Commercial Director

Rotana Hotels; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Rotana Hotels is seeking a Director of Business Development/Commercial Director for Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas in Abu Dhabi. The role demands luxury sales leadership, deep relationships with travel consortia and agencies, and fluency in brand governance and commercial doctrine.

You will architect sales strategies across corporate, leisure, MICE, and UHNW segments, cultivate elite partnerships, and drive revenue velocity while maintaining brand integrity and premium positioning.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in luxury hotel sales.
• Strong relationships with travel consortia and agencies.
• Fluency in brand governance and commercial doctrine.

Responsibilities

• Architect and execute a sophisticated sales strategy across corporate, leisure, MICE, and ultra-high-net-worth segments.
• Cultivate elite travel consortia and agency relationships to secure preferred-partner status.
• Lead key GCC accounts and translate relationships into revenue velocity.
• Represent the property at luxury events and build a high-quality pipeline.
• Deliver production reporting aligned with brand scorecards.
• Engineer a pricing philosophy to protect rate integrity while maximizing yield.
• Forecast, segment, and manage distribution channels.
• Monitor rate parity and channel discipline.
• Provide strategic commercial insights in planning cycles.
• Collaborate on loyalty and CRM initiatives.

Skills

Luxury sales strategy

Key account management

Brand governance

GCC luxury networks

Revenue growth leadership

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