The Senior Specialist – Business Development will support the commercial growth of Abu Dhabi Food Hub by identifying, developing and converting business opportunities across the UAE food ecosystem.
The role will focus on generating and managing a qualified commercial pipeline, identifying prospective tenants and strategic partners, engaging decision-makers, presenting the Company value proposition, coordinating site visits and commercial discussions, and supporting opportunities through to conversion.
The Senior Specialist will operate as a highly market-facing commercial resource, developing relationships with food traders, importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, F&V companies, FMCG businesses, HORECA/foodservice operators and other relevant market participants. The role will translate customer requirements into relevant solutions and coordinate internally with Operations, Finance, Legal, Marketing and others to progress opportunities.
The role will also provide market intelligence on customer demand, competitor activity, pricing, product categories and emerging opportunities, supporting the wider commercial strategy and tenant acquisition priorities.
The successful candidate will combine strong UAE food-market knowledge, commercial business-development experience, relationship-building capabilities, an established professional network and disciplined pipeline execution.
Core Responsibilities:
- Identify and develop new business opportunities aligned with the target sectors and commercial strategy.
- Build and maintain a qualified prospect pipeline across food trading, FMCG, F&V, wholesale, distribution, retail, HORECA and related businesses.
- Qualify prospects based on business fit, infrastructure requirements, product/category relevance, investment potential, timing and strategic value.
- Support the preparation and negotiation of commercial proposals, LOIs, booking forms and other relevant documentation.
- Coordinate prospect clients requirements with Operations, Finance, Legal, Marketing and other internal stakeholders.
- Support commercial events, trade missions, exhibitions, industry meetings and other lead-generation activities.
People Management Responsibilities:
- No direct people-management responsibility.
- Demonstrate positive teamwork and collaboration across ADFH members.
- Strategic Responsibilities:
- Support the development of ADFH as an active food trading ecosystem.
- Contribute market intelligence that helps shape ADFH's commercial strategies.
- Support the development of a diversified tenant mix capable of creating critical mass and increasing the attractiveness of ADFH ecosystem.
Educational and Technical Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Supply Chain, Food Business, Economics, Commerce or a related discipline.
- Relevant professional qualifications or sector experience may be considered in lieu of specific academic requirements where appropriate.
- Good knowledge of CRM and business-development tools.
- Good analytical and reporting skills.
- Ability to prepare and present commercial proposals and business cases.
Language Skills:
- Excellent English, both written and spoken.
- Arabic is advantageous.
- Additional languages relevant to the UAE food trading community are an advantage.
Years of Experience:
Approx 6-8 years of relevant professional experience, with exposure to the UAE food market.
Nature of Experience:
- Progressive experience in business development, commercial development, sales, key account management, leasing, food trading.
- Strong practical knowledge of the UAE food and FMCG ecosystem, preferably including F&V, wholesale, distribution, retail and/or HORECA/foodservice.
- Demonstrated experience identifying prospects, developing senior relationships, generating leads and converting opportunities.
- Proven ability to understand customer business models and translate a service infrastructure or proposition into relevant commercial value proposition.
- Experience in real estate, industrial/logistics, food hubs, marketplaces, free zones or B2B ecosystem development is advantageous.
- UAE market network and existing relationships within the food sector are highly desirable.
- Experience working cross-functionally with Operations, Finance, Legal and Marketing to close commercial opportunities is preferred.
