an HR consulting and recruitment company that helps businesses identify, attract, and hire the right talent for their teams. We work closely with organizations to understand their staffing needs, develop targeted recruitment strategies, source and screen qualified candidates, and support the hiring process from start to finish. The goal is to make recruitment more efficient and effective while helping businesses build capable, reliable, and high-performing teams.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Chief Business Development & Operating Officer

Location: Lagos

Employment Type: Full-time

Job Purpose

• Set the company's growth direction and lead company-wide execution of that strategy, combining executive Business Development leadership with full operating accountability.
• The role secures strategic clients, partnerships, technologies and major opportunities, then ensures the organisation has the technical capability, people, systems, supply chain, capital discipline and delivery capacity to execute those commitments safely, reliably and profitably across Nigeria's oil and gas industry.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Formulate the company's multi-year growth and operating strategy and recommend priority clients, service lines, technologies, capability investments, partnership models and capacity requirements to the MD/CEO and Board.
• Translate market developments, client capital programmes, Nigerian regulatory direction, technology trends and competitive dynamics into clear decisions on where the company should invest, partner, build capability, scale or withdraw.
• Develop and maintain executive relationships with senior leaders of operators, NNPC-linked entities, indigenous independents, major contractors, OEMs, technology owners, financial/technical partners and other strategic stakeholders.
• Sponsor the company's largest and most strategic pursuits, ensuring executive alignment on client strategy, technical solution, differentiated value proposition, partner model, pricing posture, risk, working-capital exposure and negotiation position.
• Lead or oversee high-level commercial negotiations for strategic contracts, framework agreements, OEM representation, technology licences, consortiums, alliances and other market-entry arrangements.
• Shape OEM and partner structures with appropriate technical, legal, finance and operating support, ensuring clear responsibilities for territory, exclusivity, intellectual property, warranty, training, after-sales support, local capability and commercial economics.
• Set commercial policy and recommend acceptable pricing, return, credit, contracting, warranty and risk parameters for executive approval.
• Review the total opportunity portfolio and direct management attention toward high-value, executable opportunities with sufficient margin, strategic value and capacity to deliver.
• Ensure growth plans incorporate Nigerian Content as genuine operating capability, including local staffing, sourcing, service/fabrication capacity, training, technology transfer and sustainable partner development.
• Convert approved growth plans into an integrated operating model covering organisation, facilities, equipment, inventory, OEM support, supply chain, systems, people, working capital and capital requirements.
• Ensure operational readiness for approved service offerings, including relevant technology services, equipment supply, projects, BiSN/Wel-lok work, OCTG supply, wellhead procurement and other company-approved lines of business.
• Establish company-wide tender-to-delivery governance so that technical scope, pricing assumptions, commercial risk, HSE/quality requirements, Nigerian Content commitments, client obligations and resource needs are formally tested and handed over before mobilisation.
• Set project and service execution standards for planning, mobilisation, change control, technical assurance, reporting, acceptance, invoicing support, lessons learned and close-out.
• Own company-wide operational HSE, quality and risk-management performance and ensure leadership focus on prevention, learning, corrective action, compliance and business continuity.
• Lead supply-chain resilience, including strategic sourcing, supplier qualification, OEM performance, inventory policy, local/import sourcing choices, logistics contingencies and critical-spares planning.
• Evaluate and recommend investments in new technologies, local facilities, specialised equipment, inventory, digital systems and workforce capability based on strategic fit, commercial return, cash exposure and execution need.
• Work with the MD/CEO and Finance on operating budgets, capex, working-capital priorities, investment cases, inventory exposure and margin/cash protection across the portfolio.
• Review major contract and project performance, identify recurring causes of margin erosion, delay, quality failure, supplier underperformance or client dissatisfaction and direct corrective action.
• Ensure the company does not sell capacity, delivery dates or technical performance that it cannot credibly support, and intervene where a strategic pursuit creates unacceptable operational or financial exposure.
• Develop local technical capability and ensure OEM knowledge transfer, competence assurance, leadership succession and cross-training reduce dependence on single-source or expatriate expertise where practical.
• Strengthen management systems, dashboards, delegations, operating procedures and performance reviews so the company can scale without losing commercial or operational control.
• Chair or sponsor major business-development and operating reviews and intervene directly on strategic negotiations, critical projects, client escalations, supply-chain failures, incidents and business-continuity threats.
• Build senior commercial, technical and operational leadership depth, clarify spans of control and ensure performance management is linked to measurable growth, delivery, margin, cash, HSE and client outcomes.
• Present growth performance, strategic options, major pursuits, operating results, capacity constraints, capex needs and material risks to the MD/CEO and Board and recommend decisions requiring executive or Board approval.

Nigeria Oil & Gas Industry Responsibilities:

• Executive-level understanding of Nigeria's oil and gas commercial and operating environment, including upstream procurement, operator contracting models, indigenous participation, service-company economics, local-content requirements and working-capital realities.
• Strong understanding of the Petroleum Industry Act framework and how NUPRC, NCDMB and, where relevant, NMDPRA and other institutions affect investment, procurement, capability development and operating requirements.
• Strong senior network across Nigerian operators, contractors, OEMs, technology owners, service partners and relevant industry stakeholders.
• Ability to structure growth positions that are technically credible, compliant, commercially attractive, financeable and executable in Nigeria.
• Practical understanding of Nigerian Content capability development, OEM knowledge transfer, local workforce development and partner/subcontractor execution.
• Ability to lead a mixed portfolio of technology services, equipment supply and projects under demanding client, HSE, schedule, supply-chain and cash-flow conditions.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance Area

Measures / Indicators

Profitable growth

Sustainable order intake, revenue growth, operating profit and margin contribution against strategic and annual plans.

Strategic wins

Value and quality of major contracts, frameworks and partnerships secured in priority markets.

Portfolio quality

Revenue diversification, concentration risk, qualified long-term pipeline and balance of opportunities against delivery capacity.

Execution performance

Company-wide mobilisation, milestone delivery, client acceptance, close- Performance Area

Measures / Indicators

out and operating-margin performance.

Commercial governance

Quality of pricing, risk, contract and negotiation decisions and control of avoidable post-award exposure.

Working capital & returns

Cash conversion, inventory efficiency, capex discipline, mobilisation exposure and return on growth investments.

Partnership productivity

Market access, technical capability, commercial value and delivery reliability created through OEM, technology and consortium relationships.

New offerings

Commercial return, client adoption, pilot-to-contract conversion and repeat demand from new technologies and service lines.

HSE & quality

Safety, quality and compliance outcomes, including reduction in repeat events and timely corrective-action closure.

Supply-chain resilience

Reliability of OEMs, suppliers