Regional Director Airline Distribution - Middle East

This is an exciting opportunity for a Regional Director to develop, enhance and support relationships with Sabre’s airline distribution customers in the Middle East. This position will be reporting into the Vice President Airline Distribution, EMEA and will be responsible for developing strong and collaborative relationships with some key airline customers in this region and developing a solid business in line with the regional targets. In this role you will work closely with the VP Airline Distribution, EMEA, the other Regional Directors, the Technical Account Management team and the Finance and Contracting teams. Additionally, given the strategic nature of the role, you will have frequent exposure to the Sabre senior executive team.

General Description

• Represent Sabre by directing one-on-one relationships with key client executives.
• Work with the VP Airline Distribution EMEA to define the strategy for the region and the approach/objectives for the key deals
• Meeting with airline customers in the region to understand their strategy, business needs and objectives and developing plans to support such customer needs through Sabre products & services and dedicated initiatives.
• Monitor customer performance and advise on the performance of their sales via the Sabre channel
• Coordinate across different organizations within Sabre: marketing, agency sales and operations teams to drive customer performance in the region
• Work closely with the EMEA Agency Sales and Account Management teams to ensure a coordinated approach to the customers and design distribution agreements that are supportive of the Agency business growth objectives, while at the same time delivering or exceeding the financials outlined in the airline distribution Plan / Multi-Year-Outlook (MYO).
• Prepare/hold periodic business review meetings with at least all the key customers in the region.
• Use complex data to understand and advise customers on the performance of their sales via the Sabre GDS.
• Negotiate contract terms for new participating airlines in the GDS and for renewals of existing agreements that deliver or exceed the financials set out in Plan / MYO; sell GDS products and services and optimize commercial agreements to improve the quality of the airline content as per the objectives defined by the VP Airline Distribution, EMEA. Drive new commercial initiatives to meet company and customer specific objectives objectives.
• Develop and nurture strong customer relations at different levels (executive and managerial) to become a trusted advisor of customers in the region. Coordinate with various functional teams within the company to ensure customer requests are handled appropriately and in a timely manner while operating within broader latitude for decisions and actions.
• This position has the authority to substantially affect the relationship between Sabre and its customers, both from a financial, product and relationship standpoint.
• This role is recognized as a subject matter expert by internal and external peers and will help Sabre to develop compelling strategies to grow the business.
  

Job Requirements

• Educated to BSc degree or equivalent level.
• Three years of relevant experience is a must.
• Possess domain experience in the airline industry, with a focus on distribution and sales strategy.
• Proven track record of successful client service across multiple geographies and cultures.
• Excellent English oral and written skills.
• Extensive commercial experience working in a fast paced, matrixed and decentralized organization
• Advanced internal and external customer relationship-building and negotiation skills.
• Ability to simultaneously handle multiple initiatives and activities.
• A self-starter who is highly motivated.