Key Account Manager – Business Development

Role overview

This position is a managerial role within the Sales function at Airtel Centre in Gurgaon. The person in this role will report to the Lead - Business Development & Airtel Digital Carrier Platform and will be responsible for expanding the company’s global wholesale voice business. The role is centered on finding new business opportunities, opening strategic carrier and operator accounts, negotiating commercial terms, and turning signed deals into active traffic and recurring revenue.

The job calls for a strong hunter profile with the ability to create pipelines, win new accounts, and work closely with pricing, routing, finance, operations, legal, and technical teams to move opportunities from prospecting to activation smoothly. The position also involves growing revenues from existing accounts through wholesale voice, IDD termination, Message Hub, ITFS, SMS Hub, and related portfolio solutions.

Key responsibilities

• Bring in new carrier, operator, and wholesale voice accounts across international markets.
• Grow revenue from existing customers through cross-selling and deeper account penetration.
• Support GR objectives and help improve net revenue from accounts through swaps and traded deals.
• Plan commercial actions to increase traffic volumes and minutes.
• Own the account-level P&L and manage destination costs to support Airtel’s retail outgoing cost and wholesale growth.
• Sell across multiple products such as wholesale voice, SMS Hub, ITFS, and other relevant services.
• Identify prospects, lead sales conversations, and convert opportunities into signed business.
• Work with internal teams to ensure Airtel wins the deal and the solution is implemented on time.
• Track competitor activity, prepare pricing inputs, and help shift business away from competitors.
• Share timely market intelligence and competitor updates with internal stakeholders.
• Build visibility for the Airtel brand in the assigned region.

Business development focus

• Target and qualify new wholesale voice customers, including carriers, mobile operators, international hubs, and telecom partners.
• Maintain a strong prospect pipeline by geography, traffic type, and strategic relevance.
• Prepare account acquisition plans for priority markets and named accounts.
• Drive outbound business development through direct outreach, referrals, networking, and industry events.
• Manage the complete sales process, including initial outreach, commercial negotiation, contracting, onboarding, and transfer to operations or account management where relevant.
• Build strong business cases for target accounts by evaluating traffic potential, margin opportunity, credit risk, and strategic value.
• Negotiate rates, interconnect terms, payment conditions, and service commitments in line with business goals.
• Coordinate feasibility and activation with pricing, routing, fraud, finance, legal, and technical teams.

Decision-making scope

• Make final decisions on matters assigned at the prime level, with accountability to management.
• Build account funnels, segment customers, and plan strategies to improve RMS in the region.
• Define product and service penetration plans for the region.
• Support decisions on destination cost management for the region.
• Participate jointly in pricing deviations, customer investment choices, and commercial support decisions.
• Contribute to expansion into new segments and the development of new regional partnerships.

Competencies needed

• Strong hunter orientation with high energy, urgency, and persistence.
• Sound commercial judgment and the ability to qualify deals in a disciplined way.
• Confidence in opening doors, earning trust quickly, and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Good understanding of industry and business nuances.
• Strong business acumen and customer-focused thinking.
• Ability to work across functions and with external partners.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with leadership potential.
• Global outlook and comfort working across cultures and time zones.
• Effective networking and interpersonal skills.

Education and experience

The role requires a BE or MBA qualification. Candidates should have at least 1 year of relevant experience in the industry or a related field.

Additional role details

Job level: Manager / Senior Manager. The role is part of the Sales function and is based at Airtel Centre. There are no direct or indirect subordinates reported for this position. Impact of the role is primarily on gross revenue through hunting and developing customer accounts to their full potential. The role has internal and external customer exposure with a fair mix of both.

Approvals

Reporting manager, Functional Head, Business HR, and C&B.

Additional note

Date mentioned in the source: 28-05-2026.