Mota-Engil Nigeria has appointed Sara Pinheiro as its new Head of Treasury.
Pinheiro transitions into the strategic finance position after more than a decade of commercial leadership, bringing experience across business development, strategic account management, negotiation and international markets to the role.
With a background in Law and academic qualifications in Management and Marketing, including an MBA in Marketing and a PhD in Business Development, Pinheiro has long been interested in how businesses operate, particularly the interplay between corporate governance, capital movements and financial decision-making. Her academic training, together with her legal background and extensive commercial experience, has given her a broad perspective on the strategic and commercial forces that shape businesses and influence their decision-making.
The appointment also represents a personal milestone for Pinheiro, who grew up in Portugal with Mota-Engil as a familiar name in engineering, construction and infrastructure. Joining the company in a Treasury leadership role is, for her, a full-circle moment.
“I spent years building my career in the commercial world, and now I’m stepping into Treasury, a completely different world. Or maybe not so different after all. The negotiation skills, commercial understanding, relationship building, pressure, decision-making and resilience I developed in Sales didn’t disappear. They came with me,” Pinheiro said.
Over the course of her career, Pinheiro has worked across commercial leadership, business development and international markets, developing experience in high-stakes negotiations, strategic relationships and business expansion.
In her new role, she will oversee key Treasury activities including liquidity management, cash-flow planning, financial risk management, capital allocation and banking relationships, supporting Mota-Engil Nigeria’s operations and infrastructure project portfolio.
Her move from commercial leadership into Treasury brings together two areas of business that are closely connected. The ability to negotiate, understand commercial risks, manage relationships and make decisions under pressure are skills that remain relevant when managing liquidity, financial risk and banking relationships.
For Pinheiro, the move is not about leaving her commercial career behind, but bringing the experience gained from it into a new area of the business.
“My commercial career taught me how to understand businesses from the market side. It taught me how to negotiate, manage relationships, deal with uncertainty and make decisions under pressure. Treasury gives me the opportunity to apply those skills while developing a deeper understanding of the financial side of the business,” she said.
The appointment marks a new chapter in Pinheiro’s career, bringing together her legal and academic background, more than a decade of commercial experience and her move into Treasury leadership at Mota-Engil Nigeria.