Director of Commercial Shared Services

About the Role
The Director of Commercial Shared Services leads the shared commercial capabilities that support the AI Agents & Services verticals. The role is responsible for ensuring the effective integration and performance of Sales Development Representatives (SDR), Bidding, and Sales Operations, establishing consistent processes, governance, reporting, and service standards across the commercial pipeline. Working closely with the COO and the Heads of AI & Agents and Services, the Director translates commercial priorities into coordinated lead-generation, bid-management, and operational-support activities; improves pipeline visibility and execution; and enables the commercial teams to pursue opportunities efficiently, consistently, and in line with company objectives.

Shared Commercial Strategy & Governance

• Translate the Commercial priorities into an integrated operating plan for SDR, Bidding, and Sales Operations, supporting both the AI & Agents and Services verticals.
• Establish shared commercial processes, standards, service levels, and ways of working that promote consistency while accommodating the distinct requirements of each vertical.
• Define clear ownership, handover points, and escalation routes across lead generation, opportunity qualification, bid/no-bid decisions, proposal development, CRM administration, and commercial reporting.

Leadership & Performance Management

• Lead, coach, and develop the Heads and Managers within the shared commercial functions, setting clear expectations, priorities, and accountability.
• Agree function-level objectives and KPIs, review performance regularly, address gaps, and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Plan and allocate resources across SDR, Bidding, and Sales Operations according to agreed commercial priorities, workload, deadlines, and business needs.
• Promote collaboration, knowledge sharing, continuous improvement, and a results-oriented culture across the shared services teams.

Sales Development & Pipeline Support

• Oversee the SDR function’s lead-generation and prospecting plans, ensuring targeting, qualification criteria, outreach activity, and meeting generation align with the priorities of both commercial verticals.
• Define and oversee the SDR strategy, including lead-generation approaches, target-account prioritization, prospecting channels, and outreach strategies, ensuring alignment with the commercial and go-to-market objectives of both verticals.
• Drive the adoption of AI-enabled tools and automation within SDR activities to enhance lead identification, research, qualification, outreach personalization, and follow-ups, while automating routine tasks such as CRM updates, lead enrichment, and reporting to improve productivity, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Ensure effective lead handover and feedback loops between SDR and the relevant AI & Agents or Services business development and account management teams.
• Review lead-generation and pipeline-contribution results with the Head of SDR, using data and market feedback to improve lead quality, conversion, and productivity, and continuously optimize SDR strategies, processes, AI utilization, and automation effectiveness against relevant performance KPIs.

Bidding & Proposal Management

• Oversee the bidding function to ensure opportunities are assessed, prioritized, and managed through a disciplined bid lifecycle, from qualification and bid/no-bid decisions to submission and post-submission follow-up.
• Develop and oversee the bidding strategy, including opportunity prioritization, bid/no-bid decisions, resource allocation, and win strategies, ensuring alignment with commercial objectives, GTM priorities, and market opportunities.
• Ensure bids and proposals are coordinated with the relevant vertical and subject-matter teams, are responsive to client requirements, and meet quality, compliance, commercial, and submission-deadline requirements.
• Position the Bidding function as a strategic business partner by engaging relevant functions, including Business Development, Presales, Product, Engineering, Production, Finance, Legal, and Marketing, early in the bid lifecycle to jointly shape opportunities, develop competitive proposals, and maximize win probability.
• Drive the adoption of AI-enabled tools and automation across the bidding lifecycle to improve opportunity assessment, RFP analysis, requirement mapping, proposal development, and content reuse, enhancing efficiency, quality, and scalability while maintaining appropriate accuracy and compliance controls.
• Monitor bid pipeline, submission schedules, win/loss outcomes, and lessons learned; use insights to strengthen bid strategy and proposal effectiveness.
• Escalate material bid risks, resource constraints, pricing or margin considerations, and approval requirements to the appropriate decision-makers.
• Build and continuously develop a scalable bidding and proposal management capability by strengthening team capacity, competencies, tools, and processes to support increasing bid volumes, complex opportunities, and the commercial growth of both verticals.

Sales Operations, CRM & Commercial Reporting

• Oversee Sales Operations activities, including CRM governance, data quality, pipeline reporting, sales dashboards, forecasting support, commercial documentation, and process administration.
• Ensure commercial data, opportunity stages, activity records, and reporting definitions are consistent and reliable across the AI & Agents and Services verticals.
• Provide the COO and commercial leadership with timely analysis of pipeline health, lead conversion, bid performance, workload, and other relevant commercial KPIs.
• Develop and maintain a centralized Commercial Hub that supports both AI & Agents and Services while ensuring clear differentiation in their market positioning, value propositions, offerings, and commercial messaging.
• Oversee the maintenance of sales enablement materials, proposal and presentation templates, commercial collateral, and relevant records and workflows, ensuring the development of tailored presentations, sales decks, and marketing collateral that reflect the distinct value propositions and commercial priorities of each vertical while maintaining consistent corporate branding.
• Drive the effective use and continuous improvement of CRM platforms and other commercial tools, coordinating adoption, user guidance, and process changes as needed.
• Ensure the Commercial Hub operates as a strategic enabler for both verticals by facilitating access to commercial resources, standardizing best practices, and supporting the development and continuous improvement of sales enablement materials and tools.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with the Heads of AI & Agents and Services to understand their priorities, coordinate shared-function support, and resolve competing demands transparently.
• Partner with Finance, Legal, Marketing, Production, Technology, Products and other relevant teams to support forecasting, budgeting, proposal development, contract coordination, and compliant commercial execution.
• Maintain clear communication with stakeholders on priorities, capacity, deadlines, risks, performance, and required decisions.
• Ensure shared services support both verticals fairly and effectively, with priorities and resource allocation based on agreed business needs.

Process Improvement, Risk & Compliance

• Document, maintain, and improve shared commercial workflows, policies, procedures, templates, and controls.
• Identify bottlenecks, duplication, data gaps, and operational risks across the commercial process, and implement improvements that increase efficiency and quality.
• Ensure activities within the shared commercial functions comply with company policies, approval authorities, contractual requirements, and applicable regulatory obligations.
• Promote the use of performance data, stakeholder feedback, and lessons learned to continuously improve service quality and commercial outcomes.
• Carry out other duties necessary for the effective operation of the department.

Education, Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Management, or a related field; a relevant postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
• 12-15 years of relevant experience across commercial operations, sales operations, bidding/proposal management, sales development, or related commercial functions, including substantial leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple teams or functions, setting performance expectations, and improving processes and operational effectiveness.
• Strong understanding of commercial pipelines, lead generation and qualification, bid management, CRM governance, sales reporting, and forecasting support.
• Experience using CRM platforms such as Salesforce or HubSpot, sales analytics and reporting tools, and Microsoft Office applications.
• Familiarity with SDR, lead-generation, and bidding/proposal management platforms is an advantage.
• Experience in technology solutions and product companies is an advantage; experience in AI companies is a strong advantage.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English; Arabic proficiency is an advantage.