Director of Sales, Middle East

About the Role:

The Director of Sales, Middle East will be responsible for leading our regional sales organization, driving Planet’s Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy, and accelerating revenue growth across national security, defense, and government sectors. In this highly strategic role, you will lead high-performing teams, build executive relationships across defense ministries and key contractors, and position Planet's Earth observation platform as an essential capability for mission-critical operations. Ideal candidates are ambitious commercial leaders with deep defense domain expertise, exceptional strategic vision, and a passion for driving transformational business outcomes.

The ideal candidate is an accomplished sales leader with deep defense domain expertise and a track record of managing high-performing teams in the region. You will bring an established executive network across Defense Ministries, Intelligence Agencies, and key Prime Contractors/System Integrators. Combining strategic commercial acumen with an understanding of national security priorities, you will position Planet as a trusted capability provider for mission-critical operations.

This is a full-time, remote position based in the United Arab Emirates. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week

Impact You’ll Own:

Drive Strategic Revenue Growth: Own and execute a result-oriented Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy to build, negotiate, and close high-value, complex deals across sovereign defense and government sectors, consistently hitting or exceeding regional quota targets.

Forecast Governance & Predictability: Maintain rigorous pipeline hygiene (Salesforce.com) and deliver accurate, data-driven revenue forecasts to executive leadership through disciplined deal inspection and pipeline management.

Capture Strategy & Value Messaging: Engineer tailored capture strategies and high-impact executive narratives that align with agency-level priorities, resonate with key decision-makers, and win competitive procurements.

Manage, Coach & Empower: Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing sales team, establishing a culture of accountability, operational excellence, and continuous professional development.

Methodology Alignment: Train and inspect direct reports on core sales methodologies and capture frameworks (e.g., MEDDPICC, Shipley), coaching them on deal qualification, stakeholder mapping, and win strategies.

Talent Bench & Scaling: Proactively recruit, onboard, and retain elite commercial and defense-domain talent to build a solid talent bench as the regional footprint expands.

Cross-Functional Matrix Alignment: Orchestrate seamless collaboration across internal matrix teams—including Government Affairs, Product, Engineering, and Field Marketing—to align corporate capabilities with regional market opportunities.

Technical & Post-Sales Win Alignment: Partner closely with Pre-Sales/Solutions Engineering to secure technical wins, and collaborate with Post-Sales teams to ensure flawless customer onboarding, retention, and long-term expansion.

Deal Cadence & Executive Escalation: Communicate deal velocity transparently across internal business units, mobilizing executive sponsorship and cross-functional support when needed to de-risk complex pursuits.

What You Bring:

8+ years of experience with a track record of driving revenue growth, building high-performing teams, and consistently exceeding multi-million-dollar individual & team quotas.

6+ years of progressive leadership and management experience.

Ability to recruit, mentor, and retain top-tier talent, instilling a high accountability culture and coaching direct reports through complex, multi-year deal cycles.

Deep experience establishing pipeline discipline, accurate revenue forecasting, and thorough deal inspection using Salesforce.com and modern sales methodologies (e.g., MEDDPICC).

Extensive background navigating complex government and defense procurement frameworks across the Middle East, with a primary focus on key markets including the UAE, KSA, Oman, and Bahrain.

An established, C-level network across Ministries of Defense, Intelligence Agencies, and Tier-1 Prime Contractors / System Integrators in the MENA region.

Deep understanding of how commercial technology and advanced data feeds support sovereign defense, intelligence, and national security missions.

Success collaborating across internal matrixed teams (Government Affairs, Product, Engineering, Legal) to align corporate capabilities with regional opportunities.

A strategic, self-directed leader with sound commercial judgment, adept at leading teams through dynamic, high-growth, or startup-like market environments.

What Makes You Stand Out:

5+ years of progressive sales leadership and enterprise business development experience within the defense, national security, or government technology sectors, with a track record of building high-performing teams and consistently exceeding revenue targets.

Deep operational understanding of defense domain priorities, sovereign procurement frameworks, and agency decision-making processes across the UK and EMEA regions.

Experience managing complex, multi-year deal cycles, with the ability to lead sales teams through disciplined capture frameworks, pipeline governance, and accurate revenue forecasting.

Fluency in both English and Arabic is a solid plus, enabling the candidate to articulate complex strategic value propositions effectively to senior government ministers, agency leaders, and internal executives.

Application Deadline:

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting may be removed earlier than projected if a suitable pool of applications has been received. For this reason, we recommend applying as soon as you are able to.

Benefits While Working at Planet:

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

Paid time off including vacation, holidays and company-wide days off

Employee Wellness Program

Home Office Reimbursement

Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement

Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning

Equity

Volunteering Paid Time Off

This role is also eligible to receive commission.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance