Business Development Manager- Services

Role purpose and portfolio

New business and account planning

• Acquire new logos, develop account-specific approaches, and achieve assigned business-development and revenue targets.
• Research target accounts, decision-makers, business priorities, language needs, procurement structures, and potential opportunities.
• Create account plans, stakeholder maps, penetration strategies, and go-to-market approaches.
• Prospect through meetings, calls, email, LinkedIn, networking, events, referrals, and industry connections.
• Qualify opportunities and develop pipeline with Marketing, channel partners, and the broader partner ecosystem.

Selling, closing, and reporting

• Position relevant services and collaborate internally on tailored proposals, presentations, and commercial propositions.
• Own deal progression from prospecting and qualification through proposal, negotiation, and closure, directly or through partners.
• Pursue government-driven bids and RFPs, develop quantified ROI cases, and identify opportunities to broaden engagements.
• Maintain CRM records, report pipeline and forecasts, follow up on deals, improve conversion, and track win-back efforts.
• Coordinate commercial commitments and proposals with Production, Marketing, and other internal teams; ensure smooth implementation handoff.

Networking and market engagement

• Attend industry conferences, exhibitions, and relevant staffing and secondment job fairs to promote services and find prospects.
• Develop client relationships and conduct regular in-person meetings with local-market clients and stakeholders.

Experience and qualifications

• At least 8 years of experience in business development, new-business sales, or hunting roles.
• Demonstrated new-client acquisition, B2B deal closure, target-account management, and pipeline creation from zero.
• Good understanding of language and translation services and the challenges in relevant market sectors.
• A bachelor's degree in business management or a related field is preferable.
• Multi-product portfolio selling is a strong advantage; consulting experience is a plus.
• Agency experience, particularly in language services, localization, media, creative, marketing, content, or related B2B services, is highly preferred.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent prospecting, networking, negotiation, closing, account research, and business intelligence skills.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to translate client needs into relevant solutions.
• Strong communication, presentation, influencing, and resilience under pressure.
• Technical competencies include deals management, CRM and sales tools, proposal writing, bid/RFP management, and ROI/business case development.
• Behavioral competencies include adaptability, problem solving, initiative, teamwork, and working under pressure.

Tools, language, and travel

• Excellent proficiency with MS Office, Project, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint, and SharePoint.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Willingness to travel approximately 25–50% within the UAE, typically one or two business trips per month depending on business needs.