Head of Business Development, EMEA

About the Company

Hello! Welcome to Plaza Premium Group, we're people passionate about "Making Travel Better". We are a global company with team members from all walks of life, together we are #PPGFamily, together we are building a legacy. You don't need to be from this industry, you do need to be passionate.

Our promise to you:

-We will respect and value your background and perspectives

-We will work together with integrity

-We will share our incredible pride for job, company, and industry

What we ask of you:

-Bring passion to all that you do

-Listen, move fast and think innovatively

-Speak up, have ideas, and share them

-Believe in customer service, and treating every person with kindness

As industry leaders in innovating global airport hospitality, you will work with colleagues from all parts of the world for a truly global experience. You will help and craft services and facilities in over 200 locations in more than 60 international airports across the world.

Who we are:

We were established in HK in 1998 by someone who understood the value of an airport lounge and felt that the experience shouldn't just be limited to a closed-circuit group of travellers. Through the years we have worked incredibly hard to create an experience that is both accessible and quality. Almost 26 years later we now span four core business segments: airport lounges, airport terminal hotels, airport meet & greet services, and a range of airport dining concepts. In addition to our own brands, PPG provides airport hospitality solutions to leading airlines, alliances, and corporates around the world. Here are a few names you might recognize: Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, etc.

With the future of travel always insight, we created Smart Traveller, a mobile-app rewards program underpinned by in-house technology. We are fast-moving and always evolving to drive our purpose of making travel better.

Join our family today.

Together, we'll make travel better.

The EMEA Head of Business Development is the most senior regional authority accountable for defining, owning, and delivering the EMEA growth agenda. This role has full strategic and commercial ownership of business development across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, ensuring alignment with Group-level priorities, governance standards, and long-term investment objectives.

As the primary interface between Global HQ and the EMEA region, the role holds ultimate accountability for regional pipeline performance, network expansion, and revenue realization. The position serves as the final escalation and decision-making authority for all major opportunities, tenders, negotiations, and cross-functional approvals across the region.

This role operates at C-suite and board level with airport authorities, regulators, JV partners, and investors, while leading and developing a multi-layered EMEA BD organization with a strong focus on rigor, governance, and execution excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Strategy, Ownership & Governance

• Define and own the EMEA Business Development strategy, ensuring full alignment with Group commercial, governance, and investment frameworks.
• Hold end-to-end accountability for the regional BD pipeline, performance targets, conversion rates, and revenue delivery.
• Drive proactive master planning of opportunities across EMEA, ensuring early market positioning and strategic engagement rather than reactive tender participation.
• Act as the ultimate Go / No-Go authority for all EMEA opportunities, ensuring strategic fit, financial viability, and risk-adjusted returns.
• Lead the Investment Committee process for the region, validating commercial assumptions, pricing models, and governance compliance.

Commercial Leadership & Tender Authority

• Oversee and govern the entire tender lifecycle, from opportunity origination through award and post-award transition.
• Set final bid positioning, commercial strategy, and pricing rationale for all strategic and high-value tenders.
• Approve all technical and financial submissions, ensuring accuracy, operational feasibility, and compliance with brand, service, and financial standards.
• Resolve complex cross-functional dependencies and conflicts involving HQ, Regional and Local BD, Finance, Operations, Design, and Legal.

Executive Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with airport authorities, regulators, concession grantors, JV partners, investors, and strategic partners.
• Represent the Group in board-level negotiations, executive presentations, and external forums requiring senior leadership presence.
• Act as the trusted commercial voice of the region to internal and external stakeholders.

Organizational Leadership & Capability Building

• Lead, mentor, and scale a multi-country, multi-layered BD organization across EMEA.
• Embed strong process discipline, governance rigor, and risk management practices across all BD activities.
• Continuously assess organizational capability, providing clear feedback to Group leadership on resourcing needs, skill gaps, and market evolution.

Post-Award & Value Protection

• Ensure seamless handover to operations post-award, validating costs, timelines, and contractual commitments.
• Maintain executive oversight of post-award commercial performance, safeguarding alignment with approved business plans and investment cases.

Candidate Profile

Experience & Expertise

• 17+ years of progressive business development and commercial leadership experience within aviation, airport hospitality, infrastructure concessions, or comparable large-scale service industries.
• Demonstrated success leading multi-country BD portfolios, complex tenders, and high-value negotiations at executive level.
• Deep expertise in airport ecosystems, concession models, revenue-share mechanisms, MAG structures, EBITDA-driven commercial models, and governance frameworks.
• Strong financial acumen with advanced capability in P&L ownership, CAPEX/OPEX planning, feasibility studies, and scenario modelling.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Business, Finance, Engineering, or a related field strongly preferred.

Technical & Commercial Skills

• Expert-level financial modelling and commercial analysis capability.
• Strong understanding of financial statements, contract structures, and risk allocation.
• Ability to challenge and validate complex financial models, operational forecasts, and design concepts.
• Excellent executive communication, negotiation, and presentation skills.

Languages & Mobility

• Fluent English required; additional EMEA languages are a strong advantage.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% across the EMEA region.

Personal Attributes

• Executive presence with high resilience under pressure.
• Proven ability to manage multiple, parallel high-value tenders and strategic initiatives.
• Strategic, decisive, and governance-driven leadership style.