Basin & Key Account Manager

How will you CONTRIBUTE and GROW?

The Basin & Key Account Manager for KSA West Coast combines full basin commercial ownership with dedicated strategic management of one or more major key accounts. The role carries the same end-to-end basin responsibilities as the Basin Manager while providing deeper executive engagement, long-term account planning and complex contract leadership for strategically critical customers.

The core objective is to maximize basin profitability, protect revenue and cash performance, secure long-term customer retention and develop sustainable growth. The manager serves as the definitive commercial lead for the Western basin and the focal point for major key accounts, coordinating Operations, Finance, Legal, Technical and Business Development while maintaining strict safety, compliance and governance standards.

The key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

1. Strategic Key Account Management & Retention

• Commercial & Basin Ownership: Act as the primary commercial point of contact and end-to-end commercial owner for the full KSA West Coast basin portfolio, managing day-to-day performance across profitability, contractual obligations, retention, and service quality. 

• Strategic Account Planning & Value Creation: Develop and execute 3-to-5-year Strategic Account Plans covering retention, growth, competitive threats, and joint value creation roadmaps (efficiency, reliability, optimization, expansion, and decarbonization), while aligning local strategies with Cluster/Group account frameworks.

• Executive Governance & Stakeholder Alignment: Build and maintain multi-level stakeholder matrices across customer and internal functions (Operations, Procurement, Finance, Technical, Legal, Executive Management), leading Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and steering committees supported by internal executive sponsorship.

• Contract Lifecycle Management & Administration: Lead full contract lifecycle administration, including complex negotiations, amendments, renewals, extensions, and commercial settlements, ensuring timely action ahead of contractual milestones and protecting the company’s long-term position.

• Contract Compliance & Risk Management: Maintain complete oversight of customer and company obligations, formal contractual notices, payment terms, indexation, volume commitments, and proactive mitigation plans for competitive, contractual, or operational risks.

2. Commercial Strategy, P&L & Working Capital Management 

• Basin Commercial Strategy: Formulate and execute the localized West Coast commercial strategy reflecting customer priorities, market conditions, competitive dynamics and long-term asset positioning.

• Commercial P&L & Financial Ownership: Own and actively manage revenue, margin/OI, pricing, volume performance and commercial cost drivers,  while preparing annual budgets, rolling volume/revenue forecasts, and monthly actual-versus-forecast variance analyses.

• Pricing Mechanisms & Revenue Assurance: Implement approved pricing strategies, contractual indexation, and minimum volume/Take-or-Pay mechanisms to safeguard profitability, prevent revenue leakage, and ensure audit readiness.

• Invoice Validation & Billing Accuracy: Validate monthly billing inputs (fixed/variable charges, indexation, penalties, and adjustments) and coordinate with Finance to ensure accurate, timely invoice issuance and prompt resolution of billing disputes.

• Working Capital, Account Receivable & Credit Risk Management: Maintain commercial ownership of accounts receivable, monitor Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and overdue aging, lead collection escalations, and partner with Credit Management to evaluate and mitigate payment exposures.

3. Business Development, Growth, Operational Execution & Commercial Governance

• Growth & Expansion Support: Partner with Business Development and Technical teams to evaluate expansion projects, greenfield opportunities, and decarbonization initiatives, preparing business cases and commercial validation packages for Cluster/Group approval

• Operational & Crisis Interface: Serve as the commercial lead during supply disruptions, major turnarounds, or operational events, driving commercial risk mitigation and managing claims or disputes to protect customer relationships while enforcing contractual discipline.

• Customer Voice & Operational Feedback: Champion customer requirements internally across Operations, Supply Chain, and Technical teams to translate feedback into service reliability improvements and seamless onboarding of newly commissioned projects.

• Governance, Compliance & Safety: Ensure strict adherence to corporate governance, anti-bribery regulations, internal delegation of authority, and safety (EHS) standards, while maintaining accurate CRM records, contract documentation, and reporting to the Commercial Director.

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Are you a MATCH?

Qualifications & Experience:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, or a related technical/commercial field. An MBA or Master’s degree is desirable.

• Experience: Minimum of 8–12 years of progressive experience in B2B commercial management, strategic account management, and complex industrial sales.

• Industry Background: Proven background in industrial gases, petrochemicals, energy, refining, or heavy industrial manufacturing sectors.

• Track Record: Demonstrated success in long-term supply agreements, complex negotiations, profitability management, customer retention, and cross-functional commercial leadership.

Skills & Competencies:

• Technical & Commercial Skills:

  • Advanced financial acumen covering commercial P&L, margin analysis, revenue assurance, receivables, Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), forecasting, and pricing/indexation mechanisms.

  • Strong grasp of commercial law principles, contract drafting, contractual risk, claims, and long-term supply agreement mechanics.

  • Proficiency in CRM, ERP, reporting and analytics tools for data-driven commercial management.

  • Deep understanding of regional B2B industrial markets, customer operating models and the commercial impact of operational events.

  • Strong command of Strategic Account Planning, executive stakeholder mapping and multi-level account governance.

• Core & Behavioral Competencies:

  • Strategic Negotiation & Influence: Ability to steer high-stakes negotiations, manage conflicts and achieve sustainable win-win outcomes with senior stakeholders.

  • Cross-Functional Leadership: Ability to lead by influence across Operations, Finance, Legal, Supply Chain, Technical and Business Development without direct reporting lines.

  • Customer-Centricity: Strong focus on customer value, service reliability, responsiveness and long-term retention.

  • Commercial Discipline: High attention to contractual obligations, billing accuracy, collections, financial exposure, governance and execution follow-through.

  • Resilience & Decisiveness: Capable of making sound commercial decisions under pressure, particularly during supply constraints, disputes or operational disruptions.

• Languages:Fluent Arabic and English required; French is desirable.

Our Differences make our Performance

At Air Liquide, we are committed to build a diverse and inclusive workplace that embraces the diversity of our employees, our customers, patients, community stakeholders and cultures across the world.

We welcome and consider applications from all qualified applicants, regardless of their background. We strongly believe a diverse organization opens up opportunities for people to express their talent, both individually and collectively and it helps foster our ability to innovate by living our fundamentals, acting for our success and creating an engaging environment in a changing world.