Senior Business Development Manager - Health Insurance (SME & Retail) - UAE

Job purpose:Lead and manage GIG Gulf’s SME and Retail business across assigned key broker relationships, with accountability for new business production, renewal retention, portfolio performance and profitable growth.The role is responsible for developing and strengthening strategic relationships with key brokers, identifying and converting new business opportunities, protecting and growing existing portfolios and ensuring a high standard of commercial and client servicing.Working closely with Underwriting, Claims, Operations and other internal stakeholders, the role will ensure that the needs of key brokers and their clients are effectively understood and translated into competitive, sustainable and commercially viable solutions.The role will act as a senior commercial representative of GIG Gulf with key brokers, driving engagement, supporting complex opportunities and ensuring delivery against agreed business and profitability objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Business ResponsibilitiesBusiness Growth & Production: Lead the profitable growth of GIG Gulf’s SME and Retail business through the UAE broker channel, with accountability for New Business, Renewal, premium, retention and profitability targets.Business Development Strategy: Develop and execute the SME and Retail commercial strategy aligned with business objectives, market opportunities and appetite.Broker Relationship Management: Build and strengthen relationships with key brokers and intermediaries, increasing GIG Gulf’s share of wallet, engagement and portfolio contribution.Broker Segmentation & Development: Establish and implement a broker segmentation and engagement approach based on current and potential business value.Team Leadership: Lead and develop the Business Development and Validation teams, setting clear objectives and building a high-performance, commercially focused culture.Sales & Distribution Excellence: Drive excellence across the UAE broker distribution channel, ensuring products, propositions, service capabilities and digital solutions are effectively positioned and adopted.Renewal & Retention: Drive a proactive renewal and retention strategy in partnership with Underwriting and key stakeholders, maximizing profitable retention.Broker & Client Experience: Ensure a seamless broker and client experience across the end-to-end journey, with a focus on key relationships.Market & Business Development: Identify market trends, competitor activity, broker needs and business opportunities, translating insights into commercial actions that support growth.Performance Management: Monitor key business indicators including production, conversion, retention, profitability, pipeline and broker performance, taking corrective action where required.Strategic Planning & Financial Contribution: Contribute to annual planning, budgeting and forecasting, ensuring growth ambitions are aligned with profitability objectives.Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with Underwriting, Operations, Claims, Finance, Credit Control, IT, Marketing and other functions to support delivery of the SME and Retail strategy.Strategic Initiatives: Lead initiatives that strengthen the SME and Retail proposition, enhance broker engagement and improve distribution capabilities and operational efficiency.Operational & Technical ResponsibilitiesPipeline Management: Maintain oversight of the sales pipeline, ensuring opportunities, quotations and renewals are actively managed to maximize conversion.Pricing & Underwriting Coordination: Work closely with Underwriting and Pricing teams to ensure commercial decisions align with underwriting appetite, pricing strategy and profitability objectives.Portfolio Management: Monitor portfolio performance, identifying trends in production, retention, claims, profitability and broker performance, and taking appropriate action.Sales Process & Controls: Ensure adherence to sales processes, governance requirements and operational standards across the Business Development and Validation teams.Quotation & Conversion Management: Oversee the quality and effectiveness of the quotation process, improving turnaround times and conversion rates.Broker Servicing Standards: Establish and monitor broker service standards, ensuring commitments are delivered and issues are resolved promptly.Performance & KPI Management: Establish KPIs for the Business Development and Validation teams, regularly reviewing performance and taking corrective action as needed.Data & Business Reporting: Ensure accurate reporting of production, pipeline, renewal, retention, conversion and portfolio performance.Process Improvement: Identify opportunities to improve SME and Retail processes, systems and workflows across quotation, validation, policy issuance and broker servicing.Digital & Platform Adoption: Drive adoption of digital quotation platforms and technology solutions within the broker channel to improve efficiency and ease of doing business.Broker & Market Feedback: Establish a structured approach to collecting broker feedback and market intelligence, translating insights into improvements in products, pricing, processes and service.Regulatory & Compliance: Ensure activities are conducted in accordance with UAE regulatory requirements, company policies, governance standards and delegated authorities.Risk & Escalation Management: Identify and escalate commercial, operational and portfolio risks, ensuring timely corrective action.People Development: Coach and develop team members through regular feedback, performance management and career development support.Continuous Improvement: Review performance and processes regularly, implementing actions to improve growth, profitability, service quality and operational effectiveness.Role Requirements:Professional Experience: Proven track record of success in business development, sales and/or distribution within the insurance industry, with demonstrated ability to deliver against ambitious commercial and financial targets.Leadership Experience: Proven experience in leading, developing and motivating commercial teams, with the ability to drive performance, accountability and collaboration across functions.Insurance Market Expertise: Strong and in-depth understanding of the UAE insurance market, particularly the SME and Retail Medical segments, including market dynamics, distribution models, competitive landscape and evolving customer and broker needs.Product & Technical Knowledge: Strong understanding of Medical insurance products, benefits, pricing considerations, underwriting principles, portfolio management and the factors that influence profitability and retention.Broker & Intermediary Expertise: Extensive experience managing and developing broker relationships, with a strong understanding of broker needs, commercial dynamics, distribution strategies and approaches to increasing share of wallet.Commercial Acumen: Strong understanding of the key commercial drivers of an insurance portfolio, including premium growth, new business, retention, conversion, pricing, claims performance and profitability.Market & Strategic Insight: Ability to understand macroeconomic, regulatory and market developments and translate their potential impact into actionable business and distribution strategies.Customer & Broker Centricity: Deep understanding of evolving broker and customer needs and the ability to translate these into improvements across product proposition, pricing, service delivery, distribution and overall customer experience.Strategic & Analytical Capability: Strong business planning, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data and market insights to identify opportunities, assess risks and make informed commercial decisions.Regulatory Knowledge: Strong understanding of UAE insurance regulations and their implications for SME and Retail business, distribution and broker relationships.Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Business, Insurance, Finance, Economics or a related discipline. A Master’s degree or relevant professional qualification is preferred.About GIG Gulf:GIG Gulf is part of the Gulf Insurance Group (GIG), the #1 largest regional composite insurer in the Middle East and North Africa, with presence in 13 markets including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Turkey. GIG Group reported consolidated assets of US$ 3.83 billion and $69 million net profit for the year 2023. The majority shareholder of GIG Group is Toronto based Fairfax Financia Holding, a global leader in insurance and reinsurance with a presence in 40 markets.GIG Gulf is an ‘A’ rated regional insurer with a top 5 position in each of its markets (UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain). GIG Gulf has been present in the region for over 70 years with a strategic focus on both growth and investments and is a one stop shop offering a wide range of insurance products and services that cater to a broad variety of needs for corporates, SMEs and individual customers throughout UAE, Oman, Bahrain, and Qatar. GIG Gulf also owns a 50% stake in GIG Saudi. Our strategic objectives and guiding principles are focused on Regional Growth, Customer Experience and Digital Transformation.GIG Gulf has created a diverse and inclusive working environment and culture with a workforce of over 800 employees, with over 60 nationalities, across 15 branches and retail shops region-wide and over 1 million customers. GIG Gulf is a caring partner that encourages customers to achieve their goals and live an inspiring and fulfilling life. We are obsessed with customer feedback and continuously evolving to become the region’s digital insurer of reference, committed to running our operations in a responsible, sustainable way.