Senior Agency Development Manager – Global Brands APAC

ABOUT THE ROLE:

Agencies decide what gets planned, pitched, and bought. This role exists to make X the default recommendation inside those rooms.

You own the agency system and the commercial architecture for Global Brands across APAC. That means holding-company and regional leadership in Singapore and India — and, as a hiring requirement, the Business Directors, Client Directors, and Account Directors who write the plans and clear the buys. A C-suite network without working-level relationships is not sufficient for this role. You will structure commercial deals, navigate complex agency structures, and create the conditions for the sales tea to win more spend.

This is a senior individual-contributor role. You will operate independently, set your own map, and be accountable for agency-sourced revenue influence and partnership quality. You will work as a peer with the Global Brand sales team — close partnership, distinct ownership. This role reports to the Head of Global Brands, APAC.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Build and run the agency development plan for Global Brands across APAC — covering holding companies, regional hubs in Singapore and India, operating companies, and key independents.
• Develop strategic relationships at two levels, both required:
• Structure and negotiate commercial deals with agencies: trading agreements, partnership frameworks, incentives, joint business plans, and other constructs that lock in commitment and unlock spend.
• Navigate complex agency structures — holdco vs. opco, regional vs. local P&Ls, media vs. creative vs. social specialists, and split decision rights between Singapore regional teams and in-market India / SEA offices. Know who decides, who influences, who executes, and how a regional recommendation dies or ships in-market.
• Act as the primary trusted advisor to priority agencies. Educate teams on X products, audiences, creative, brand safety, and measurement. Arm them to recommend X to their brand clients without you in the room.
• Partner with Client Partners and market teams to convert agency relationships into live campaigns, larger statements of work, and multi-market commitments.
• Identify whitespace: agencies and pods that should be recommending X and currently are not. Open those doors and create a path to revenue.
• Represent X at agency town halls, leadership forums, holding-company reviews, industry events, and in-market working sessions.
• Track partnership health and commercial performance. Course-correct quickly. Do not wait for a quarterly review to find out a key agency has gone quiet.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• A self-starter who runs independently. You do not need a playbook handed to you. You build one, socialize it, and execute.
• 10–12+ years in media sales, agency development, or senior agency-side commercial / client leadership, with a clear record of driving revenue through agency partnerships in APAC.
• An existing network you can use immediately — not a list you hope to build. It must already include:
• Proven experience structuring commercial deals and working through layered agency decision-making (holding companies, operating companies, local markets, specialist units).
• Strong negotiation, communication, and presentation skills. Credible with a regional CEO and useful to a Business Director running a global brand the same week.
• Deep understanding of how media, creative, social, and performance agencies plan and buy in APAC.
• Comfortable with ambiguity, competing stakeholders, and a fast-moving product environment.
• Willingness to travel regularly across Southeast Asia and India.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Thai or Hindi (spoken). Strongly preferred — this will materially increase effectiveness in key markets.
• Time spent inside a holding-company network (WPP, Publicis, Omnicom, IPG, Dentsu, Havas) or a major independent, plus platform-side agency development.
• Direct experience standing up or resetting an agency partnership in a market where the platform was under-indexed.
• Working fluency in how global brands brief regional and local agencies across SEA and India.
• Experience with both brand and performance agency models.