Business Development Manager

YAZ Media; Dubai; On-site; AED 100,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

YAZ Media is seeking a Business Development Manager to drive new revenue across UAE and GCC. You will open doors to consumer, retail, F&B, real estate, hospitality, enterprise, and government clients, and manage from first contact to signed retainers and projects.

You will work with Creative, Strategy, Production, and Account teams to craft pitches, negotiate terms, and measure performance against revenue targets. Fluency in English is required; Arabic is advantageous.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in business development or sales within a media, creative, advertising, digital, PR, or production agency in the UAE.

Responsibilities

• Prospect and build a balanced pipeline across UAE and GCC public and private sectors.
• Identify target accounts, map decision-makers, and run structured outreach.
• Generate opportunities through networking, referrals, events, LinkedIn, and relationships.
• Hit weekly activity standards for outreach, meetings, and opportunities created.
• Lead the commercial side of submissions: requirements, pricing, deadlines, and clarifications.
• Close deals into signed contracts, retainers, and handover to Account Management.

Skills

New business

Sales

Negotiation

Account management

Networking

Presentations

Proposal writing

Fluent English

Arabic advantage

Tools

HubSpot CRM

Job description

YAZ Media is a group of five specialist agencies: YAZ Creative, YAZ Social, YAZ Communications, YAZ Production and YAZ Technology. We help brands and institutions be understood by the people they serve, in their language, in their context and wherever attention lives today. Our clients range from growing businesses to Fortune 500 companies, UAE government entities and regional brands. Our briefs range from a single campaign to work that spans several disciplines at once. You'll work alongside strategists, creatives, producers, communications specialists and technologists who expect clear thinking, well-made work and ownership of what you deliver.

Role Overview

Company Overview

YAZ Media is a group of five specialist agencies: YAZ Creative, YAZ Social, YAZ Communications, YAZ Production and YAZ Technology. We help brands and institutions be understood by the people they serve, in their language, in their context and wherever attention lives today. Our clients range from growing businesses to Fortune 500 companies, UAE government entities and regional brands. Our briefs range from a single campaign to work that spans several disciplines at once. You'll work alongside strategists, creatives, producers, communications specialists and technologists who expect clear thinking, well-made work and ownership of what you deliver.

Role Overview

The Business Development Manager wins new revenue for YAZ Media. You will open doors across every sector we serve (consumer and lifestyle brands, retail, F\&B, real estate, hospitality, enterprise, and government entities) in the UAE and GCC, qualify the right opportunities, and close them into retainers and projects.

This is a hunter role with a number attached. You own your pipeline from first conversation to signed contract: prospecting, discovery, proposals, tenders, negotiation, and handover to Account Management. You will work directly with Creative, Strategy, Production, and Account teams to build pitches that win, and you will report pipeline and forecast weekly to leadership.

We are looking for someone with a real network of marketing and communications decision-makers across private and public sectors, who can sell direct to brands as well as through formal procurement, and who is comfortable being measured on closed revenue, not activity.

Key Responsibilities

1. Prospecting & Pipeline Generation

• Build a balanced, qualified pipeline across private-sector brands (consumer, retail, F\&B, real estate, hospitality, enterprise) and government and semi-government entities in the UAE and GCC.
• Identify target accounts, map decision-makers (marketing, communications, procurement), and run structured outreach.
• Generate opportunities through networking, referrals, events, LinkedIn, and existing relationships.
• Hit weekly activity standards for outreach, meetings, and new opportunities created.

2. Tenders, RFPs & Procurement

• Track and qualify tenders, RFPs, RFQs, and brand pitch invitations from private companies, enterprise procurement, and government portals.
• Make clear go or no-go recommendations based on fit, budget, competition, and win probability.
• Lead the commercial side of submissions: requirements, compliance, pricing, deadlines, and clarifications.
• Manage supplier registrations and vendor onboarding with target entities.

3. Consultative Selling & Proposal Development

• Run discovery meetings to understand client objectives, challenges, budgets, and decision process.
• Match client needs with the right combination of YAZ Media's capabilities across YAZ Creative, YAZ Social, YAZ Communications, YAZ Production and YAZ Technology.
• Brief Creative, Strategy, and Production teams with clear, complete inputs for proposals and pitches.
• Present proposals and capability decks confidently to senior stakeholders, in English and Arabic.

4. Negotiation & Closing

• Own pricing conversations and negotiations within approved commercial guidelines.
• Protect agency margin: scope clearly, price correctly, and avoid discounting to close.
• Close deals into signed contracts, purchase orders, and retainers.
• Handover every won deal to Account Management with full context: scope, commercials, stakeholders, and expectations.

5. Account Growth & Relationships

• Build long-term relationships with senior marketing, communications, and procurement stakeholders.
• Work with Account Management to identify upsell, cross-sell, and renewal opportunities in existing accounts.
• Represent YAZ Media at industry events, conferences, and government and business forums.

6. CRM, Forecasting & Reporting

• Keep HubSpot accurate and current: deals, stages, values, close dates, and next steps.
• Deliver a weekly pipeline review and monthly forecast to leadership.
• Track win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, and conversion by stage, and use the data to improve.
• Report market intelligence on competitors, pricing, and upcoming opportunities.

Experience & Skills

• 5+ years in business development or sales within a media, creative, advertising, digital, PR, or production agency in the UAE.
• Proven track record of closing new business and meeting or exceeding revenue targets. Be ready to share numbers.
• Experience closing private-sector brand deals directly, plus working knowledge of formal RFPs and tenders. Government and semi-government procurement experience is an advantage.
• Established network of marketing, communications, and procurement decision-makers in the UAE is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of agency services and commercial models: retainers, projects, scopes, and margins.
• Excellent presentation, negotiation, and written proposal skills.
• Fluent English. Arabic (written and spoken) is a strong advantage.
• Proficiency in HubSpot CRM or a similar platform.
• Based in the UAE with a valid UAE driving license.