Business Development Manager (China)

Department: Sales

Reporting to: UK Pod Lead

Employment type: Full-time

Salary: £40,000-£45,000; OTE up to £105,000

Location: Remote, UK-based, with monthly London meetups and regular periods working from China of up to 3 weeks at a time

Languages: Fluent Mandarin and professional-level English

About Gocertify

Gocertify is a bootstrapped UK tech start-up helping brands run smarter, more targeted reward campaigns. We verify eligible audiences such as students, key workers and seniors, so brands can move away from broad discounting, protect brand value and offer the right rewards to the right customers. We are trusted by 500+ brands, including Samsung, Sainsbury's and FARFETCH. We work with 2m+ shoppers a year, drive £125m+ in retail sales, and have grown profitably and bootstrapped since 2020. We are a team of around 20 people, working remotely with monthly meetups in London.

Why this role exists

China is becoming an increasingly important market for Gocertify. We are already seeing strong opportunities with over 50 Chinese consumer brands looking to grow in the UK and other international markets, and now want someone focused on developing that market full-time. Some of our strongest progress has come through events, introductions and face-to-face relationships in China. We now want to turn that early traction into a more consistent commercial channel.

Role and scope

This is a hands-on commercial role focused on building Gocertify's presence with Chinese brands. You'll own the China new-business pipeline from identifying the right brands and opening conversations through to demo, negotiation and close. A big part of the role is building relationships directly with Chinese businesses, both remotely and during regular time in China. You'll stay close to new partners through launch where your Mandarin, market knowledge or existing relationship helps, before Client Success takes over the ongoing relationship. This isn't a mature territory with a fixed playbook. You'll build your own pipeline, win Chinese brands and help us work out the most effective way to grow Gocertify in China. As our first full-time commercial hire focused on China, you'll also help shape how we approach the market as we learn what works.

What you will focus on

• Build a pipeline of Chinese brands
  • Building and prioritising a target list of Chinese consumer brands with strong UK or international growth potential
  • Creating new opportunities through outbound, WeChat, LinkedIn, email, events, introductions and relevant partner networks
  • Finding and building relationships with the right contacts
  • Using time in China to meet priority brands in person, attend relevant industry events and develop relationships that are harder to build remotely
  • Testing which brands, messages and channels generate the strongest opportunities and adjusting your approach based on what works
• Own and close new business
  • Owning opportunities from first conversation through discovery, demo, negotiation and close
  • Understanding how prospective brands are approaching international growth, customer acquisition and promotions
  • Demoing Gocertify in Mandarin and English and tailoring the commercial case to what the brand is trying to achieve
  • Managing multiple stakeholders and keeping opportunities moving through clear next steps and consistent follow-up
  • Negotiating commercial terms and maintaining accurate pipeline and forecast information
• Help build a stronger China go-to-market
  • Sharing what you are learning about Chinese brands, buying processes, objections and competitors
  • Improving how we position and sell Gocertify in the Chinese market
  • Building useful Mandarin-language sales materials, case studies and other assets where they will help opportunities progress
  • Identifying which events, networks, partners and routes into the market are producing the strongest results
  • Turning what works into a more repeatable approach as our China business grows
• Support new partners through launch
  • Coordinating a clear handover into Client Success once a new partnership is agreed
  • Staying involved through onboarding where your Mandarin, market knowledge or relationship with the partner helps move things forward
  • Supporting clear communication around onboarding and implementation requirements
  • Creating or adapting Mandarin-language onboarding materials where useful
  • Feeding recurring questions or onboarding friction back into the wider team so we can improve the experience for future Chinese partners

Requirements

• Fluent Mandarin and professional-level English
• Experience in B2B sales, business development or partnerships
• Evidence of creating opportunities yourself through outbound, networking, introductions or account research
• Experience progressing commercial opportunities through discovery, demo, negotiation and close
• Confidence running product demonstrations and commercial conversations with prospective clients
• Experience building relationships with Chinese businesses and a strong understanding of how commercial relationships are developed in China
• Strong pipeline management, with clear follow-up, prioritisation and forecasting
• Comfort managing your own territory or pipeline with a high level of independence
• Experience using different routes to create opportunities, including digital outreach, networking and face-to-face relationship building
• Experience in ecommerce, retail, affiliate/performance marketing, SaaS, loyalty or related technology would help you get up to speed more quickly, but we do not require it.

Who will thrive in this role

This role will suit someone who is comfortable operating between two markets and can combine strong relationship-building with commercial discipline. You can bridge different ways of doing business. You'll often be the person closest to the Chinese market, so you'll need to understand what a prospect is really telling you and help the UK team understand the context behind it. Equally, you can explain Gocertify's approach in a way that makes sense to a Chinese partner, without simply translating a UK sales pitch word for word. You balance adaptability with commercial discipline. You'll need to adjust how you communicate and build relationships depending on the brand and situation, while still qualifying opportunities properly, maintaining momentum and being clear about what it will take to get a deal done. You're comfortable being the person closest to the market. There won't always be someone else internally who knows the answer about how a Chinese prospect, event or route to market works. You'll be expected to form a view, bring the right context back to the team and help us make sensible decisions from it.

How we work

Fully remote (UK-based) with monthly in-person meetings in London. Core working hours: 10am-4pm UK time with flexible remote work. When working from the UK, you'll work 6am-2pm up to three days a week to overlap with the Chinese working day. Regular travel to China, typically in trips of up to 3 weeks and totalling around 3 months across the year.

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave + UK bank holidays
• Private health insurance with AVIVA, including optical and dental cashback and the option to self-fund partners/dependents
• EMI share options
• Work-from-home budget
• Flexible remote work in many countries around our core hours, 10am-4pm UK
• Unlimited access to coworking spaces in 48+ countries through Hubble
• Access to incredible Gocertify offers