Venture Builder / Chairman's Specialist

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Proten International is an award-winning and leading international Human Resource and Management Consulting firm that provides a range of Advisory and Transformation solutions. Our focus is to align every organisation’s activities relating to People, Process and Technology closely with its business strategy and vision. Founded in 2011 in the United Kingdom, we have since expanded across Europe and Africa, serving clients across the public and private sectors and various industries including Banking, Oil and Gas, Insurance, Information Technology, Real Estate, Energy, FMCG, Manufacturing and many more. In 2015, we launched our Africa office in Lagos, Nigeria and have since provided a range of tailored solutions to various organisations. Our bespoke and innovative solutions cut across: Learning and Development, Recruitment and Talent Acquisition, Outsourcing / Managed Staffing, Enterprise Transformation, HR Advisory, and HR Technology

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Venture Builder / Chairman’s Specialist

Location: Lagos

Employment Type: Full-time

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly analytical, commercially minded and execution-oriented Venture Builder / Chairman’s Specialist to work directly with the Executive Chairman on new ventures, strategic initiatives and capital allocation. The role will take new business opportunities from initial idea through market research, commercial validation, financial modelling, pilot development and, where appropriate, launch. The successful candidate will work across opportunities spanning managed offices, workspace products, manufacturing and supply chain, new markets, strategic partnerships and other adjacent businesses. This is a hands-on venture-building role requiring the ability to move comfortably between analysis, strategic thinking and execution, while operating independently in highly ambiguous situations.

Responsibilities

New Venture Development:

• Evaluate new business and investment opportunities identified by the Executive Chairman.
• Develop business cases covering market opportunity, customer demand, competitive landscape, business model, unit economics, capital requirements and expected returns.
• Conduct market sizing, customer research and competitive analysis to assess commercial viability.
• Design and execute low-cost experiments and pilots to validate key business assumptions.
• Develop go-to-market and commercialization strategies for validated opportunities.
• Support new ventures through early-stage development and launch before transitioning them to dedicated operating leadership.
• Assess whether opportunities should be pursued, modified or discontinued based on evidence and commercial viability.

Strategic & Commercial Analysis:

• Build financial models covering unit economics, cash flow, working capital, ROIC and scenario analysis.
• Evaluate strategic alternatives including build, buy, partner, lease and manufacture options.
• Conduct industry benchmarking and commercial analysis to identify growth opportunities and risks.
• Prepare concise investment recommendations and decision materials for Chairman-level review.
• Conduct pre-mortems and identify key commercial, operational and financial risks.
• Translate complex analysis into clear, actionable recommendations.

Capital Allocation & Investment:

• Support the evaluation of major uses of Group capital across existing businesses, new ventures and strategic investments.
• Develop investment cases comparing opportunities based on expected returns, capital requirements, cash generation, scalability and risk.
• Track approved investments against their original investment thesis, milestones and expected outcomes.
• Monitor the performance of strategic investments and recommend whether additional capital should be deployed, an initiative modified or an investment discontinued.

Strategic Projects:

• Take ownership of high-priority strategic projects from definition through completion.
• Develop project plans, milestones, deliverables and measurable outcomes.
• Coordinate internal and external stakeholders required to execute approved initiatives.
• Identify and resolve execution roadblocks independently, escalating only matters requiring senior-level decisions.
• Monitor project performance and provide concise progress updates to the Executive Chairman.
• Ensure agreed decisions and strategic initiatives are translated into timely execution.

Partnerships & Business Development:

• Identify potential strategic partners, suppliers, manufacturers, investors and other relevant counterparties.
• Develop partnership structures, commercial proposals and business cases.
• Support commercial negotiations, due diligence and partnership execution.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant external stakeholders.
• Support Chairman-level business development activities relating to strategic ventures and partnerships.

Chairman Decision Support:

• Research and structure complex strategic questions for the Executive Chairman.
• Prepare concise decision memos covering recommendations, supporting evidence, economics, risks and alternatives.
• Maintain visibility across the Chairman’s portfolio of strategic initiatives.
• Follow through on Chairman-level decisions to ensure agreed actions are executed.
• Challenge assumptions and provide independent, evidence-based recommendations rather than simply validating existing views.

Initial Areas of Focus:

• The role will initially support initiatives across areas such as:

• Managed Offices / Workspace: Developing and scaling recurring managed-office and workspace models.

• Workspace Products: Commercialization, manufacturing strategy, economics and scaling of new workspace products.

• Vertical Integration: Evaluating manufacturing, procurement, sourcing and other opportunities to strengthen the value chain.

• New Markets: Assessing expansion opportunities across Nigeria, Africa and selected international markets.

• Strategic Investments: Evaluating opportunities to deploy Group and shareholder capital into new growth engines.

• The portfolio will evolve as opportunities are validated, launched, modified or discontinued.

Requirements

• Experience & Qualifications
• 6–10 years of relevant professional experience.
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is preferred:
• Venture building
• Management consulting
• Private equity or venture capital
• Investment banking
• Corporate strategy
• Product management
• Startup operations
• Real estate investment/development
• Entrepreneurship
• Demonstrated experience taking ambiguous business problems from analysis through execution.
• Proven experience developing financial models and commercial business cases.
• Experience managing cross-functional projects, launching new initiatives or developing new business opportunities.
• Strong undergraduate degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Engineering or a related discipline.
• MBA, finance qualification or relevant postgraduate degree is an advantage but not mandatory.

What This Role Is Not:

• This is not an Executive Assistant, administrative or routine project-coordination role.
• The role does not involve managing the Executive Chairman’s calendar, travel or routine administration.
• The role does not replace the Managing Director or assume responsibility for the day-to-day operations and P&L of the existing Projects business.
• The primary focus is on new ventures, strategic investments, capital allocation and Chairman-level strategic initiatives.

Application Closing Date

15th October, 2026.

Note: Only qualified candidates would be contacted.