Strategic Airline Account Director - Digital Services Growth

Thales Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Thales Group is seeking an Account Director to own the strategic airline account in the UAE region. You will act as the customer advocate, coordinating across internal teams to ensure needs are understood and satisfied, and drive sustainable, profitable growth.

You will lead high-stakes negotiations, develop account plans, and expand digital and services offerings while building executive-level relationships across the region. Travel will be required to meet customer and market demands.

Qualifications

• Bachelor degree in business administration, marketing, sales, engineering, or related field; Master preferred.
• 15+ years in sales, key account management, or commercial roles within the airline or aviation industry.
• Direct, demonstrable experience with IFE, inflight connectivity, or onboard digital and passenger experience products.
• Ten or more years establishing and implementing account plans, roadmap, and strategy across internal and external strategies, contracts, budget, and objectives.
• Ten or more years in contract management associated with issue and litigation resolution and customer complaint management.
• Proven ownership of large, complex business-to-business accounts, including order intake in the tens of millions of US dollars.
• Track record of selling services, software, or connected solutions, not only hardware.
• Experience operating inside or selling to a major international airline with a complex, multi stakeholder decision structure.
• Proficient with CRM (Salesforce) and the Microsoft Office suite; excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Domestic and international travel required, up to 35 percent or more.

Responsibilities

• Owning and growing the account end to end against the account plan, delivering order intake and margin commitments.
• Leading complex commercial negotiations from opportunity through to signed contract, coordinating pricing, legal, product, and program teams to secure profitable outcomes.
• Driving the shift toward digital, connectivity, and value based services, converting recurring revenue and selling services opportunities beyond the installed hardware base.
• Developing new business with the existing customer and identifying areas of improvement to meet sales targets.
• Forecasting and tracking key account metrics, and working with marketing to establish effective support.
• Leading customer quarterly business reviews with stakeholders and executives.
• Maintaining inputs and updates in the CRM tool (Salesforce) as appropriate.

Skills

Strategic sales leadership

Key account management

Negotiation skills

CRM Salesforce

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor degree in business administration

Master degree preferred

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Office

Job description

Thales Group is seeking an Account Director to own the strategic airline account in the UAE region. You will act as the customer advocate, coordinating across internal teams to ensure needs are understood and satisfied, and drive sustainable, profitable growth.

You will lead high-stakes negotiations, develop account plans, and expand digital and services offerings while building executive-level relationships across the region. Travel will be required to meet customer and market demands.