Business Development Manager

REPORTS & SCOPE
Reporting to: Commercial Director / VP Sales / General Manager (depending on structure)
Key interfaces: Marketing R&D/Product Operations/Manufacturing Quality &
Regulatory Supply Chain Finance Legal Customer Service
Scope: Domestic and/or regional export markets; B2B (retail foodservice distributors industrial clients)

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

Drive profitable growth by identifying developing and closing new business opportunities in the agro-food sector.
Build and manage strategic customer and partner relationships expand market presence (channels and geographies) and ensure commercial strategies align with operational capacity quality standards and regulatory requirements.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1) Commercial growth in modern trade & key accounts

Lead negotiations with national/regional retail chains: listing shelf space category review seasonal plans promo calendars and trade terms.
Manage category management conversations (assortment rationalization planograms pricing ladders pack-size architecture).
Own annual Joint Business Plans (JBP) with top accounts: volume margin promo plan distribution targets and activation.

2) New listings launches and portfolio management

Drive new product listings end-to-end: sell-in story pricing case pack shelf-ready packaging requirements barcodes/GS1 setup retailer portals.
Coordinate launch readiness across functions: packaging artwork approvals legal claims nutritional tables allergen statements shelf-life validation.
Manage portfolio decisions based on velocity margin and complexity (SKU rationalization; reduce low-rotation SKUs).

3) Trade spend promotions and in-store execution

Build and manage trade spend budgets (flyers end-caps in-store displays shopper promos sampling).
Evaluate promotion mechanics (TPR multibuy bundles) using post-event ROI analysis.
Coordinate with field sales/merchandisers/distributors to ensure availability facing and compliance with planograms and promo execution.

4) Private label and contract manufacturing (if applicable)

Develop private label opportunities: tender responses cost models specs MOQ lead times packaging formats and quality audits.
Manage negotiations on service levels penalties quality clauses and change- control processes (recipe/pack changes).

5) Demand planning alignment & service level ownership

Lead the commercial inputs to S&OP: forecast assumptions promo uplifts new listing ramps and seasonal peaks.
Collaborate with Supply Chain to manage capacity constraints substitutions and allocation rules during shortages.
Own customer-facing communication for OTIF risks recovery plans and revised delivery commitments.

6) Pricing cost volatility and margin protection

Monitor raw material and packaging cost movements (commodities) and propose price actions or pack/recipe adjustments where feasible.

Implement margin improvement levers: price/mix pack-size optimization case configuration logistics cost-to-serve.

7) Quality claims and customer incident management

Work closely with QA/Regulatory on complaints returns non-conformities and corrective actions that impact customers.
Ensure strict compliance with retailer standards: allergen management traceability recalls cold-chain integrity (if chilled/frozen).

8) Channel expansion beyond retail

Develop growth in foodservice (restaurants caterers institutions) with tailored formats (bulk packs different SKUs).
Expand distribution via wholesalers e-commerce marketplaces and export partners where relevant.

Qualifications :

PROFILE

Bachelors degree in Business Marketing Agribusiness Food Science or related field (MBA is a plus).
Minimum 710 years total commercial experience including 35 years in senior BD/KAM roles in processed foods (or closely related FMCG food categories).
Proven exposure to at least one of the following:
- Modern trade negotiations (national or regional chains)
- Distributor management
- Foodservice growth
- Private label / contract manufacturing tenders (if relevant)

COMPETENCES

A. Knowledge (what you must know)

Agro-food value chain: sourcing processing manufacturing constraints shelf-life cold chain traceability.
Channel dynamics: retail/modern trade traditional trade foodservice distributors/importers.
Fundamentals of food safety quality systems and regulatory/labeling requirements (local export where relevant).
Pricing and margin management trade spend mechanics basic financial modeling (P&L contribution margin).
Negotiation frameworks and contract basics (including Incoterms for exports if applicable).

B. Know-how (what you must be able to do)

Build and manage a robust pipeline (qualification prioritization forecasting).
Lead complex negotiations with senior stakeholders; close multi-site or multi-year agreements.
Create compelling proposals and business cases (market sizing ROI risk analysis).
Execute go-to-market plans and coordinate cross-functional launches.
Manage distributor networks (selection KPIs incentives governance).
Use CRM and analytics tools to drive decisions and performance.

C. Interpersonal skills (how you work)

Strong executive presence and persuasive communication.
Strategic thinking with a hands-on results-driven mindset.
High integrity and accountability; customer-first orientation.
Collaboration across functions; ability to resolve conflicts constructively.
Resilience and adaptability in fast-changing markets (supply constraints commodity swings).
Cultural sensitivity (especially for export and multi-market negotiations).

EXPECTED RESULTS

Consistent delivery of new revenue and gross margin growth.
A qualified pipeline that supports quarterly and annual targets.
Successful acquisition of strategic accounts/distributors in priority channels/markets.
Improved commercial discipline: forecasting accuracy CRM hygiene contract compliance.
Strong customer satisfaction and service levels in collaboration with operations.

  Expansion of product portfolio presence through effective launches and channel execution.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

GROWTH & PROFITABILITY

Net Sales Revenue by channel/account vs target
Gross margin / contribution margin by account/SKU (post-trade-spend)
Trade spend % of net sales and trade spend ROI
Price realization (actual net price vs list leakage from discounts/rebates)
RETAIL EXECUTION & PORTFOLIO HEALTH
Numeric & weighted distribution (% of stores / % of category turnover covered)
On-shelf availability (OSA) / out-of-stock rate (where data exists)
Shelf share / facing compliance (audit-based)
Promo compliance rate (promos executed as agreed; correct price timing displays)
SKU velocity (sales per store per week) and SKU rationalization impact
(complexity reduction vs sales loss)

PLANNING & SERVICE

Forecast accuracy (especially during promotions and launches)
OTIF / fill rate for key accounts and during promo peaks
Case-fill rate and order cycle time (order to delivery)
Claims rate / returns (% of sales or cases/ppm)

LAUNCH & INNOVATION EFFECTIVENESS

On-time-in-full launch readiness (artwork approvals barcodes specs completed by gate dates)
New product success rate (distribution achieved velocity repeat rate after X
weeks/months)
Retailer listing wins (# listings gained # banner wins tender win rate)

TOOLS

CRM: Salesforce HubSpot Dynamics (or equivalent).
Analytics & reporting: Excel/Google Sheets Power BI/Tableau
category/retail data tools (as available).
Sales enablement: PowerPoint/Google Slides proposal templates pricing calculators.
Collaboration: Teams/Slack shared drives (SharePoint/Google Drive) project trackers (Trello/Asana/Notion).
Market intelligence: industry reports trade press distributor sell-out data (where available).
Operational interfaces: ERP access (SAP/Oracle/Odoo or equivalent) for pricing orders and customer master data.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time