Senior Regional Sales Manager - Inflight Entertainment / Avionics (After Sales)

Role Overview

Senior Regional Sales Manager - Inflight Entertainment / Avionics (After Sales) at Thales, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Company Overview

Thales is a global aerospace and defense company with over 80,000 employees in 68 countries. For over 50 years, Thales has been a trusted partner of the United Arab Emirates, providing innovative solutions in Defence, Aerospace and Cyber & Digital. With a strong local presence and more than 500 employees across three offices in the UAE, Thales is deeply embedded within the nation's ecosystem through Thales Emarat Technologies, which fosters national sovereignty, self-reliance, and innovation.

Thales Aviation Global Services (AGS) is the Business Line within Thales AVS (Avionics) dedicated to the through-life support and services of Avionics, In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) and AEC products for airlines, operators and aircraft manufacturers worldwide. AGS covers maintenance and repair contracts, linefit and retrofit programs, spares provisioning, and an expanding range of digital services, delivered through a global network of regional hubs.

Role Purpose

The Senior Regional Sales Manager leads AGS Middle East, Africa & Turkey region's most complex, high-value sales captures—typically exceeding €50M—from early positioning through to negotiation and contract close. The role requires strong C-level customer engagement, compelling value proposition development, and cross-functional influence across central teams, time zones, the IFE Business Line, and the wider Thales international organization to secure organizational accountability and advance commercial and customer satisfaction objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Capture Strategy & Execution

• Lead capture strategy and execution on complex, high-value opportunities typically exceeding €50M, from qualification and lobbying through to negotiation and contract signature.
• Autonomously organize and lead bid teams, coordinating central functions including Programs, Engineering, Finance, Legal, and Contracts that often work remotely and across different time zones.
• Leads negotiations and drive captures to closure, balancing customer expectations with AGS commercial and margin objectives.

Customer Engagement & Relationships

• Engage and build trust with customer stakeholders up to C-level, tailoring the value proposition to their strategic and operational priorities.
• Develop and articulate a clear win-win value proposition, capturing the technical and commercial value of AGS offers and explaining it in terms that resonate with the customer.
• Interface with multinational customers with differing expectations, often linked to their cultural background, including premium Middle Eastern carriers.

Stakeholder Alignment & Influence

• Build strong working alignment with the IFE Business Line and the wider Thales international organization, ensuring consistent positioning and coordinated customer engagement across product lines.
• Exercise strong influencing skills, without formal authority over most stakeholders involved, to secure organizational accountability and gain traction on commercial and customer satisfaction topics.
• Work closely with the Area Directors responsible for the region's strategic accounts and the General Manager, aligning capture strategy with account plans.

Pipeline & Performance Management

• Maintain rigorous pipeline, forecast and CRM discipline for the captures under direct responsibility.
• Contribute directly to the region's growth objectives, including 10% CAGR and over $100M USD order intake, through the sustained conversion of major opportunities.

Business Development

• Identify and develop business opportunities for new and adjacent digital services, including Flight Optim, Electronic Flight Bag solutions, and cybersecurity, alongside core Avionics and IFE captures.

Representation & Communication

• Represent AGS at industry events, customer forums and internal business reviews.

Qualifications & Experience

• Engineering and/or Business degree at Bachelor's or Master's level.
• Minimum 10 years' professional experience in sales and/or commercial roles.
• Strong, demonstrable track record in the aviation sector, specifically in Avionics and/or In-Flight Entertainment (IFE).
• Proven track record leading and closing key captures across the region.
• Demonstrated ability to autonomously run bids and lead cross-functional bid teams through to successful closure.
• Strong experience engaging and negotiating with C-level customer contacts.
• Excellent negotiation skills, with a proven track record of closing complex captures.

Skills & Competencies

• Very strong influencing skills, with the ability to drive accountability and gain traction across internal stakeholders without formal authority.
• Fluent English and Arabic required; French is a plus.
• Ability to build and articulate a win-win value proposition, capturing the value of a proposal and explaining it clearly to the customer.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, adapted to internal and customer audiences.
• Comfortable operating across time zones with central and remote teams, and in aligning stakeholders across the IFE Business Line and the wider Thales international organization.
• Customer-oriented, quick learner with a problem-solving and positive mindset.
• Accountability, adaptability and strong work ethic.
• Leadership skills in line with Thales values and purpose, including the ability to lead without formal authority.

Additional Information

Travel & Working Arrangements

• Travel up to 50% of the time.
• Up to 12 hours' time difference with AGS worldwide locations, requiring flexibility in working hours.
• Requires the ability to work under pressure and to adapt to all levels of contacts within airlines, up to CEO level.
• Requires close coordination with the wider Thales regional organization, including VP Region, Country Directors, SAM/KAM, Finance, HR, and Operations.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• No formal direct reports.
• Autonomously leads virtual, cross-functional bid teams on a matrix basis for the duration of each capture, drawing on central and remote functions across the Thales organization.