inDrive

Global ride-hailing platform with fare negotiation

Agency Sales Lead

Account ExecutiveUpdated on Nov 13

Full-timeAbu Dhabi - United Arab EmiratesNo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

At least 10 years of experience in digital media, including at least 5 years within a Big 5 media agency holding group in media investment, trading, planning and buying, or senior client leadership roles.
A proven record of negotiating and closing holding-level media agreements, trading deals, or joint business plans with committed annual budgets, from either the agency or media-owner side.
Established active relationships with heads of media investment, trading, and planning at a minimum of three Big 5 holdings in Dubai and across MENA.
In-depth understanding of how media holdings allocate client budgets, including annual planning cycles, preferred-partner selection, trading terms and incentives, and internal approval processes.
Ability to navigate internal corporate matrix environments to shepherd contracts, legal reviews, and financial approvals through execution.
Ability to translate market demands and client feedback into structured recommendations for Product and Engineering teams.
Fluency in written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

Deliver against quarterly and annual revenue targets tied to committed budgets under holding agreements and the regional sales bonus structure.
Negotiate and execute annual and multi-year media agreements with the Big 5 holdings and their investment and trading units, covering budget commitments, pricing, incentives, and inventory access.
Build and maintain direct relationships with decision-makers who allocate advertiser budgets, including heads of media investment and trading, heads of planning and buying, and client leads on top global and regional brand accounts.
Secure inDrive's inclusion on holding preferred-partner lists and on the annual media plans of top global brands, and grow committed spend year over year.
Extend successful MENA agreements to the holdings' regional and global teams to unlock budgets across other inDrive markets.
Manage end-to-end contract execution with internal Legal, Finance, Procurement, and Accounting teams, establishing contracting, billing, and compliance workflows that meet holding requirements.
Run joint business planning and quarterly business reviews with each holding, tracking committed versus delivered spend.
Gather structured holding feedback on measurement, data, formats, and trading requirements, and synthesize it into recommendations informing global Product team feature development and roadmap prioritization.
Hand off signed agreements and campaign briefs to central Account Management and AdOps teams for setup, execution, and retention while remaining accountable for delivery against commitments.
Maintain accurate agreement status, pipeline tracking, and revenue forecasting in the CRM system.
Travel across MENA and to holding regional and global hubs as required.

Desired Qualifications

Sell-side experience with a platform, publisher, or ad-tech company selling into holdings after an agency career.
Relationships with holding regional or global leadership beyond MENA.
Proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic; French is highly advantageous for North African market coverage.
Prior experience in digital media sales within a rapid-growth ad-tech, mobile app, retail media, or marketplace platform.
Strong commercial understanding of first-party mobility data, intent targeting, and context-driven advertising strategies.
Commercial curiosity about advertising technology and evolving media solutions, with a collaborative, ownership-driven mindset and interest in building and scaling a new business.

Please submit your resume in English. Otherwise, your application will be dismissed.

The Agency Sales Lead – MENA is a senior commercial position responsible for securing holding-level media agreements with the Big 5 agency holding groups (Omnicom including IPG, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Dentsu and Havas) and converting them into committed, long-term budgets for inDrive Ads. Operating from Dubai, you will use your inside knowledge of how the holdings plan, negotiate and allocate client investment, together with existing senior relationships across their investment, trading and planning teams, to secure inDrive a place on the media plans of top global and regional brands.

As the first commercial lead for agency holdings in the region, you will own each agreement from initial conversation through negotiation, signature and activation, collaborating with internal Legal, Finance, Accounting, and Procurement teams to build the contracting framework the holdings require. Agreements secured in MENA are the starting point: once proven, you will extend them with the holdings' regional and global teams into other inDrive markets. Additionally, you will serve as a primary intelligence channel, gathering holding requirements to directly inform global product and feature roadmaps.

Deliver against quarterly and annual revenue targets tied to committed budgets under holding agreements and the regional sales bonus structure.
Negotiate and execute annual and multi-year media agreements with the Big 5 holdings and their investment and trading units (trading agreements, joint business plans, preferred partner deals), covering budget commitments, pricing, incentives and inventory access.
Build and maintain direct relationships with the decision-makers who allocate advertiser budgets: heads of media investment and trading, heads of planning and buying, and client leads on top global and regional brand accounts.
Secure inDrive's inclusion on holding preferred partner lists and on the annual media plans of top global brands, and grow committed spend year on year.
Extend successful MENA agreements to the holdings' regional and global teams to unlock budgets across other inDrive markets.
Manage end-to-end contract execution by partnering with internal Legal, Finance, Procurement, and Accounting teams to establish contracting, billing and compliance workflows that meet holding requirements.
Run joint business planning and quarterly business reviews with each holding, tracking committed versus delivered spend.
Gather structured holding feedback on measurement, data, formats and trading requirements, synthesizing it into recommendations that inform global Product team feature development and roadmap prioritization.
Execute seamless commercial handoffs of signed agreements and campaign briefs to central Account Management and AdOps teams for setup, execution and retention, while remaining accountable for delivery against commitments.
Maintain accurate agreement status, pipeline tracking, and revenue forecasting within the CRM system.
Travel across MENA and to holding regional and global hubs as required.

10+ years in digital media, including at least 5 years inside a Big 5 media agency holding group (Omnicom/IPG, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Dentsu, Havas) in media investment, trading, planning and buying, or senior client leadership roles.
Proven track record of negotiating and closing holding-level media agreements, trading deals or joint business plans with committed annual budgets, from either the agency or the media owner side.
Established, active relationships with heads of media investment, trading and planning at a minimum of 3 Big 5 holdings in Dubai and across MENA.
In-depth understanding of how holdings allocate client budgets: annual planning cycles, preferred partner selection, trading terms and incentives, and internal approval processes.
Demonstrated ability to navigate internal corporate matrix environments to shepherd contracts, legal reviews, and financial approvals through to execution.
Proven capability to translate market demands and client feedback into structured recommendations for Product and Engineering teams.
Fluency in written and spoken English.

Preferred Qualifications

Sell-side experience (platform, publisher or ad-tech) selling into the holdings after an agency career.
Relationships with holding regional or global leadership beyond MENA.
Proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic; French is highly advantageous for North African market coverage.
Prior experience in digital media sales within a rapid-growth ad-tech, mobile app, retail media, or marketplace platform.
Strong commercial understanding of first-party mobility data, intent targeting, and context-driven advertising strategies.
Strong commercial instincts and curiosity for advertising technology and evolving media solutions, combined with a collaborative, ownership-driven mindset and genuine excitement for building and scaling something new.

About the Company

inDrive

Global ride-hailing platform with fare negotiation

inDrive operates a global mobility and urban services platform that connects passengers with independent drivers through a fare-negotiation system. Riders propose a trip price, and nearby drivers can accept, decline, or counteroffer, creating a peer-to-peer ride-hailing model. The service has expanded to intercity rides, delivery and cargo, groceries, advertising, and driver-focused fintech within its app. Unlike typical ride-hailing apps that use fixed fares, inDrive enables price negotiation and direct driver-rider interaction, and it pursues growth through a venture arm that funds ride-hailing-adjacent startups in emerging markets. This broader strategy aims to build a super-app for urban and gig-economy needs, with the goal of offering a wide range of mobility and urban services in 48 countries.

Company size: 10,001+
Company stage: Debt Financing
Total funding: $532M
Headquarters: Mountain View, CA
Founded: 2012

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