Business Development Manager

A newly established UAE holding company is building national-scale platforms across a diversified portfolio of strategic, high-growth sectors. It is now creating a world-class group marketing function, and this role sits at its commercial front line.

Your job: find, shape and land strategic opportunities across the group’s marketing, partnership and portfolio ecosystem, from first market signal through to a clean handover.

WHY THIS ROLE

• Multi-sector exposure – work across a portfolio of businesses and audiences, not a single brand.
• Build, don’t inherit – shape the BD pipeline, processes and tools of a function that is still taking form.
• Senior visibility – work alongside executives, portfolio leaders, government stakeholders and strategic partners.
• Real impact – pursue opportunities that build long-term economic capability for the UAE.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Spot the opportunities. Research sectors, markets and partners, set clear qualification criteria, and recommend whether to pursue, partner, monitor or decline.
• Build the case. Turn opportunities into sharp propositions, market assessments and business cases, pulling in Finance, Legal, portfolio companies and subject-matter experts.
• Win the pitch. Lead pitch decks, proposals and RFP responses, working with in-house storytelling and studio teams to make complex ideas persuasive.
• Run a tight pipeline. Own CRM discipline, run regular pipeline reviews, and track conversion, cycle time, value and win/loss reasons.
• Read the market. Track competitors, new market entrants, government priorities and sector shifts, using AI research tools responsibly and validating against credible sources.
• Connect the portfolio. Find opportunities that combine capabilities across portfolio companies, broker introductions, and hand over with clear ownership.

HOW SUCCESS IS MEASURED

• Qualified pipeline value and quality
• Conversion and win rates
• Speed to decision
• Business-case quality
• Pipeline accuracy
• Cross-portfolio opportunities created

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• 7-10 years in business development, strategy, partnerships, consulting, corporate development or B2B marketing.
• A proven track record of building propositions and business cases, and winning pitches.
• Sharp research skills and commercial judgement; confident with CRM, Excel and PowerPoint, and curious about AI tools.
• A clear communicator who can simplify complexity for senior audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree; a postgraduate or professional qualification is a plus.
• Fluent English; Arabic is desirable.
• UAE/GCC market and senior-stakeholder experience is a strong advantage.

Salt is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.