Business Development Manager- Services

Role purpose and scope

Acquisition and account planning

• Own new-logo acquisition within assigned markets, segments, and accounts and work toward business-development and revenue targets.
• Research target accounts, their business, services, footprint, growth plans, localization needs, providers, procurement, stakeholders, and potential pain points.
• Create account-specific penetration strategies, go-to-market plans, account plans, and stakeholder maps.
• Qualify opportunities rigorously, identifying decision-makers, influencers, buying centers, and entry points.

Prospecting and sales

• Prospect through in-person meetings, calls, email, LinkedIn, networking, events, referrals, and industry connections.
• Generate opportunities through structured prospecting, account-based marketing with Marketing, and channel and partner relationships.
• Develop tailored proposals and presentations, lead negotiations, and own opportunities through qualification, proposal, and closure.
• Position relevant services, quantify ROI and business cases, expand engagements, and pursue structured bids and RFPs, particularly government-driven.

Pipeline and collaboration

• Maintain current CRM records and provide visibility into pipeline value, forecasts, conversion rates, activities, and expected closures.
• Analyze pipeline performance, improve conversion approaches, follow up consistently, and track win-back efforts for lapsed or lost accounts.
• Coordinate with Production, Marketing, and other internal teams to ensure customized solutions and commercial commitments are deliverable.
• Support smooth handover from closed opportunity to implementation and account ownership.

Networking and engagement

• Attend industry conferences and events, including relevant staffing and secondment job fairs, to promote the organization and prospect from target lists.
• Conduct regular in-person meetings with local clients and stakeholders and maintain relationships, expectations, and satisfaction.

Experience and qualifications

• At least 8 years of business development, new-business sales, or hunting experience is required.
• A track record of acquiring clients, closing B2B deals, managing target accounts, and building pipeline from zero is required.
• Understanding of language and translation services and relevant market challenges is required.
• Multi-product or portfolio selling is advantageous; agency, staffing, LSP, and professional-services backgrounds are examples, and consulting is a plus.
• Agency experience in language services, localization, media, creative, marketing, content, or related B2B services is highly preferred.
• A bachelor's degree in business management or a related field is preferred.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent prospecting, networking, negotiation, closing, account research, business intelligence, and commercial skills are required.
• Strong communication, presentation, influencing, and client-needs translation skills are required.
• Excellent proficiency in MS Office Project, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, and SharePoint, and excellent spoken and written English are required.
• Behavioral competencies include adaptability, problem solving, initiative, teamwork, resilience, and working under pressure.
• Technical competencies include deals management, CRM and sales tools, proposal writing, bid/RFP management, and ROI and business-case development.

Travel

• The role requires willingness to travel approximately 25–50% in the UAE, typically one to two business trips per month depending on business needs.