GCC Excipients Business Unit Development Manager

GCC Excipients Business Unit Development Manager

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Employment Type: Full-time

Workplace: Hybrid / Customer & Supplier-facing

Regional Scope: UAE | Saudi Arabia | Qatar | Kuwait | Oman | Bahrain

Travel: Regular GCC and international travel

Palomba General Trading LLC is seeking an experienced GCC Excipients Business Unit Development Manager to build and develop a dedicated pharmaceutical and nutraceutical excipients platform across the Middle East.

This is not a conventional sales role and it is not a position focused on managing an established product catalogue.

The successful candidate will help build the business unit from the ground up, identifying the excipients that GCC pharmaceutical manufacturers actually require, selecting qualified international producers, developing the product portfolio and opening strategic customer relationships across the region.

Core Mission

The objective is to create a commercially and technically credible PGT Excipients Platform for the GCC.

The successful candidate will work on four parallel areas:

• Product portfolio development
• Supplier and principal development
• Pharmaceutical customer development
• Regional go-to-market strategy

The role requires someone who understands both the technical role of pharmaceutical excipients and the commercial realities of international ingredient distribution.

Key Responsibilities

• Build the PGT pharmaceutical excipients portfolio for GCC markets.
• Identify the highest-priority excipients required by regional pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• Map existing suppliers, distributors and competitors.
• Identify international excipient manufacturers seeking GCC representation or distribution.
• Evaluate potential principals in Europe, India, China, the United States and other qualified manufacturing regions.
• Develop direct relationships with pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers.
• Work with Procurement, R&D, Formulation, Production, Quality and Regulatory departments.
• Understand customer formulation requirements and identify suitable excipient solutions.
• Coordinate samples, specifications and technical documentation.
• Support supplier qualification and customer approval processes.
• Evaluate local-stock requirements and regional supply models.
• Develop pricing, MOQ and supply strategies.
• Create account and territory development plans.
• Identify portfolio gaps and recommend new products.
• Develop strategic partnerships with excipient manufacturers.
• Build a qualified commercial pipeline across GCC pharmaceutical customers.

Initial Excipients Focus

The initial portfolio may include:

Fillers & Diluents

• Microcrystalline Cellulose
• Lactose
• Mannitol
• Sorbitol
• Calcium Phosphates
• Starches

Binders

• Povidone
• Pregelatinized Starch
• Cellulose derivatives
• Selected polymeric binders

Disintegrants

• Croscarmellose Sodium
• Crospovidone
• Sodium Starch Glycolate

Lubricants & Flow Agents

• Magnesium Stearate
• Stearic Acid
• Colloidal Silicon Dioxide
• Talc

Liquid & Syrup Systems

• Sucrose
• Glucose
• Liquid Glucose
• Sorbitol
• Glycerol
• Xanthan and selected hydrocolloids

Advanced / Functional Excipients

• Cyclodextrin systems
• Solubility-enhancement excipients
• Microencapsulation carriers
• Functional coating systems
• Specialty delivery systems

Strategic Portfolio Development

The candidate should not simply accept whatever suppliers offer.

We expect the Business Unit Manager to determine:

• Which excipients GCC manufacturers buy most frequently?
• Which products require local stock?
• Which products are controlled by established distributors?
• Where are customers looking for alternative sources?
• Which categories offer meaningful margin?
• Which products create strong technical differentiation?
• Which manufacturers are underrepresented in the Middle East?
• Which excipients can serve both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications?

Customer Segments

Priority customer groups include:

• Pharmaceutical manufacturers
• Generic pharmaceutical companies
• Nutraceutical manufacturers
• Supplement manufacturers
• CDMO / CMO companies
• Healthcare-product manufacturers
• Formulation laboratories
• Selected pharmaceutical distributors

GCC Market Development

The role will initially focus on:

• UAE
• Saudi Arabia
• Qatar
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Bahrain

Particular attention will be given to identifying the different purchasing structures and formulation requirements of each market.

Supplier & Principal Development

The successful candidate will actively identify international manufacturers capable of supplying:

• Compendial-grade excipients
• Consistent industrial quality
• Complete technical documentation
• Competitive GCC pricing
• Commercially realistic MOQs
• Reliable international supply

The candidate will participate in:

• Supplier evaluation
• Commercial negotiations
• Representation discussions
• Territory strategy
• Product prioritisation
• Market-entry planning

Technical Understanding

The ideal candidate should understand why an excipient is selected, not simply know its name.

Experience or knowledge in areas such as the following is strongly valued:

• Tablet compression
• Powder flow
• Binding
• Disintegration
• Dissolution
• Lubrication
• Solubility
• Suspension systems
• Coating
• Oral solid dosage forms
• Gummies
• Sachets
• Powders
• Syrups
• Effervescent products

Candidate Profile

• 7+ years in Pharmaceutical Excipients, Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Pharma Distribution or related B2B markets.
• Strong existing knowledge of excipient products.
• Experience with pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• Good understanding of formulation and pharmaceutical production.
• Experience developing suppliers or international principals.
• Strong commercial and negotiation capabilities.
• Experience building new markets or product portfolios.
• Ability to operate independently and create a business unit rather than simply inherit one.
• GCC or Middle East experience strongly preferred.
• Fluent English required.
• Arabic is an advantage.

Ideal Background

Relevant candidates may currently work as:

• Excipients Business Development Manager
• Pharmaceutical Ingredients Business Manager
• Excipients Product Manager
• Pharma Distribution Business Unit Manager
• Regional Sales Manager – Excipients
• Technical Sales Manager – Pharma Ingredients
• Strategic Sourcing Manager – Excipients
• Pharmaceutical Ingredients Portfolio Manager
• Excipients Market Development Manager

What We Offer

• Competitive fixed salary.
• Performance-based incentive structure.
• GCC-wide responsibility.
• High autonomy in building the business unit.
• Direct access to international ingredient manufacturers.
• Opportunity to select and develop new supplier relationships.
• Direct interaction with pharmaceutical manufacturers across the Middle East.
• Opportunity to shape the long-term PGT pharma ingredient strategy.
• Possibility to build a significant new business platform rather than simply manage an existing territory.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who can enter a pharmaceutical market and determine:

• Which excipients are being consumed?
• Who currently supplies them?
• What problems do customers have with existing suppliers?
• Which products require alternative sources?
• Which principals could compete?
• What specifications are required?
• Which customers need local stock?
• Where does technical support matter?
• Which products have enough commercial potential to justify adding them to the portfolio?

The goal is to build a structured, technically credible and scalable GCC excipients business.