Senior Upstream Economics & Commercial Strategy Lead

The Senior Manager, Commercial & Economics will lead the economic evaluation, commercial structuring, and value optimisation across the upstream oil and gas portfolio of UCC Holding. The role supports investment decision-making across exploration, development, acquisitions, and portfolio management by delivering robust economic analysis, fiscal evaluation, and commercial strategies.

This position works closely with subsurface, development, finance, and executive leadership to ensure capital is allocated to advantaged opportunities that deliver sustainable returns while managing commercial and fiscal risks.

Key Responsibilities

1. Economic Evaluation & Investment Analysis

• Lead economic evaluations for exploration, development, and producing assets across a global upstream portfolio
• Build and maintain economic models to assess NPV, IRR, breakeven, cash flow, and value sensitivities
• Conduct scenario and risk analysis (price, cost, fiscal, schedule) to support investment decisions
• Support internal investment and sanction decisions (Concept Select, FID, portfolio reviews)
• Ensure economic assumptions align with planning, price decks, and capital allocation frameworks

2. Fiscal & Commercial Analysis

• Evaluate fiscal regimes, Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), concessions, royalties, and tax structures across jurisdictions worldwide
• Assess the impact of fiscal terms on project economics and identify opportunities for fiscal optimisation
• Support negotiations with governments, regulators, and partners on commercial and fiscal terms
  • Provide benchmarking of global fiscal regimes and competitiveness
• Support upstream portfolio management and capital prioritisation
• Conduct portfolio screening and ranking of investment opportunities based on value, risk, and strategic fit
• Identify opportunities for portfolio optimisation, divestments, farm-ins/farm outs, and acquisitions
• Provide commercial insights to corporate strategy and long-term planning.

4. Commercial Structuring & Partnerships

• Support commercial structuring of joint ventures, farm-ins, farm-outs, and strategic partnerships
  • Assess risk allocation and commercial frameworks across development projects, infrastructure, and asset transactions
• Provide commercial input into partner negotiations and joint operating agreements
• Evaluate commercial frameworks for new ventures, exploration, oil and gas developments, production and infrastructure
• Oversee the negotiation, drafting, and administration of contracts to ensure favourable terms and compliance
• Monitor global upstream oil and gas industry trends including oil and gas M&A, market dynamics, pricing, costs and competitor activity
• Provide strategic insights to senior management on market opportunities, risks, and investment trends
• Support business development teams in evaluating new exploration acreage and acquisitions

6. Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a key advisor to senior leadership on economic and commercial matters
• Lead and mentor commercial and economic analysts
• Work cross-functionally with subsurface, development, finance, and business development teams
• Present investment cases and portfolio recommendations to executive committees and board stakeholders Qualifications and Experience
• Degree in Economics, Finance, Petroleum Engineering, Geoscience, or related discipline Experience
• Minimum 10 years of experience in upstream oil and gas commercial, economics, or strategy roles
• Arabic language proficiency would be advantageous
• Experience across exploration, development, and producing asset economics
• Strong understanding of upstream commercial structures
• Experience supporting investment committees and major project sanctions Technical Skills
• Advanced economic modelling and valuation
• Portfolio optimisation and investment screening
• Risk and uncertainty analysis
• Strong commercial negotiation awareness Software
• Advanced Excel-based economic modelling
• Experience with industry datasets (e.g., Wood Mackenzie) Key Competencies
• Commercial acumen and value-focused decision-making
• Ability to integrate technical, financial and strategic perspectives
• Clear communication of complex analysis to senior stakeholders
• Strong collaboration across multidisciplinary teams