Business Services Manager

About the Role

The Business Services Manager at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) leads and manages critical business services functions across NTI. Reporting directly to the Director, NTI Operations, this full-time role ensures the efficient execution of procurement, contracting, financial operations, and revenue-related processes. The incumbent will act as an operational enabler across NTI units, ensuring structured processes, strong financial controls, and consistent service delivery in alignment with KAUST policies and institutional governance standards. This position typically requires 5-10 years of relevant professional experience.

Procurement and Financial Operations

This role involves comprehensive oversight of procure-to-pay and financial processes within NTI, ensuring compliance and efficiency.

• Lead and oversee end-to-end procurement processes across NTI, adhering to KAUST procurement policies.
• Manage the full Procure-to-Pay lifecycle, including requisitions, purchase orders, contract coordination, invoice validation, and payment follow-up with central finance.
• Ensure proper documentation, approvals, and delegation of authority compliance for all procurement transactions.
• Provide guidance to NTI units on procurement procedures, contract structuring, and vendor engagement.
• Monitor procurement cycle timelines and identify opportunities for process optimization.
• Coordinate with central Procurement, Finance, and Legal teams for efficient execution of strategic and high-value procurements.
• Oversee NTI operational financial processes, including expense management, accrual coordination, and cost allocation.
• Ensure financial transactions are recorded accurately and in compliance with KAUST financial policies.
• Support budget planning and expenditure monitoring across NTI in collaboration with Finance Business Partners.
• Ensure proper cost center and WBS structure utilization within SAP.

Revenue and Vendor Management

The manager is responsible for overseeing revenue generation and managing vendor relationships to support NTI's strategic initiatives and commercial engagements.

• Oversee NTI revenue management processes in coordination with relevant NTI units and finance.
• Ensure appropriate revenue tracking, recognition alignment, and financial coding in SAP.
• Support the development of revenue reporting dashboards and performance monitoring.
• Coordinate milestone tracking and financial validation related to NTI projects and commercial engagements.
• Ensure alignment between operational delivery and revenue recognition principles.
• Oversee vendor onboarding, due diligence, and compliance documentation.
• Ensure contracts reflect appropriate payment terms, risk allocation, and financial safeguards.
• Coordinate with Legal, Procurement, and Finance to resolve contract-related operational issues.
• Monitor vendor performance from a financial and service delivery standpoint.

Governance, Compliance, and Risk Management

This role ensures robust adherence to institutional governance frameworks and proactive mitigation of operational, financial, and contractual risks.

• Ensure adherence to KAUST procurement and financial governance frameworks.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation across procurement and financial activities.
• Support internal and external audits and implement corrective actions where required.
• Proactively identify operational, financial, and contractual risks within NTI’s service model.
• Strengthen internal controls and ensure segregation of duties within the business services function.

Process Optimization and Continuous Improvement

The Business Services Manager drives efficiency and consistency across NTI through continuous process enhancement and standardization.

• Identify and implement improvements in NTI Business Services workflows.
• Collaborate with IT and Finance to enhance SAP usage and reporting capabilities.
• Standardize processes across NTI units to ensure consistency and control.
• Develop dashboards and performance metrics to track operational efficiency.

Required Experience

Candidates for this full-time Business Services Manager position should possess 7-10 years of relevant professional experience in managing business services functions, particularly in procurement, financial operations, and contract management within a complex institutional environment.