Business Development Manager - Airfreight

Job Summary: The Business Development Manager Airfreight is responsible for strategic and key account business development in the assigned region, with clear focus on AJEX Airfreight. The role drives profitable revenue growth by winning new customers and expanding existing accounts with domestic and international airfreight solutions, including express, consolidated and time-critical air cargo. In addition, the role actively sells the full AJEX portfolio (Network (parcel/last mile), FTL/PTL, Fulfillment, Life Sciences and Project logistics) to every customer to maximise share of wallet. This position is accountable for a defined monthly Airfreight revenue target as the core of the role, additional revenue from cross selling other AJEX business units on top, a healthy and fully documented CRM pipeline and the fast ramp up of new contracts. The role reports to the Regional Sales Manager and works closely with Operations, Solution Design, Pricing, Finance and Customer Service to deliver solutions that customers keep and expand.

Responsibilities

• Achieve and exceed the monthly Airfreight revenue target (focus product) and the agreed gross margin. Airfreight remains the primary focus of the role at all times.
• Generate additional revenue on top of the Airfreight target by cross selling the full AJEX portfolio (Network (parcel / last mile), FTL/PTL, Fulfillment, Life Science and Project logistics) into every new and existing customer, in close cooperation with the responsible business unit specialists.
• Identify, qualify and win new customers in the Airfreight segment, with focus on e-commerce, pharma and healthcare, automotive, industrial, oil and gas and high value retail customers.
• Develop airfreight solutions with Operations and carrier partners, including routing, capacity, transit times and customs handling.
• Build competitive and margin secure quotations based on current carrier rates; react to spot and tender requests within agreed lead times.
• Lead complex tenders and RFQs end to end, including solution design, commercial proposal and contract negotiation.
• Act as role model and mentor for Business Development Executives in the region; share best practices and support joint customer meetings.
• Develop existing accounts through regular business reviews, upselling and contract extensions; identify downtraders early and launch recovery plans.
• Win a minimum of 5 new customers per month; every new contract must generate first revenue within 7 days of signature and reach the expected revenue run rate within 3 weeks.
• Conduct a minimum of 5 joint customer visits per month together with Operations to secure solution quality, onboarding and retention.
• Record every visit, opportunity, quotation and contract in the CRM on the same day. The CRM is the single source of truth for pipeline, forecast and activity reporting.
• Present pipeline, forecast vs. target, downtraders, lost customers, new contracts and open contracts without revenue in the weekly team meeting and in the weekly 1:1 Jour Fixe.
• Apply the AJEX escalation rule: if there is no answer within 24 hours, escalate to the next position.
• Work closely with Finance and the Collection Team to ensure correct billing, credit terms and on time payment of own customers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain, Logistics or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years of B2B sales experience in logistics in KSA or the GCC, of which at least 3 years in Airfreight.
• Proven and verifiable portable revenue of at least SAR 600,000 per month in airfreight business that the candidate can realistically transfer to AJEX within 6 months of joining. Evidence required during selection: customer list, revenue history and references.
• Additional revenue from other logistics products (e.g. Network (parcel / last mile), FTL/PTL, Fulfillment, Life Science and Project logistics) is an advantage and comes on top of the Airfreight minimum.
• Strong knowledge of airfreight operations and economics: carrier capacity and rates, consolidation, charter, customs clearance (ZATCA), IATA regulations and dangerous goods requirements (IATA DGR).
• Proven track record of closing multi million SAR contracts and managing C level customer relationships.
• Existing, active decision maker relationships in the Saudi market; GCC / UAE network is an advantage.
• Strong negotiation, pricing and commercial skills with a clear understanding of logistics cost drivers and margin.
• Disciplined CRM user (Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, Zoho or similar); confident with Excel and Power BI reports.
• Fluent English; Arabic is a strong advantage.
• Valid Saudi driving license and willingness to travel within KSA and the GCC.
• Hunter mentality, high ownership, resilience and a strict follow up discipline. KEY SUCCESS MEASURES:
• Monthly Airfreight revenue vs. focus target.
• Monthly cross selling revenue from other AJEX business units (on top of the focus target).
• Number of new customers won per month (minimum 5).
• Time to first revenue (maximum 7 days) and time to expected run rate (maximum 3 weeks).
• Weighted pipeline coverage vs. monthly target.
• Forecast accuracy.
• Number of customer visits and joint visits with Operations (minimum 5 joint visits per month).
• Downtrader and lost customer rate within own portfolio.
• CRM compliance (same day updates, data completeness).
• Gross margin per account and DSO of own portfolio.
• Number and value of strategic accounts and tenders won.