About the engagement
A 65+ year-old furnishing solutions provider — bespoke fabrics, tailoring, and fit-out across curtains, upholstery, soft furnishings, and furniture for both residential and hospitality clients — is evaluating a strategic re-entry into the Dubai market.
We are staffing 1 Manager and 1 junior analyst to lead the engagement end to end: from framing the study through to a board-ready go/no-go recommendation, partnering directly with the client’s CEO and senior advisors.
The work spans three connected workstreams:
UAE market-attractiveness study (at both market and company level)
Business plan with a full financial forecast and sizing of the capital requirements;
Internal cash-flow / FP&A tool for the CEO, with support to strengthen the in-house finance function over time.
What you’ll be doing
Lead the market entry study, starting by defining "need to believe" conditions and deal-killers for the UAE market.
Conduct primarily secondary research (with scalable options for primary outreach) to assess the mid-market gap and margin viability between IKEA and luxury tiers.
Build and pressure-test a full financial forecast and capital requirement sizing to validate the ~$500K initial entry budget.
Develop a dynamic cash-flow management tool for the General Partner to run day-to-day operations on a rolling 12–18 month basis.
Synthesize complex data into a board-ready recommendation and partner directly with the CEO and senior advisors.
What we’re looking for
Background in Top-tier Management Consulting (ex-MBB) or Investment Banking.
Proven experience executing market-entry/growth studies and assessing regional market attractiveness.
Exceptional financial modeling and FP&A capabilities, with the ability to build operational finance tools from scratch
Strong GCC market experience, specifically within the UAE/Dubai landscape.
Executive presence with demonstrated comfort advising and presenting directly to C-suite and board members.
Sector experience in furnishings, interiors, textiles, or retail would be ideal
Why Gratia is your next step
Designed for independent professionals who want the freedom of private practice with the support of a global community. We offer both part-time and full-time options.
Compensation is tailored to your tier and your evolving portfolio of expertise.
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Key team members
Ash Kalb
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