Sr. Manager Acquisition and Retention

Role Summary

We are seeking a dynamic and driven Senior Manager – New Business Development to lead talabat’s restaurant acquisition efforts in the UAE. This is a critical leadership role that shapes our strategic pillar of Choice—owning how we find, prioritize, activate, and scale the right restaurant partners across the country.

This role is ideal for a commercial leader who is deeply strategic, operationally sharp, and thrives on unlocking growth in a competitive market. You will lead a high-performing acquisitions and onboarding team with the mission to deliver high-quality supply at speed—ensuring that every new partner is set up for success from Day 1.

You own “choice” at talabat in the UAE- our key strategic pillar, lifeblood, and our biggest strength. 

 

What’s On Your Plate?

• Define & Lead New Acquisition Strategy:
  Build and evolve the UAE-wide acquisition strategy to ensure talabat continues to lead on restaurant choice. Focus on market mapping, prospecting, and activation of high-potential partners across cities, cuisines, and formats.
   

• Grow Restaurant Supply at Speed and Quality:
  Ensure a steady and strategic inflow of new restaurant partners, balancing quantity with quality. Monitor pipeline health, optimize resource allocation, and ensure efficient territory management.
   

• Own the End-to-End Onboarding Experience:
  Design and drive an exceptional onboarding process that ensures operational readiness and early-stage success for new partners. Collaborate cross-functionally to improve time to go-live and internal efficiencies.
   

• Build a High-Performing Acquisition Organization:
  Lead, coach, and develop a team of acquisition leads, field specialists, and onboarding coordinators. Instill a winning mindset, accountability, and a culture of speed, ownership, and performance.
   

• Innovate & Scale Go-To-Market Playbooks:
  Continuously improve our acquisition approach through performance insights, market feedback, competitor benchmarking, and experimentation.
   

• Drive Local Market Penetration:
  Deeply understand local market dynamics across emirates, and use data-driven insights to prioritize efforts and adjust tactics accordingly.
   

• Influence Strategic Budgeting to Accelerate Growth:
  Act as a commercial thought partner to internal stakeholders, making a strong case for strategic budget allocation—whether for incentives, conversion levers, or tooling—designed to accelerate the acquisition cycle and maximize partner readiness.
   

• Build Market Influence:
  Cultivate strong relationships with key restaurant owners, entrepreneurs, and F&B stakeholders to generate word-of-mouth and strategic referrals in the ecosystem.
   

• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  Partner with marketing, legal, operations, and product teams to build a seamless restaurant acquisition engine and accelerate time-to-value.

• Delivering quarterly and yearly targets for new restaurant sign-ups and go-lives
   

• Reducing onboarding time and increasing early-stage partner satisfaction
   

• Ensuring quality metrics (e.g., live rate, early GMV yield, activation rate) are met
   

• Building playbooks and dashboards that enable faster, smarter expansion
   

• Enabling category and regional growth strategies with a steady acquisition pipeline
   

• Securing internal buy-in and budgets for high-impact growth initiatives

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree with 8 years in business development, sales, or strategy—preferably in tech, F&B, or e-commerce.

• Leadership: Proven experience leading high-performing teams and executing strategic plans.

• Market Knowledge: Strong understanding of the UAE F&B landscape and commercial growth levers is a plus!

• Operational Skills: Skilled in project management, process improvement, and using CRM/BI tools.

• Communication: Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building abilities.

• Mindset: Entrepreneurial, results-driven, and thrives in fast-paced environments.

talabat is part of the Delivery Hero Group, the world’s pioneering local delivery platform, our mission is to deliver an amazing experience—fast, easy, and to your door. We operate in over 70+ countries worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2017 and is part of the MDAX stock market index.