Business Development Manager

Grant Thornton Abdulaal Bahrain is hiring on behalf of a highly respected client in Bahrain, offering a unique opportunity to lead business development efforts in the exhibitions and international events sector. This role is ideal for a dynamic professional with a strong understanding of global event trends, sales strategy, and stakeholder engagement.  Fluency in Arabic language with native level proficiency is mandatory.

The successful candidate will be responsible for driving the full sales cycle, from prospecting to post-event evaluation, and will play a key role in attracting international exhibitions to Bahrain. This position offers the chance to work closely with high-level stakeholders, represent Bahrain at global events, and contribute to the growth of the country's events industry in alignment with national strategic priorities.

Roles and responsibilities :

• Lead the end-to-end sales cycle for attracting first-time exhibitions and international events.
• Deliver on KPIs : revenue, sqm occupancy, conversion rate, event days, visitor impact.
• Map and analyse global business event trends and align with Bahrain's priority sectors.
• Build strategic pipelines of organizers and events.
• Coordinate with EDB, BTEA, Chamber, Customs, Immigration, etc. to remove market-entry barriers.
• Provide leadership in preparing high-quality proposals, negotiations, and contracts.
• Manage client relations from prospecting to post-event evaluation.
• Lead site inspections with international organisers.
• Ensure CRM usage, compliance, and accurate reporting.
• Represent the client at international exhibitions and sales missions.
• Support the Director of BD in planning, reporting, and capability building.

Education Qualification and additional skills :

Core Competencies :