Senior Business Planning Specialist

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Work pattern: Hybrid, with at least 3 days per week in office

Marsh is looking for a Senior Business Planning Specialist to join the Business and Client Services team in Dubai, reporting to the COO, IMEA.

This is a high-visibility role at the centre of the regional leadership agenda. The successful candidate will help translate strategic priorities into actionable plans, prepare executive-ready communications, and support the execution of operational priorities across the BCS function.

This role would suit someone who combines strong analytical capability with excellent communication skills and who is comfortable operating in a fast-moving, often unstructured environment with senior stakeholders across the region.

What You Will Do

• Partner closely with the COO, IMEA and wider BCS leadership to support strategic priorities and execution
• Translate leadership objectives into actionable plans, monitor progress, and highlight risks or dependencies
• Prepare executive-ready updates, presentations, and management reporting for senior leadership audiences
• Consolidate complex information and raw data into clear, concise, decision-oriented materials
• Analyse operational and performance trends across the regional BCS organisation
• Support communication and engagement across a large and diverse stakeholder group
• Work closely with business, finance, HR, and functional leaders across the region
• Support continuous improvement initiatives and broader execution priorities across BCS
  
  

What You Need To Have

• Bachelors degree
• Around 8-10 years of relevant professional experience
• Experience in business planning, strategy execution, business analysis, chief of staff, COO office, transformation, or a similar business-side role
• Strong analytical capability, including experience working with complex datasets
• Strong data visualisation and presentation skills, with the ability to create executive-ready materials
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to turn complex topics into clear, concise messages for senior stakeholders
• Confidence working with senior stakeholders across business and functional teams
• Strong organisational, planning, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to thrive in an environment where priorities can shift and work is not always highly structured
  
  

What Would Make You Stand Out

• Background in Big 4 advisory, especially strategy, operations, performance improvement, or business transformation
• Experience in multinational insurance, broking, banking, or wider financial services environments
• Experience supporting senior leadership with executive reporting, planning cadence, and cross-functional execution
• Experience in a complex regional or matrix environment
• Hands-on mindset with strong ownership and pace
• Strong skills in Power BI, advanced Excel, Tableau, or similar visualisation and reporting tools
  
  

What Is Less Likely To Fit

• Pure PMO, governance, or IT delivery backgrounds without broader business-side planning and communication ownership
• Pure finance or controllership profiles without strategic support and executive reporting responsibilities
  
  

Why join Marsh

Marsh is a global leader in risk, strategy, and people, helping clients across more than 130 countries navigate change and build confidence to thrive. This role offers the opportunity to work closely with regional leadership, shape strategic priorities, and play a meaningful role in the execution of the IMEA agenda.

Mercer is a business of Marsh (NYSE: MRSH), a global leader in risk, reinsurance and capital, people and investments, and management consulting, advising clients in 130 countries. With annual revenue of over $27 billion and more than 95,000 colleagues, Marsh helps build the confidence to thrive through the power of perspective. For more information about Mercer, visit mercer.com, or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

Marsh is committed to embracing a diverse, inclusive and flexible work environment. We aim to attract and retain the best people and embrace diversity of age, background, disability, ethnic origin, family duties, nationality, parental status, personal or social status, political affiliation, race, religion and beliefs, sex/gender, skin color, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Marsh is committed to hybrid work, which includes the flexibility of working remotely and the collaboration, connections and professional development benefits of working together in the office. All Marsh colleagues are expected to be in their local office or working onsite with clients at least three days per week. Office-based teams will identify at least one “anchor day” per week on which their full team will be together in person.

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