Business Development Executive

Central Employment are delighted to be working exclusively with an established and expanding independent Performance Marketing, Design and Development agency, as they look to grow their commercial team by appointing a Business Development Executive.

This is a proactive outbound role for someone who can create opportunity where no obvious brief exists. You will identify organisations that fit the agency’s filter, build commercially intelligent prospect lists, and use insight‑led outreach across phone, email, LinkedIn, social channels and industry networking events. Your goal is to secure qualified appointments for the business development team to pitch the agency and the right proposed solutions against the prospect’s business and commercial objectives. This is not a passive lead‑handling role. We are looking for a commercially alert, high‑energy Business Development Executive who can spot market signals, create urgency through insight and get senior decision makers into meaningful conversations.

Responsibilities

• Research, identify and document new business opportunities across the UK.
• Build target account lists using the agency filter, not generic volume‑led lists.
• Identify key decision makers, influencers and budget holders, including founders, CEOs, MDs, marketing directors, ecommerce leads, digital leads and commercial directors.
• Prioritise prospects based on fit, trigger events, commercial opportunity, timing, potential value and likelihood to convert.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, next actions, prospect intelligence, meeting notes and pipeline stages.
• Make confident, proactive outbound calls that open conversations, handle objections and secure the next step.
• Write sharp, tailored emails that show commercial understanding and give the prospect a reason to respond.
• Use LinkedIn and relevant social channels to connect, warm up prospects and spot timely reasons to engage.
• Represent the agency at relevant industry networking events, proactively opening senior‑level conversations and mapping out relationship opportunities face‑to‑face.
• Create follow‑up sequences across phone, email, LinkedIn and networking touchpoints, with persistence and professionalism.
• Book qualified meetings with decision makers for the business development team to pitch.
• Set every meeting up properly, with clear prospect context, objectives, pain points, stakeholders, opportunity size and suggested pitch angle.
• Collaborate with strategists, account managers, digital specialists, developers and creatives to shape the strongest first conversation.
• Support follow‑up activity after meetings where needed, keeping the opportunity moving and the CRM accurate.
• Learn from won, lost and stalled opportunities to continually improve targeting and messaging.

Qualifications

• A proven track record in B2B outbound sales, appointment setting, SDR/BDR activity or new business development.
• Elite phone skills: you can open calls, listen properly, challenge constructively, handle objections and secure a clear next step.
• Elite written outreach: concise, personalised and commercially persuasive, without sounding scripted or generic.
• Commercial curiosity: you can look at a business and quickly identify what might be holding it back or where it could grow.
• An understanding of digital, web, SEO, marketing, customer acquisition or agency services, or the ability to learn quickly.
• Excellent organisation, time management and CRM discipline.
• Confidence selling a complex, consultative proposition rather than a simple product.
• Resilience, self‑motivation and the drive to work in a target‑led environment.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships with senior decision makers.
• Competence with Microsoft Office / Google Workspace and confidence using online research tools.

Locations and Compensation

• Sunderland // Permanent – Up to £50,000 DOE
• County Durham or Cambridge + hybrid working // Permanent – £DOE
• UK remote + travel // Permanent – Up to £DOE + bonus