Job Description

Roles & Responsibilities

The Role:
Analyst, Data Center Services & Infrastructure Middle East & Africa (MEA), 451 Research

The Team: 451 Research, a business unit of S&P Global Energy Horizons, is a leading independent technology research and advisory firm delivering data-driven insight on AI, Data Centers & Infrastructure, Enterprise IT, Cloud Services, Quantum and other emerging technologies. Our analysts deliver crucial, timely insights into market and competitive dynamics within emerging technology sectors and connect technology adoption signals with energy markets, infrastructure planning, and sustainability trends to support strategic decision-making across the digital economy.

The Data Center & Infrastructure Research team has been deeply involved with the data center market for over a decade. We produce both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the industry, providing insight into the companies active in the industry; their customers; trends impacting the industry and how the industry differs from city to city.

Responsibilities and Impact:

• Own market research from signal to story: Track, analyze, and publish research on Middle East datacenter services and infrastructure translating complex developments into clear, decision-ready insights for global clients.
• Build and protect data integrity: Maintain and enhance a proprietary datacenter database, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and timely updates across markets, cities, operators, and capacity indicators.
• Deliver country- and city-level intelligence: Provide qualitative and quantitative analysis on trends, constraints, and opportunities covering topics like supply pipelines, demand drivers, pricing signals, and ecosystem maturity.
• Follow the forces reshaping the sector: Monitor and explain the impact of energy management, sustainability, AI/IoT workloads, cloud services adoption, and government regulation on datacenter strategy and investment.
• Engage the market directly: Conduct outreach and interviews with operators, investors, cloud service providers, vendors, and enterprise buyers to validate findings and uncover what s happening between the lines.
• Power client engagements: Support consulting projects by gathering evidence, pressure-testing assumptions, and producing crisp deliverables that help clients make confident decisions.
• Bring insights to life: Contribute to webinars, briefings, and conferences helping shape external messaging and building your presence as an emerging regional datacenter expert.
• Collaborate across a global research engine: Partner with colleagues across research, data, and commercial teams to align coverage priorities and continuously improve how we serve clients.
• Stay ahead of MEA market dynamics: Maintain fluency in market and industry developments to anticipate customer needs and proactively surface new opportunities.

Desired Candidate Profile

Basic Required Qualifications:

• 1-3 years of relevant work experience; research, analysis, consulting, journalism, market intelligence, or a related field (datacenter exposure is a plus)
• Fluent English and Arabic (required); additional language capability is strongly valued for market coverage and relationship building.
• Undergraduate or graduate degree, either a writing/communications degree or liberal arts degree with an interest in technology, or a technical degree (math, science, engineering, MIS, IT) with a minor in writing.
• Excellent written and analytical skills.
• Ability/willingness to travel.
• The key to being a successful analyst is having an inquisitive nature; always looking to learn and explore.

• Commercially minded.
• Presentation and data visualization skills.
• Basic understanding of global power markets as it pertains to data center energy demand.