Business Development Manager – Geoscience

Role Summary

The Business Development Manager - Geoscience is responsible for selling and developing the full range of Front End's geoscience services and growing the order book through new business, strategic accounts, and long-term contracts. The role owns the commercial relationship with E&P operators, mining companies, offshore and marine operators, EPC contractors, government entities, and major infrastructure and giga-project developers - translating complex technical capabilities into winning proposals and signed contracts.

This is a hunter-farmer role: approximately 70% focused on opening new opportunities and markets, and 30% on growing and protecting strategic accounts and framework agreements.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Sales

• Develop and execute a sector strategy and sales plan to grow geoscience revenue against company targets across energy, mining, offshore, and infrastructure.
• Identify, qualify, and convert opportunities; build and maintain a strong, well-managed pipeline through prospecting, networking, and targeted account engagement.
• Map key accounts and decision-making units, building trusted relationships with exploration, drilling, projects, engineering, procurement, and C-level stakeholders.
• Represent Front End at industry events, technical forums, and with professional bodies (e.g., SPE) to build presence and generate leads.

Solution & Consultative Selling

• Sell Front End's full geoscience portfolio, including:
  • Subsurface & Seismic: 3D/4D seismic survey design, full waveform inversion processing, vertical seismic profiling using distributed acoustic sensing, high-resolution seismic imaging, seafloor multiphysics and controlled-source EM.
  • Site & Geotechnical Studies: geotechnical surveys, trenching, burial and foundation design, pipeline soil-interaction studies, reconnaissance/route/site surveys, bathymetric surveys (ports, harbors, dredging), as-built verification, and geotechnical desk and FEED studies.
  • Airborne & UAV Surveys: UAV LiDAR and imaging, airborne EM/magnetic/gravity/radiometric surveys, hyperspectral imaging, and drone-based terrain, construction, and environmental inspections.
  • Ground-based Geophysics: resistivity and IP, magnetotelluric/AMT, time- and frequency-domain EM, gravity and magnetic, GPR, seismic refraction and surface-wave methods (MASW, HVSR), and ambient noise tomography.
  • Advanced Analytics: geophysical data processing, interpretation and mapping, AI-enhanced interpretation, geological modeling, and digital subsurface analytics.
• Lead the discovery process with clients to understand strategic objectives, operational dynamics, and technical environment, and shape tailored solution scopes with the technical team.
• Translate technical methods and deliverables into clear commercial value, business cases, and proposals.

Contract & Commercial Development

• Lead and manage tender and proposal processes end to end - coordinating technical, pricing, HSE, and approval inputs into compliant, competitive bids.
• Negotiate and close service contracts, framework agreements, and Master Service Agreements (MSAs), protecting margin while remaining competitive.
• Develop long-term contract pipelines and recurring-revenue arrangements with key accounts.
• Identify and structure partnerships, consortia, and principal/agency arrangements that strengthen Front End's competitive position.

Market Intelligence & Strategy

• Track market trends, project pipelines (including giga-projects and infrastructure programs), competitor activity, and regulatory and local-content developments.
• Provide accurate forecasts, pipeline reports, and market insight to leadership; recommend new services, technologies, and partners to expand the portfolio.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Maintain accurate pipeline, activity, and forecast data in the CRM.
• Work closely with geoscientists, survey and project teams, operations, finance, supply chain, and HSE/quality to ensure deliverable, profitable commitments and smooth handover from sale to delivery.
• Support post-deployment account growth in line with Front End's Optimize & Scale model.

Target Sectors & Clients

• Energy / Oil & Gas: national and international E&P operators, drilling and development teams, pipeline and facilities projects (onshore and offshore).
• Mining & Minerals: exploration and resource-development companies and national mining champions.
• Offshore & Marine: offshore energy operators, ports, harbors, and dredging/marine infrastructure.
• Infrastructure & Giga-projects: EPC contractors, developers, and government entities requiring subsurface, geotechnical, and survey intelligence.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Geophysics, Geology, Geoscience, Civil/Geotechnical Engineering, or a related technical discipline (a commercial postgraduate qualification is a plus).
• 5-10 years of B2B technical sales / business development experience selling geoscience, geophysical survey, geotechnical, or related subsurface/engineering services.
• Demonstrated track record of winning contracts and consistently meeting or exceeding sales targets, including major tenders and framework agreements.
• Solid working understanding of geophysical and geotechnical survey methods and the project lifecycle (exploration development asset optimization).
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles and contract negotiations.

Preferred

• Established network within KSA energy, mining, offshore, and infrastructure accounts.
• Familiarity with KSA procurement and prequalification processes, local content (IKTVA), and Vision 2030 project programs.
• Experience working with international principals, survey contractors, or technology partners.
• Valid KSA driving license; willingness to travel to field and offshore sites.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong technical credibility paired with consultative, value-based selling.
• Excellent relationship-building and stakeholder management, including at C-level.
• Strong commercial acumen, tendering, negotiation, and business-case development.
• Clear, persuasive written and verbal communication; confident in proposals and presentations.
• Self-driven, resilient, and organized, with disciplined CRM and pipeline management.
• Fluency in English required; Arabic strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Office and CRM tools.

Key Performance Indicators

• Geoscience revenue and gross-margin growth against target.
• New accounts opened, tenders won, and contract/framework value secured.
• Pipeline value, conversion rate, and sales-cycle efficiency.
• Forecast accuracy and CRM data quality.
• Strategic-account retention and share-of-wallet growth.