Current openings

Head of Business Development
10+ years’ experience

We are seeking a senior sales professional to develop and lead our business development function. Initially, the scope of the role will be within BVA BDRC but with a medium-term plan to build a structure which extends across our portfolio of BDRC Group UK-based consumer insight businesses. The role will also entail working in partnership with business development colleagues across the wider BVA Family.  

This is an exciting opportunity to develop a new function from inception, with board-level potential.  

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of success in a full-service market research sales context, as a guideline, with 10+ years’ experience. A demonstrable track record of revenue growth and new client acquisition means they are now ready to take on additional responsibility for executing a crucial component of the company’s growth strategy.  

They will be goal-driven, an effective manager of people, entrepreneurial, charismatic, tenacious, a confident presenter, and adept at nurturing relationships – someone who can confidently articulate our mission to inspire performance and purpose, but also exemplify it themselves. 

What’s the job?

The holder of this role will immediately join our Senior Management Team and will have lead responsibility for shaping and executing the company’s business development strategy – with ownership of the company’s budget for ‘new biz’ – and, in the fullness of time, developing a sales team and group-wide structure for sales. 

Revenue generation from existing clients will not be within scope (as we have dedicated key account teams for this purpose) but identifying and nurturing new leads / budget holders within existing client organisations will be a key component of the strategy, as will targeting organisations which have not previously worked with BVA BDRC. 

The role will entail identifying leads, initiating conversations across channels, nurturing dialogues over a period, then in partnership with subject matter experts within our executive teams, producing a proposal, leading a pitch – up to the conversion of the opportunity into business. All activity will be recorded and reported via HubSpot, the company’s CRM platform. 

As the main interface between the company and target clients, we envisage that the successful candidate will be ideally placed to feed back on reaction to the company’s products and solutions, helping us to refine them in line with the needs of a rapidly changing market. 

Although at first, the successful candidate will be working as a one-person function within the agency, they will be working with other business development colleagues from sister companies, and will be fully supported by the Marketing & Design Team within BVA BDRC – which leads the development of credentials, coordinates client / prospect events, manages our social media channels, and supports on lead generation. 

Subject to a successful probation and initial goals being hit, we envisage that a strong case will be made for growing the team. We also expect that within 12 months, the successful candidate will be invited to join the BVA BDRC board of directors. 

What you’ll do

  • With the support of the CEO and CCO, devise a long-term plan for the company’s approach to proactive business development – including the prioritisation of targets
  • Be an evangelist for growth and relationship development best practice, with a high level of visibility both internally and externally (including on LinkedIn) 
  • Report on progress against new business targets to the Senior Management Team monthly 
  • Take the lead role in making approaches, nurturing leads and managing the pipeline
  • Take briefs from prospects and, in partnership with the relevant subject matter experts, develop proposals, pitches or approved supplier applications to point of conversion   
  • Build and develop a team to support the strategy 

What you’ll bring

You must be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

  • Extensive experience in senior sales and relationship development roles in a market research agency context (10+ years), with a demonstrable track record of achievement 
  • All the competencies required of a senior manager, including: 
    • Exceptional people management skills 
    • Strong presenting skills 
    • An entrepreneurial mentality, coupled with sound commercial judgement and the persistence to nurture leads through the pipeline 
    • The ability to communicate effectively to both external and internal audiences 
    • A readiness to articulate and exemplify our call-to-action, “Be Better”, helping to inspire performance and purpose among target clients
Exposure to client organisations in the financial, media, automotive, transport and travel sectors would be an advantage.  

What you’ll enjoy

Competitive salary in line with experience 

Commission linked to sales performance, plus discretionary year-end bonus 

Subject to success in Year 1, the opportunity to join the board of directors 

Hybrid working, mixing home with our London offices in King’s Cross and Angel 

26 days annual leave, increasing with service 

A variety of employee benefits 

Supportive and collaborative culture 

Monthly social events and regular CSR activities 

Are you right for the role?

Send us your CV with a brief email about why you’d be a good fit, with Head of Business Development’ in the subject. 

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