Senior Business Development Manager

Asquith Bhondi is a specialist consultancy advising UK businesses on R&D Tax Relief, Patent Box and innovation incentives.

We are a growing, senior-led boutique. Our approach is technically rigorous, commercially minded and relationship-driven. We do not operate as a high-volume tax-credit sales house, and we are deliberately selective about the clients, projects and partnerships we pursue.

We are now looking for an experienced Senior Business Development Manager to help lead the next stage of our commercial growth.

The role

The primary objective is straightforward: originate and convert high-quality professional-services revenue. You will build on your own existing professional network while developing new relationships with accountants, advisers, SME owners, finance leaders and other relevant intermediaries.

You will work closely with our Commercial Partner, Managing Director, and consulting team, bringing technical colleagues into opportunities where their expertise strengthens the conversation.

This is not a volume outbound role. We care much more about the quality of the opportunity, the strength of the relationship and the likelihood of conversion than headline activity numbers.

What you’ll be doing

• Originate new client revenue and activate existing professional relationships.
• Build high-value referral partnerships with accountants, advisers and other intermediaries.
• Develop relationships with SME owners, Managing Directors, FDs/CFOs and other senior decision-makers.
• Properly qualify opportunities and focus time on those with genuine commercial potential.
• Manage strong opportunities from first conversation through to engagement.
• Maintain a credible pipeline with realistic values, next actions, decision dates and forecasts.
• Represent Asquith Bhondi at selected networking, partner and industry events.
• Work with our technical team where specialist input will improve an opportunity.
• Develop opportunities across R&D Tax Relief, Patent Box and adjacent innovation services.
• Contribute to wider commercial strategy, including which sectors, partnerships and routes to market deserve investment.

Who we’re looking for

The most important requirement is an existing, active professional network. We want somebody who can demonstrate relationships they can genuinely activate, not simply experience undertaking outbound business development.

You are likely to have:

• Meaningful professional-services business development experience, ideally around five years or more.
• A demonstrable record of personally originating and converting revenue.
• An active network across accountants, advisers, SME owners, FDs/CFOs or similar senior decision-makers.
• Strong commercial judgement: knowing which opportunities deserve attention and which do not.
• Credibility when dealing with business owners, partners and senior finance professionals.
• Good pipeline management, forecasting and follow-up discipline.
• The confidence to operate independently in a small, entrepreneurial business.
• A relationship-led approach rather than a transactional or high-volume sales mentality.
• Enough intellectual curiosity to understand technically complex services and know when to bring a specialist into the conversation.

R&D experience?

Useful, but not essential.

Strong candidates could come from:

• Accountancy or tax
• Corporate finance or commercial finance
• Legal, IP or patent services
• Banking or SME finance
• Grant funding and the innovation ecosystem

What matters is that you bring the relationships, commercial judgement and senior credibility required to create opportunities quickly.

What kind of person fits Asquith Bhondi?

We’re looking for somebody who is commercially ambitious without being overly promotional. You should be comfortable saying no to weak opportunities, focusing effort where it matters and building relationships that have value over several years rather than chasing one-off transactions.

You will also need to be comfortable in a growing business: low ego, hands-on, able to operate independently, and interested in helping shape how the commercial function develops.

This is an opportunity to join a growing specialist consultancy at a stage where an experienced commercial hire can have a meaningful influence on the business.

You will have:

• Close access to senior leadership.
• Significant autonomy over how you develop your network and pipeline.
• Experienced technical support behind you.
• The opportunity to influence commercial strategy rather than simply execute somebody else’s playbook.
• A broader proposition than R&D Tax Relief alone, spanning Patent Box and the wider innovation landscape.

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