ROLE OVERVIEW The Associate Client Engagement Manager works alongside the senior Client Engagement Manager to drive Celebal's commercial and client engagement activity across the GCC primarily Saudi Arabia and the UAE — with a clear path to owning accounts and transactions outright.

This is a hands-on, execution-focused role, but it is not a coordination role. You will be expected to hold your own in a first conversation with a Microsoft solution specialist or a client stakeholder without a technical colleague on the call, to explain what Celebal does differently in a specific solution area, and to build and defend a commercial estimate. Pre-sales, delivery and practice teams support you; they do not substitute for you.

Read this before applying: the interview includes a live technical and commercial assessment. Candidates who position themselves as functional or relationship-only sellers, and who require pre-sales support for every solution conversation, are not a fit for this role — regardless of years of experience or account pedigree.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Pipeline Ownership & Deal Progression

- Own and progress a defined slice of the GCC opportunity pipeline — from qualification through proposal submission, negotiation support and closure — with the senior CEM as escalation point rather than as approver of every step.
- Run RFP, RFI and tender responses end to end: interpret requirements, decompose the scope, own the response plan and timeline, drive contributions from pre-sales and practice leads, and assemble a submission that is compliant and commercially sound.
- Manage Microsoft and partner co-sell motions directly — deal registration, co-sell submissions, MCI/ECIF and pre-sales funding nominations, and joint account planning with Microsoft SSPs, ATUs and partner leads (Crayon and others).
- Maintain CRM hygiene, forecast accuracy and pipeline reporting to a standard that leadership can act on without rework.
- Schedule and lead client meetings, demos and technical presentations; author the meeting narrative and the follow-up MOM, not just the logistics.

2. Client Engagement & Account Ownership

- Act as a named point of contact for assigned accounts, holding day-to-day commercial and delivery-liaison conversations independently.
- Produce client-facing material — proposals, BoQ and BoM summaries, executive briefings, project status narratives — in a form that goes to the client with light review, not heavy rewriting.
- Track milestone status with delivery, trigger milestone-linked commercial actions, and own invoicing follow-up, collections escalation and revenue realisation for your accounts.
- Maintain complete, auditable engagement documentation: MSAs, SOWs, Change Requests, LOIs, correspondence and approval trails.

3. Solution Positioning & Differentiation

- Articulate what Celebal does differently in specific solution areas — Microsoft Fabric and Databricks-based data platform modernisation, migration accelerators, GenAI and agentic use cases, sovereign cloud and security — and why that beats an incumbent system integrator. This is a core competency of the role, not a marketing hand-off.
- Maintain and actively use the GCC solution narrative: capability decks, reference architectures, case studies, industry-specific use-case libraries and competitive positioning.
- Translate a client problem statement into an indicative solution shape and commercial envelope in the room, then validate it with pre-sales — rather than deferring the entire conversation.

4. Proposal, Estimation & Commercial Construction

- Author the executive summary, scope of work, assumptions, exclusions and commercial sections of proposals; source tech stack, effort estimates and delivery timelines from pre-sales and delivery and integrate them coherently.




- Build and adjust Azure consumption estimates independently using the Azure pricing calculator — storage, compute, capacity SKUs and licensing — and understand how those choices move the client's total cost.
- Draft quotations, SOW summaries and Change Request documentation; understand the difference between T&M;, fixed-price, managed-capacity and outcome-based structures and when each is appropriate.

5. Internal Coordination & Governance

- Liaise with delivery, legal, finance and HR on engagement onboarding, commercial issue resolution and contract execution.
- Prepare internal briefing notes, commercial summaries, deal review packs and escalation memos of a standard suitable for regional leadership review.
- Contribute to WBS updates, revenue forecasting and weekly/monthly business reviews.
- Ensure clean account handovers with full context and documentation captured.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE Essential — screened against, no exceptions

- GCC market experience. 4–6 years in B2B technology sales, client engagement, pre-sales or account management, including demonstrable UAE and/or KSA market experience — in-market work history, or documented ownership of GCC-based client relationships. Regional exposure gained purely through remote channel coordination does not meet this requirement.
- Microsoft partner ecosystem depth. Hands-on experience with co-sell motions, deal registration, and pre-sales or partner funding mechanisms (MCI, ECIF or equivalent), including working relationships with Microsoft field roles (SSP, ATU, partner development).
- Data & AI portfolio literacy. Working knowledge of the Microsoft data and AI stack — Azure data services, Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, Power BI, GenAI/Copilot patterns — sufficient to scope a data platform, migration or AI use-case conversation unaided.
- Cloud and security fundamentals. Practical fluency in Azure architecture basics, M365/O365, and Microsoft security and compliance (Sentinel, Defender, identity). Certification at fundamentals level or above (AZ-900, MS-900, SC-900, DP-900 or higher) is expected; equivalent demonstrated knowledge is acceptable.
- Estimation capability. Able to build and defend an Azure consumption estimate on the Azure pricing calculator without pre-sales assistance. This is tested live during interview.
- RFP and tender ownership. Direct experience running or substantially owning RFP, RFI or government tender responses, including compliance and commercial sections.
- Services-commercial exposure. Familiarity with MSAs, SOWs and Change Requests, and with authoring scope and commercial terms for services engagements — as distinct from licensing or product resale.
- Deal scale. Experience on engagements where individual proof-of-concept values reach USD 150K or above and multi-year programmes exceed USD 1M. Celebal proof-of-concept engagements alone routinely run USD 200K–250K.
- Applied AI fluency. Uses AI tooling deliberately in the sales craft — research, account intelligence, first-draft proposal and RFP response construction, competitive analysis — with judgement about what must still be authored and verified by a human.
- Communication. Clear, professional written and spoken English; able to produce client-ready correspondence and documents with minimal supervision.
- Education. Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Computer Science or a related field. MBA or a technical postgraduate qualification is an advantage.
- Mobility.



Based in or willing to relocate to Dubai, with a valid ability to travel across KSA and the GCC.

Preferred

- Arabic language capability.
- Prior employment with a Microsoft partner, system integrator or technology consulting firm serving enterprise clients in the region.
- Account experience in logistics, government or public sector, FMCG, or financial services in the GCC.
- Exposure to sovereign cloud, data residency or regional compliance requirements (SDAIA, NDMO, UAE data protection).
- Experience with CRM and revenue tooling — Dynamics 365, Salesforce, HubSpot, Clari.
- Familiarity with government procurement portals and tender platforms in KSA or the UAE.

COMPETENCIES

- Technical credibility. Can hold a solution conversation with an architect or Microsoft specialist and be taken seriously. This is the single most important competency in the role.
- Commercial judgement. Understands deal structures, pricing models, margin implications and revenue recognition well enough to shape a deal, not just document it.
- Independent ownership. Moves an prospect forward without waiting to be told the next step; escalates with a recommendation attached.
- Competitive framing. Can explain why Celebal, in a specific solution area, against a specific incumbent, in under two minutes.
- Organisational rigour. Manages concurrent engagements with accurate documentation, clean CRM and reliable follow-through.
- Stakeholder navigation. Comfortable across pre-sales, delivery, legal and finance internally, and across client procurement, IT and business stakeholders externally.
- Cross-cultural effectiveness. Operates credibly in GCC business culture and with distributed India-based delivery teams.
- Adaptability. Comfortable in a fast-moving, high-growth regional business with evolving priorities.

SELECTION PROCESS Candidates should expect a structured assessment rather than a conversational interview. The process comprises an HR screening, a technical and commercial round with sales leadership, and a regional fit discussion.

What we assess

How

Solution positioning

You will be asked to pitch Celebal cold to a Microsoft SSP covering a named industry, and to answer why a client should move work to us from an incumbent SI. Generic value statements do not clear this stage.

Commercial sizing

You will be asked to open the Azure pricing calculator on screen and build or adjust a simple estimate — storage, compute, capacity SKU — without pre-sales support.

Solution depth

You will be asked to walk through the most technically complex engagement you have sold, including data sources, integration approach and platform choices, in your own words.

Commercial structure

You will be asked how a proposal is assembled — which sections you author, which you source from pre-sales and delivery, and how pricing model and timelines are arrived at.

CAREER PATH

This role is a structured route into a full Client Engagement Manager position. Candidates who demonstrate technical credibility, commercial judgement and independent account ownership will be considered for progression within 18–24 months. Progression is assessed on independent deal ownership and solution credibility, not tenure.

WHAT WE OFFER

- Competitive compensation with performance-linked incentives.
- Direct exposure to marquee enterprise and government accounts across the GCC.
- Close collaboration with Microsoft field and product teams, including global initiative and sovereign cloud programmes.
- Structured mentorship from experienced regional sales leadership.
- Funded certification pathways across Azure, Data & AI, and Security.
- Fast-track growth in a priority geography, within a global team spanning the Americas, EMEA, India, APJ, Australia and Japan.

To apply or for queries, please contact: [email protected]

📌 Associate Business Development Manager (Gurugram)
🏢 Celebal Technologies
📍 Gurugram