Commercial Director

Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas in Abu Dhabi seeks a Director of Business Development or Commercial Director to guide the property's commercial destiny. You will shape luxury sales strategy, cultivate elite partnerships, and drive revenue across corporate, leisure, MICE, and UHNW segments.

The role demands gravitas, global brand stewardship, and hands-on leadership with a track record in luxury hospitality partnerships, pricing discipline, and direct-channel optimization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing or related field (MBA a plus).
• Strong leadership and strategic planning capabilities.
• Excellent communication and negotiation abilities.
• Understanding of market dynamics and customer behavior.
• Thrives in a fast-paced, competitive environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect and execute a sophisticated luxury sales strategy across corporate, leisure, MICE, and UHNW segments.
• Cultivate elite travel consortia and agency networks to secure preferred-partner status.
• Manage key GCC and luxury-industry accounts to translate relationships into revenue.
• Represent the property at global luxury forums and build a high-quality demand pipeline.
• Deliver production reporting and benchmarking against brand scorecards.

Skills

Luxury sales strategy

Key account management

Leadership

Negotiation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration

Job description

Job Description
We are searching for a Director of Business Development or Commercial Director of exceptional commercial calibre to steward the destiny of Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas a beachfront sanctuary of architectural distinction on the shores of Saadiyat Island Rotana - Abu Dhabi. The successful candidate will possess a proven command of luxury sales strategy, deep-rooted relationships across the prestigious travel consortia and agency networks, and fluency within brand governance and commercial doctrine. This is an invitation to shape the commercial destiny of one of the region's most consequential addresses.

• Architect and execute a sophisticated sales strategy that converts the property's prestige into quantifiable commercial dominance across corporate, leisure, MICE, and ultra-high-net-worth segments
• Cultivate and steward relationships with elite travel consortia and agency networks — Virtuoso, Signature Travel Network, American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, Traveller Made, and Ensemble securing preferred-partner status and privileged allocation
• Command a portfolio of key accounts across GCC royalty, private aviation clientele, family offices, and luxury DMCs, translating relationships into revenue velocity
• Represent the property with gravitas at global luxury arenas ILTM Cannes, Arabian Travel Market, The Luxury Travel Exchange, and Virtuoso Travel Week cultivating a pipeline of discerning, high-yield demand
• Deliver production reporting with analytical sophistication, benchmarked against brand-wide performance scorecards.

Job Description
We are searching for a Director of Business Development or Commercial Director of exceptional commercial calibre to steward the destiny of Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas a beachfront sanctuary of architectural distinction on the shores of Saadiyat Island Rotana - Abu Dhabi. The successful candidate will possess a proven command of luxury sales strategy, deep-rooted relationships across the prestigious travel consortia and agency networks, and fluency within brand governance and commercial doctrine. This is an invitation to shape the commercial destiny of one of the region's most consequential addresses.

Sales-

• Architect and execute a sophisticated sales strategy that converts the property's prestige into quantifiable commercial dominance across corporate, leisure, MICE, and ultra-high-net-worth segments
• Cultivate and steward relationships with elite travel consortia and agency networks — Virtuoso, Signature Travel Network, American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, Traveller Made, and Ensemble securing preferred-partner status and privileged allocation
• Command a portfolio of key accounts across GCC royalty, private aviation clientele, family offices, and luxury DMCs, translating relationships into revenue velocity
• Represent the property with gravitas at global luxury arenas ILTM Cannes, Arabian Travel Market, The Luxury Travel Exchange, and Virtuoso Travel Week cultivating a pipeline of discerning, high-yield demand
• Deliver production reporting with analytical sophistication, benchmarked against brand-wide performance scorecards.

Marketing

• Champion the property's narrative as an architectural and experiential landmark; translating brand equity into a distinctly local expression of prestige
• Orchestrate campaigns in partnership with corporate marketing that command attention within luxury media, editorial, and influencer ecosystems
• Ensure absolute fidelity to brand identity, tone-of-voice, and visual language across every touchpoint — collateral, digital, and experiential
• Cultivate strategic alliances with luxury lifestyle publications, fashion houses, and cultural institutions to reinforce aspirational positioning
• Navigate corporate approval architecture with fluency, balancing creative ambition against governance discipline

Revenue

• Partner with the Revenue leadership function to engineer a pricing philosophy that protects rate integrity while maximizing yield across a discerning demand base
• Apply sophisticated forecasting, displacement, and segmentation methodologies consistent with corporate revenue management doctrine
• Safeguard rate parity and channel discipline across all owned, brand, and third-party distribution touchpoints
• Contribute incisive commercial intelligence to weekly strategy convenings and long-range business planning cycles
• Interrogate market data, competitive, seasonal, and macroeconomic to inform proactive, not reactive, commercial positioning

Channel Distribution-

• Curate the property's presence across brand.com, GDS, OTA, and wholesale architecture with an unwavering commitment to premium merchandising standards
• Drive strategic migration toward direct channels, in lockstep with global "book direct" doctrine and incentive frameworks
• Negotiate and onboard luxury-specific distribution partnerships including bespoke agency portals and private travel-designer platforms
• Monitor cost-of-sale and channel productivity with forensic attention, optimizing mix for margin and brand sanctity alike
• Liaise with corporate distribution architects on emergent platforms and evolving luxury booking behaviors

Loyalty

• Champion the brand's loyalty ecosystem as an instrument of guest intimacy — elevating recognition into genuine relationship equity
• Instill loyalty protocol and elite-tier servicing discipline across sales and front-line teams, ensuring recognition is felt, not merely administered
• Harness loyalty and CRM data with analytical curiosity to sharpen targeting and personalization at the property level
• Collaborate on cross-industry loyalty alliances — private aviation, luxury automotive, and premium card partnerships — to deepen member value
• Report enrolment and engagement metrics with precision against global brand scorecards

Skills

The successful candidate will possess a proven command of luxury sales strategy, deep-rooted relationships across the prestigious travel consortia and agency networks, and fluency within brand governance and commercial doctrine. This is an invitation to shape the commercial destiny of one of the region's most consequential addresses.

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, or a related field; MBA is a plus.
• Strong leadership and strategic planning skills.
• Excellent communication and negotiation abilities.
• Understanding of market dynamics and customer behavior.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced and competitive environment.