Business Development Executive

Cognita; Dubai; On-site; AED 240,000 - 384,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita Asia Holdings Pte Ltd is expanding its centralised Sales Hub in Dubai, seeking a Sales Executive to guide prospective families from first enquiry through to application and enrolment with a premium, personal experience.

This role is a proactive, target-driven sales position requiring strong CRM skills and the ability to engage families from diverse backgrounds, coordinating with Admissions, Parent Experience, Marketing and leadership teams.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in sales, admissions, account management or relationship management.
• Strong track record of achieving commercial targets.
• Experience managing a sales pipeline in a CRM such as HubSpot, Salesforce or similar.
• Confidence on the phone and comfort handling a high volume of calls and follow-ups.

Responsibilities

• Own the journey for prospective families from enquiry to application and enrolment.
• Manage a high-volume pipeline across phone, email, WhatsApp and other channels.
• Qualify families by understanding relocation plans, educational needs, start dates and decision criteria.
• Hold consultative sales conversations that communicate each school's value and differentiators.
• Spot buying signals, handle objections and keep opportunities moving with disciplined follow-up.

Skills

Sales experience

CRM proficiency

Phone-based selling

Customer relationship

Multicultural communication

Tools

HubSpot

Salesforce

Job description

Cognita is a global family of over 90 schools across 21countries, with more than 100,000 students, 22,000 colleagues, 14 curricula and9 languages of instruction. Our strength lies in our diversity. There is nosingle model of a Cognita school because education is inherently local. Whenfamilies choose a school, they are making a deeply personal and community-baseddecision, and our schools reflect this.

What unites us is a shared ambition to deliver consistentlyhigh-quality education, alongside an exceptional experience for students andparents. We define this clearly through group-wide standards that articulatewhat “great” looks like, while allowing schools the freedom to express theirlocal identity.

We have recently launched a new vision and strategic plan.It is ambitious and sets a clear direction for the years ahead.

Job Overview

Cognita is growing its centralised Sales Hub in Dubai, andwe're looking for a Sales Executive to support prospectivefamilies considering our schools in Asia. You'll be the trusted first point ofcontact for families and guide them from first enquiry through to applicationand enrolment, with a premium, personal experience at every step.

This is not a traditional admissions administrator role. Itis a proactive, target-driven sales position for someone who thrives on pace,enjoys picking up the phone and takes real pride in converting genuine interestinto secured enrolments.

You'll work closely with school-based Admissions, ParentExperience, Marketing and leadership teams, so families get one seamlessjourney whether they first speak to the Dubai Hub or to the school directly.

What you'll do

• Own the journey forprospective families from enquiry to application and enrolment
• Manage a high-volumepipeline across phone, email, WhatsApp and other channels
• Qualify families byunderstanding their relocation plans, educational needs, preferred startdates and decision-making criteria
• Hold consultative salesconversations that clearly communicate each school's value and what setsit apart
• Spot buying signals,handle objections and keep opportunities moving with a disciplinedfollow-up cadence
• Prioritise high-intent,time-sensitive enquiries and support outbound campaigns, includingre-engaging historic enquiries and incomplete applications
• Consistently meetenrolment, conversion and activity targets
• Act as a trustedadviser, delivering a personalised, premium experience throughout theschool search
• Communicate confidentlywith families from a wide range of cultural backgrounds
• Respond within agreedservice levels and handle concerns calmly, taking ownership and escalatingwhere appropriate
• Build strong knowledgeof the schools you support so every conversation feels informed andauthentic

School partnership and admissions journey

• Coordinate with schoolteams to arrange tours, virtual meetings, assessments and other admissionsactivity
• Ensure clear, timelyhandovers between the Sales Hub and schools
• Build strongrelationships with school leadership, Admissions, Parent Experience andMarketing colleagues across Asia
• Support Open Days,events and recruitment activity, virtually or in person

CRM, data and continuous improvement

• Keep accurate,up-to-date records of every family interaction in the CRM
• Use dashboards andpipeline data to manage your performance and prioritise your activity
• Work to clear KPIs onresponse times, call activity, follow-up, pipeline progression, conversionand enrolments
• Share insight fromparent conversations with schools and Marketing, and contribute ideas tohelp shape the Asia Sales Hub as it grows

About you

Essential

• Proven experience insales, admissions, account management orrelationship management
• A strong track record ofachieving commercial targets
• Significant customerservice experience, ideally in a premium, high-touch environment
• Experience managing asales pipeline in a CRM such as HubSpot, Salesforce or similar
• Confidence on the phoneand comfort handling a high volume of calls and follow-ups
• Strong writtencommunication across email and digital channels
• Highly organised, ableto manage multiple families and priorities at once
• Culturally aware, withconfidence engaging international families
• Ability to workindependently while collaborating with teams across different locations
• Flexibility to workearly shifts, typically starting between 4:00am and 8:00am UAE time, tocover Singapore and wider Asian operating hours
• Experience ininternational schools or education admissions
• Knowledge of theSingapore or wider Asian education market

You must be…

• A self-starter withenergy, pace and genuine commercial drive
• Proactive andpersistent, while staying consultative and professional
• Motivated by targets andby seeing enquiries convert into enrolments
• Resilient,solutions-focused and ready to take ownership
• Detail-oriented,especially with CRM and pipeline data
• Collaborative and ableto build credibility with school and regional stakeholders
• A "go-getter"who treats every enquiry as an opportunity

Please note: this role supports Asian markets from Dubai,so early starts are an essential requirement. Some weekend working, schoolevents and international travel may also be required.

Cognita is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and expects the same from its employees. All new staff will be subject to detailed and enhanced pre-employment clearance, including identity checks, criminal background checks for all countries lived in, qualification checks, employment checks to include an exploration of any gaps in employment, and satisfactory reference checks for all employment in the last 10 years.