VP Content Acquisition leading global content strategy, major studio deals and investment across international, Arabic and Turkish markets
VP – Entertainment Content Acquisition
Location: GCC region
International Travel: Required
Confidential Executive Search
The Opportunity We are working with a leading global entertainment and media organisation to appoint a VP – Entertainment Content Acquisition in Doha. This is a senior executive leadership role responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation’s content acquisition function across international, Arabic and Turkish markets.
The successful candidate will lead the acquisition and licensing strategy across a broad entertainment portfolio spanning movies, series, kids, lifestyle, documentaries and third-party channels, with responsibility for building and managing relationships with major studios, distributors, broadcasters, agencies and independent production companies.
This is a highly influential role, combining strategic leadership, content investment, commercial negotiations and financial accountability, with the opportunity to shape the content proposition across multiple streaming and entertainment platforms.
The Role You will set the strategic direction for the content acquisition function, ensuring acquisition strategies align with wider business objectives and support platform growth, customer acquisition, engagement and retention.
You will lead the evaluation, acquisition, licensing and negotiation of content rights across MENA, Turkey and international markets, developing market-specific strategies that reflect audience demand, competitive positioning and commercial priorities. You will establish acquisition and deal-making frameworks and ensure content investments deliver strong strategic and financial value.
A key element of the role will be managing relationships with major Hollywood studios, international and regional distributors, media companies, agencies and independent production companies. You will act as a senior representative of the organisation in negotiations and industry engagements, identifying opportunities to strengthen the content portfolio and develop strategic partnerships.
You will also work closely with senior stakeholders across Programming, Operations, Creative, Commercial, Finance, Legal and Strategy, ensuring content acquisition decisions are aligned across the wider organisation and its various platforms.
Financial & Commercial Leadership You will have full financial accountability for the content acquisition function, including budgeting, forecasting, P&L management and financial controls. You will monitor acquisition effectiveness, content performance and return on investment, using market intelligence, audience data and commercial analysis to inform investment decisions.
You will provide regular reporting and strategic recommendations to executive leadership, helping shape content investment priorities and the overall portfolio strategy.
Leadership As a senior leader, you will provide strategic direction across international, Arabic and Turkish acquisition teams, creating a high-performance, collaborative and innovative culture.
You will lead teams across multiple markets and content genres, driving accountability, continuous improvement and effective collaboration while ensuring the function delivers against agreed commercial and strategic objectives.
What We're Looking For We're looking for an experienced entertainment executive with 15+ years of relevant content acquisition experience, ideally gained within major media, entertainment, broadcasting, pay-TV or OTT organisations.
You will have extensive experience negotiating and closing complex content acquisition and licensing agreements, including relationships with major studios and distributors. You will also bring a strong understanding of content valuation, audience behaviour, competitive positioning and the economics of pay-TV and OTT.
The ideal candidate will have: