VP of Business Development

Department: Business Development

Reports to: CEO

Location: KSA & UAE

Job Overview

The VP of Business Development will be responsible for originating, structuring, negotiating and closing strategic wholesale, hyperscale, AI/HPC, CDN, cloud, sovereign and large-enterprise data center commitments across Saudi Arabia and the wider region. Operating in a highly competitive and fast-moving regional market, this executive role requires a commercial leader who understands the complex, technical, financial and capital-intensive nature of digital infrastructure sales.

The role owns the commercial pipeline from target identification through signed agreements, working closely with the CEO, Finance, Legal, Technical, Operations and Delivery teams to ensure each opportunity is strategically relevant, commercially attractive, technically deliverable, financeable and aligned with QST’s capital plan. The VP of Business Development will also play a central role in developing QST’s market entry strategy, strategic partnerships, customer account coverage, carrier/CDN ecosystem relationships, government-linked demand pipeline and long-term commercial positioning.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Pipeline Ownership: Own and manage QST’s commercial pipeline across hyperscalers, AI/HPC platforms, cloud service providers, CDNs, carriers, sovereign entities, government-linked organizations and large enterprise customers. Develop clear target-account plans, including decision-makers, technical requirements, timing, procurement route, competitive positioning, required capacity, probability of conversion and next actions.
Hyperscale & Wholesale Deal Capture: Lead the end-to-end commercial origination and execution pipeline, targeting global cloud service providers, AI/HPC platforms, content delivery networks, carriers, sovereign entities and large-scale enterprise colocation clients. This includes identifying opportunities, qualifying demand, shaping customer requirements, preparing commercial proposals, leading negotiations and driving opportunities through to signed agreements.
Commercial Structuring: Architect and negotiate complex, multi-year commercial agreements, including build-to-suit frameworks, wholesale colocation leases, power-based pricing models, anchor-tenant agreements, powered shell arrangements and strategic capacity commitments. This should include responsibility for pricing strategy, commercial terms, lease economics, CPI/escalation, power pass-throughs, take-or-pay commitments, customer credit support, customer-funded works, fit-out scope, SLA exposure, liability caps, termination rights and risk allocation, in coordination with Finance and Legal.
Pricing and Deal Governance: Lead the development of customer-specific pricing proposals and commercial models, ensuring alignment with approved return thresholds, funding assumptions, cost-to-serve, power availability, delivery commitments and QST’s risk appetite. Ensure that no material commercial commitment is made without appropriate technical, financial, legal and executive review.
Negotiation and Contract Closure: Lead commercial negotiations with customers and partners from initial term sheet through definitive agreements. Coordinate with internal and external legal counsel, technical teams, finance and shareholders as required to move transactions from commercial discussion to executable and bankable contracts.
Strategic Regional Positioning: Leverage QST’s joint-venture capabilities to navigate local government relations, secure strategic land/power allocations, and establish a competitive position across target markets. In particular, identify and convert government-linked demand opportunities, sovereign digital infrastructure requirements, national cloud/AI initiatives and strategic public-sector or semi-government opportunities in Saudi Arabia and the GCC.
Market Entry and Expansion: Support the CEO and shareholders in evaluating new market, campus and customer-entry opportunities. Provide commercial input into site selection, land/power prioritization, customer demand mapping, market sizing, competitor analysis and go-to-market strategy for new data center developments.
Strategic Partnerships: Originate and manage strategic partnerships that can accelerate QST’s growth, including partnerships with cloud platforms, AI/HPC ecosystem players, telecom operators, carriers, CDNs, managed service providers, system integrators, technology vendors, government-linked entities and infrastructure investors where relevant.
Carrier, Connectivity and CDN Ecosystem Development: Build and maintain relationships with carriers, internet exchanges, CDNs, network providers and connectivity partners to strengthen QST’s commercial proposition and improve the attractiveness of QST’s sites for hyperscale, cloud, content and enterprise customers.
Account Management and Customer Success Handover: Act as senior commercial owner for strategic customer relationships during the sales and contracting phase and ensure a structured handover to Operations, Delivery and Customer Success after contract signature. Remain involved with key strategic accounts to identify expansion opportunities, manage senior-level relationship continuity and support renewal or follow-on capacity discussions.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Collaborate closely with Finance to ensure deals meet approved Internal Rate of Return, Net Present Value, margin and funding thresholds, and with Technical, Operations and Delivery teams to verify feasibility. The VP must ensure that commercial promises made to customers are deliverable from a power, cooling, design, construction, operations, SLA and timeline perspective.
Market Intelligence & Forecasts: Provide continuous market synthesis regarding regional capacity demand, customer requirements, competitor movements, pricing trends and emerging hyperscale, AI/HPC and cloud deployment zones. Maintain a live view of customer demand, competitor capacity, pricing benchmarks, land/power constraints, AI/HPC deployment trends, regulatory developments and customer procurement cycles.
CRM, Reporting and Board-Level Visibility: Establish and maintain a disciplined CRM and pipeline reporting process, including weighted pipeline, target MW, contracted MW, probability-adjusted revenue, expected closing dates, key risks, required CEO/shareholder support and next actions. Provide regular reporting to the CEO and, where required, shareholders or the Board.
Commercial Function Building: Build the processes, materials and operating rhythm required for a professional business development function, including customer pitch materials, account plans, proposal templates, qualification criteria, approval gates, pipeline reviews and lessons learned from lost/won opportunities.

Qualifications & Skills

Required Experience & Education

Experience: 10 to 15 years of senior business development, sales, commercial, partnerships or strategic account experience in data centers, cloud infrastructure, telecom infrastructure, digital infrastructure, enterprise technology, energy/infrastructure or related capital-intensive B2B sectors.
Proven Track Record: Strong preference for a demonstrable track record of originating, structuring and closing large-scale infrastructure, cloud, wholesale colocation, hyperscale, AI/HPC, telecom, carrier, CDN or enterprise technology transactions. Direct experience in multi-MW data center transactions would be a significant advantage.
Network: An established senior network across hyperscalers, cloud service providers, CDNs, AI/HPC platforms, telecom operators, carriers, sovereign entities, government-linked organizations, enterprise technology buyers, regional digital infrastructure players and relevant strategic partners.
Skills: Strong negotiation capability, sound commercial judgment, executive presence, and a strong understanding of data center economics, lease structures, power-based pricing, service levels, customer technical requirements, risk allocation and infrastructure delivery constraints.
Regional Understanding: Experience in Saudi Arabia or the GCC would be a significant advantage, including familiarity with government-linked customers, local partner dynamics, power and land constraints, regulatory context, sovereign cloud/AI initiatives and regional procurement practices.
Leadership and Operating Discipline: Ability to operate credibly with CEOs, boards, shareholders, technical teams, finance teams, legal counsel and customer executives. Must be able to combine senior relationship-building with rigorous pipeline management, commercial discipline and execution follow-through.