Business Development Manager

About The Economist Group

Since 1843, The Economist Group has stood for independence, high-quality analysis, and openness, helping global audiences address critical world challenges. Today, as a media and information-services company driven by digital innovation and evidence-based insights, the group operates across three main divisions: The Economist, Economist Enterprise, and Economist Education, serving individuals and organisations in over 170 countries. The culture fosters ownership, creativity, high standards, and values curiosity and adaptability amongst colleagues.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) offers global research and analysis to assist leaders in making strategic decisions, covering over 200 countries. The Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN) is its executive briefing and networking arm providing C-suite insights for international firms to better understand macroeconomic and political environments.

Role Overview

This role focuses on advancing business development in the Gulf region, specifically targeting non-governmental and non-financial service sectors. It combines selling EIU’s research, data, economic intelligence solutions, and EICN’s executive memberships and engagement opportunities, targeting large companies and conglomerates.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end sales process from strategic account targeting to final deal closure.
• Gain an in-depth understanding of key non-governmental and non-financial organisations, including their ownership and subsidiary networks.
• Establish and nurture relationships across multiple departments within target accounts.
• Sell both data-driven subscriptions and executive C-suite memberships.

Success Factors

• Ability to map and navigate complex organisational structures and decision-making bodies.
• Translate geopolitical and macroeconomic developments into tangible business value.
• Manage prolonged consultative sales processes involving senior-level stakeholders.

Candidate Profile

• Proven B2B sales experience, ideally in SaaS, Data-as-a-Product, Information Services, or Consulting fields.
• Strong interest and knowledge of geopolitics and economics.
• Thorough understanding of the Middle East market dynamics, especially economic and geopolitical factors.
• Effective and polished communication skills suitable for high-level engagement.
• Experience cultivating trusted relationships with C-level executives.
• Capability to build pipelines, prospect effectively, and close business opportunities.
• Skill in simplifying complex data insights into actionable recommendations.
• Familiarity with data-driven offerings, analytics, and APIs—though deep technical expertise is not mandatory.
• Discipline in Salesforce usage and sales forecasting.
• Arabic language proficiency is advantageous.
• Based in the UAE with willingness to travel regionally as needed.

Work Setup

The position is primarily office-based with a hybrid working model requiring onsite attendance at least three days per week.

Additional Information

The company supports the responsible use of AI in job applications but expects accuracy and honesty regarding candidate information.

Benefits

• Competitive pension or 401(k) plans.
• Private health insurance coverage.
• Continuous access to 24/7 counselling and wellbeing support through an Employee Assistance Program.
• Flexibility with a Work From Anywhere policy allowing up to 25 days per year remote work from any legally authorized location.
• Generous annual and parental leave entitlements.
• Dedicated leave for volunteering and relocation.
• Complimentary access to all Economist content, including subscriptions, applications, and podcasts.