Commercial Partnerships Executive

M&C Saatchi Group is looking for a Commercial Partnerships Executive in Dubai to join the onsite, full-time team. The role centers on spotting, shaping and sealing sponsorship partnerships across sport and entertainment properties, blending proactive outreach with strategic thinking to drive revenue. If you’re energized by building opportunities and turning conversations into commercial deals, this could be a fit.

The company operates as a creative federation with a London base and roughly 2,500 employees across 23 countries. In the region, it runs local and global brands from offices in Abu Dhabi (opened in 2012), Dubai (2016) and Riyadh (2023). Brutal Simplicity of Thought guides the way work is done, emphasizing clear ideas that cut through noise.

This role suits someone who likes building networks, crafting persuasive partnership stories, and delivering practical results in the UAE market while managing the end-to-end sponsorship process.

Sponsorships in action

You’ll drive business development and partnerships by identifying potential collaborators across brands, agencies and rights holders, then engaging them through structured outreach and targeted conversations. You’ll cultivate a high-quality pipeline of commercial opportunities aligned to go-to-market strategies and shape compelling proposals that articulate value, differentiation and ROI. You’ll lead negotiations and help close deals, while overseeing the full lifecycle from prospecting to contracting and ongoing relationship management.

You’ll also contribute to go-to-market planning for rights holders and opportunities, bringing a solid grasp of sponsorship rights, asset packaging and commercial valuation. In addition, you’ll help shape partnership narratives that align brand objectives with the platforms offered by rights holders.

Maintaining a current understanding of the UAE and broader regional sport and entertainment sponsorship scene will be part of daily work. You’ll perform market research to spot trends, identify whitespace opportunities, and evaluate competitor activity to inform approach and strategy.

Building and sustaining strong relationships with clients, partners and internal stakeholders will be essential. You’ll act as a reliable commercial contact, ensure clear communication and dependable delivery, and offer informed recommendations on partnership strategy, positioning and execution.

When needed, you’ll support or oversee activation plans across digital, experiential and PR channels, ensuring activity aligns with rights and delivers maximum value for partners.

Actively growing a network within the sport and entertainment ecosystem, brands, rights holders and agencies, and representing the business at industry events will help generate leads and strengthen market presence.

Across all work, you’ll maintain a high level of care and attention to detail, ensuring outputs are client-ready and commercially robust. You’ll take ownership of pipeline development and delivery, balancing pace with precision so opportunities progress efficiently without sacrificing quality.

What you’ll need to bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Sports Management, or a related field
• 2+ years’ experience in business development, partnerships, or sponsorship within sport and/or entertainment
• Proven track record in generating leads, developing opportunities, and closing commercial deals
• Strong understanding of partnership rights, asset packaging, and activation mechanics
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
• Commercially astute, with a data-informed and strategic mindset
• Ability to operate independently while contributing to a high-performing team environment

Pay, perks and practical details

This is a full-time, on-site role based in Dubai, AE.

Standout steps for this role

Lead with your relevant experience, placing your sponsorship work front and center on your résumé, especially where you’ve built pipelines, generated leads and closed deals in sport or entertainment.

Demonstrate how you prove the must-have skills by citing clear examples of how you identified partners across brands, agencies and rights holders, built a robust pipeline, and delivered proposals that showed ROI.

Be ready to walk through a go-to-market plan you helped shape and a partnership narrative you created, including how activation across digital, experiential and PR channels was coordinated.

Ask a smart question about how the team prioritizes rights packaging in the UAE and how ROI is measured for sponsorship activations to understand how your work would be evaluated.