Business Development Principal

Full time London based with some travel expected

For uncompromising cat parents who want the best KatKin is revolutionising cat health by transforming the lives of cats through superior nutrition. Were Europes first fresh-cooked cat food made with 100% human-grade meat gently cooked and frozen to lock in freshness. As a disruptor in the $185bn pet food market KatKin was founded to challenge the low standards set by the traditional cat food industry which is worth $50bn globally and is this fastest growing segment in the pet care market. The concept for fresh food is well established in the US particularly in Dog with the Farmers Dog surpassing >$1B in sales proving the scale of the opportunity.

KatKin is vertically integrated across R&D manufacturing sales and marketing. To date weve delivered around 62 million fresh meals to over 270000 happy healthy cats across the UK. Our team of over 150 spans several locations including London USA and our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Haverhill Suffolk. We also have customer service teams in both London and South Africa.

KatKin operates a direct-to-consumer (D2C) model supported by a first-class dedicated customer service addition to our eCommerce channel our Fresh food and Pantry products are also sold through a growing number of select third-party platforms including Ocado Amazon and Pets at Home.

Where the competition cuts corners catfishes customers and puts profits over health KatKin puts cat well-being first. No shortcuts. No secret recipes. Were cutting the fluff thinking fresh and channelling hardcore love into industry-wide change. So cats live long and cat parents can love hard without compromise.

If you want to join an ambitious mission-driven high-growth startup thats making a genuine difference to cats (and their peoples) lives youll love working at KatKin. Youll be surrounded by knowledgeable scientists big creative thinkers astute business minds and a whole team of hardcore cat parents. Were a small entrepreneurial creative team focused on the mission to give all cats the food they deserve - 100% fresh human-grade meat.

As a Business Development Principal youll have end-to-end ownership of high-impact work and projects that are critical to driving our growth and innovation. Reporting directly to the co-CEO and co-founder you will work cross-functionally to answer the big questions identify opportunities and develop and implement strategies to unlock new revenue streams improve operational efficiency and deliver value for our customers.

In our fast-paced start-up environment youll need to be scrappy resourceful and hands-on. You should be comfortable wearing multiple hats and making decisions in ambiguity. Youll play a pivotal role in shaping KatKins future with your ability to manage complexity influence stakeholders interpret data and deliver results.

KatKin Business Development initiatives to date have included management of large scale production change launching new acquisition channels (direct sales and influencer marketing) key support on fundraising launching and scaling retail in UK and EU scoping international DTC expansion reviewing and owning internal initiatives such as company-wide employee survey and onboarding.

• End-to-End Initiative Ownership: Autonomously lead high-priority cross-functional initiatives from ideation to execution delivering measurable business impact - first initiative will focus on Fresh and Pantry product NPD building on product strategy work currently underway.

• Strategic Problem Solving:Tackle complex business questions using a hypothesis-based approach (e.g. what should our Fresh product range be). Where relevant synthesize internal and external data leverage team expertise and conduct market research to bring clarity and direction in ambiguity.

• Stakeholder Management:Build strong relationships with internal teams and external partners aligning priorities securing buy-in and driving collaboration to achieve objectives.

• Scrappy Execution: Take a practical hands-on approach to overcome resource constraints adapting quickly to shifting priorities and challenges while still delivering high quality results.

• Data Analytics:Leverage data to support story telling inform decision-making measure impact and optimise initiative performance.

• Influence and Leadership:Act as a thought leader within the organisation fostering a culture of innovation ownership and excellence.

• Team management: Oversee direction and delivery of work of the Business Development Manager who will report directly to you.

• Experience in strategy and business planning: Ideally you have a background in strategy consulting combined with hands-on experience working within a business environment.

• Proven track record of delivery: You have owned the scoping planning and delivery of high impact commercial and/or operational initiatives

• Problem solving ability:You thrive solving problems in a fast-paced environment bringing structure to complexity and simplifying in ambiguity. You are able to apply a hypothesis based approach to your work to quickly get to the right answer.

• Project management skills:You are organised andexcel at managing multiple projects and stakeholders simultaneously in a time-sensitive fast-paced environment.

• Analytical mindset:You excel at distilling data into key insights and actionable takeaways to support your work. You can effectively present them in a way that is easily understood by others.

• Effective stakeholder management:You cancollaborate with diverse stakeholders leveraging strong influencing skills to secure alignment and buy-in.

• High Bias for Action:You combine big-picture thinking with a practical ability to execute quickly identifying and acting on two-way door opportunities.

• High growth potential: You are driven and looking to continue to develop and grow as a senior leader at KatKin.

• High performance personality:Demonstrated achievements in demanding work academic sporting and/or personal extracurricular pursuits.

• Thrive in an in-office setting:You value face-to-face connections collaborative teamwork and dynamic energy that comes from working alongside passionate people

• Alignment with Core Principles: You align strongly with KatKins core operating principles: Think Big Relentlessly High Standards Never Give Up No Egos Urgency Matters and One Team.

• Career-Defining Opportunity: Play a pivotal role in scaling KatKin quickly.

• Competitive Package:

  • Competitive salary

  • AXA Health Insurance including optical and dental coverage

  • Annual personal development budget

  • Company-contributed pension

  • EMI equity option grant

• Culture and Perks:

  • A small close-knit team with no egos

  • 33 holiday days each year (including bank holidays) plus your birthday off

  • 4-week Work From Anywhere (WFA) policy

  • 12-week maternity/paternity leave policy

  • Discount on KatKin fresh meals

  • Cat (and dog) friendly office