Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Employment Type: Contract (until the end of 2026)
ESMOS is hiring a Partnership Manager – Contract Role on behalf of our client, a leading events company based in Abu Dhabi.
We are looking for an experienced Partnership Manager to develop and manage strategic and commercial partnerships for a major international event.
The role will focus on identifying potential partners, developing tailored partnership opportunities, managing negotiations, and ensuring successful delivery of all agreed benefits. The successful candidate will be a strong relationship builder with excellent commercial awareness and experience working within events, conferences, exhibitions, or similar environments.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify and develop new strategic and commercial partnership opportunities.
- Build and manage a strong pipeline of prospective partners.
- Research potential partners and identify areas of mutual value and strategic alignment.
- Develop tailored partnership proposals, presentations, and packages.
- Lead partner outreach, presentations, negotiations, and follow-ups.
- Manage partnership agreements from initial engagement through to contract completion.
- Act as the main point of contact for confirmed partners throughout the event lifecycle.
- Ensure all agreed partnership benefits and contractual deliverables are fulfilled.
- Coordinate partner requirements including branding, content, speaking opportunities, exhibition presence, hospitality, and VIP access.
- Work closely with Marketing, Creative, Programming, Operations, Finance, and Legal teams.
- Maintain accurate partnership pipelines, trackers, revenue forecasts, and status reports.
- Provide onsite support and relationship management during events.
- Conduct post-event partner reviews and identify opportunities for renewals and long-term partnerships.
Candidate Profile
- Proven experience in partnerships, sponsorship, business development, or commercial account management.
- Previous experience within events, conferences, exhibitions, summits, or related industries.
- Strong track record of developing and managing commercial and strategic partnerships.
- Excellent relationship-building, communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
- Confident engaging with senior-level stakeholders and decision-makers.
- Strong commercial awareness and ability to develop tailored partnership propositions.
- Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple partners and deadlines simultaneously.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, project-driven environment.
- UAE/GCC experience is highly desirable.
Ideal Candidate
A commercially minded and proactive Partnership Manager who can identify opportunities, build strong relationships, negotiate effectively, and take ownership of partnerships from initial prospecting through to successful event delivery and renewal. This reflects the original scope's emphasis on tailored propositions, negotiations, contractual management, revenue tracking, and long-term partner relationships.