Business Development Manager, Europe

Food People; Dubai; On-site; AED 298,000 - 469,000; Full time

Job summary

Food People is seeking a Business Development Manager, Europe, to drive growth across existing and new markets in the FMCG sector. You will own distributor relationships, expand market presence and guide profitable commercial initiatives across Europe.

Fluent English is essential, with additional European language skills advantageous. You will travel frequently to develop partnerships, negotiate terms, and ensure strong brand availability and performance in key territories.

Qualifications

• Extensive FMCG international business development experience.
• Proven ability to grow markets through distributor networks across Europe.
• Strong commercial acumen in volume, revenue and profitability.
• Excellent negotiation and partnership management skills.
• Willingness to travel frequently within Europe.

Responsibilities

• Own commercial performance across European markets and achieve volume and profitability goals.
• Develop and execute annual business plans for existing and new markets.
• Identify market opportunities, feasibility and route-to-market planning.
• Manage relationships with distributors, importers and customers to build partnerships.
• Lead pricing negotiations and distributor terms.
• Drive brand availability and visibility in priority markets.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain, Marketing, Trade Marketing and Finance to execute plans.
• Monitor market trends and competitor activity to identify growth opportunities.
• Possess international business development experience in FMCG, food/beverage preferred.
• Travel regularly across Europe as required.

Skills

Business development

Market expansion

Distributor management

Negotiation

Strategic planning

Forecasting

Leadership

Fluent English

Travel readiness

Job description

Food People is partnered with an established FMCG business and is looking for a Business Development Manager, Europe. This role will be responsible for growing the European business across existing and new markets, with a strong focus on distributor management, market expansion, and driving profitable commercial growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the commercial performance across European markets, ensuring volume, revenue and profitability objectives are achieved
• Develop and execute annual business plans across existing and new markets
• Identify and evaluate new market opportunities, including feasibility, market entry and route to market planning
• Manage and develop relationships with distributors, importers and key customers, ensuring strong commercial partnerships
• Lead commercial negotiations across pricing, distributor terms and annual business agreements
• Drive brand availability, visibility and penetration across priority European markets
• Work closely with Supply Chain, Marketing, Trade Marketing and Finance to ensure effective commercial execution
• Monitor market performance, competitor activity and customer trends to identify new opportunities for growth
• Must have strong international business development experience within the FMCG sector, ideally food or beverage
• Must have hands-on experience managing European markets and distributor-led businesses
• Strong understanding of international business operations, including import, export, logistics, and supply chain
• Demonstrated commercial and financial acumen, with experience managing volume, revenue, profitability and margins
• Proven experience managing distributors, ideally including appointing or replacing distributor partners
• Entrepreneurial and hands-on mindset, with the ability to operate effectively within a lean team and independently manage markets
• Fluent English is essential; Arabic or additional European language skills would be advantageous
• Must be willing to travel frequently across Europe