Mota-Engil Nigeria has appointed Sara Pinheiro as its new head of treasury, bringing a commercial executive with more than a decade of experience in negotiations, business development and international markets into a role focused on cash, capital and financial risk.
Pinheiro’s appointment marks a shift from commercial leadership to a senior finance function as the Portuguese-owned engineering and construction company manages the financial demands of its operations and infrastructure projects in Nigeria.
In her new role, Pinheiro will oversee liquidity management, cash-flow planning, financial risk management, capital allocation and relationships with banks, according to the company.
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The move puts her experience in negotiating deals and managing strategic relationships at the centre of the company’s treasury operations.
“I spent years building my career in the commercial world, and now I am stepping into treasury, a completely different world. Or maybe not so different after all,” Pinheiro said.
She said the skills developed during her commercial career, including negotiation, relationship management, decision-making and resilience, would remain relevant in Treasury.
Treasury functions are critical for companies operating large infrastructure projects, where timing of cash flows, access to financing, currency exposure and relationships with financial institutions can affect the execution of projects.
Pinheiro joins the Treasury function with a background in law and academic qualifications in management and marketing, including an MBA in Marketing and a PhD in Business Development.
She has spent much of her career in commercial leadership, business development and international markets, working on strategic relationships, business expansion and high-value negotiations.
The appointment also brings together her legal and commercial background with a deeper focus on the financial side 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.
For Mota-Engil Nigeria, the appointment places an executive with commercial and relationship-management experience in a position responsible for managing the company’s financial flows and banking relationships.
Pinheiro grew up in Portugal, where Mota-Engil was a familiar name in engineering, construction and infrastructure. Her move into Treasury at the company represents a return to an organisation she had known since childhood, she said.
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Pinheiro’s new mandate therefore extends beyond traditional treasury administration, linking the company’s commercial experience with decisions on liquidity, capital and financial relationships.
The role gives her responsibility for managing one of the less visible but critical parts of an infrastructure business: ensuring that cash is available when needed while financial risks remain under control.
Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.
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