Business Development Manager, Food Retail, UK

Are you an experienced and ambitious Business Development Manager looking for a new opportunity to make your mark, where you could help grow one of the UK’s largest certification bodies, by working with some of the world’s leading food brands?

We have an exciting new role at NSF for a Business Development Manager to join our team. You’ll be responsible for developing a sales pipeline and generating sales revenue within the Food Retail sector. The primary focus will be the UK market, with targeted activity across Pubs, Restaurants, Hotels, Coffee Shops, Quick Service, Contract Catering, and Travel and Leisure operations.

By joining our team, you’ll have the chance to identify opportunities, build new relationships, and deliver impactful solutions that help prospects and clients meet their growth ambitions, while protecting their customers and brands. You’ll be working in step with companies as they seek to meet customer expectations, drive greater efficiency, and navigate change, whether that’s from new competitors, food safety risks, or sustainability objectives. Bring your industry knowledge and solution-finding skills to NSF for this exciting role!

• Winning, developing, and growing targeted Food Retail customers to key account level.
• Key market focus is the UK, with wider support of EMEA activity.
• Prospecting, creating, managing, and maintaining a pipeline, while ensuring all sales administration is current using SalesForce.
• Sales development and execution of accounts identified as strategic customers based on volume and value potential, or strategic expansion of existing accounts.
• Developing first to market opportunities for NSF, as well as market intelligence in terms of TIC sector, Food Retail mandates, and emerging regulatory and code of practice requirements.
• Responsible for YOY sales growth targets by territory, by business unit, and service line.
• Build strong partnerships with Marketing, Operations, and Business Unit resources.
• Presenting NSF solutions and services to clients through direct communication in face-to-face meetings, video or web meetings, telephone calls, conferences, and emails.
• Developing sales plans and forecasts for the territory, analysing the sector and segment needs and expectations, identifying the DMU (Decision Making Unit) and partnering with Marketing on building and executing a strategy designed specifically for the Food Retail sector.

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in business studies, management, economics, or food science.
• Successful and sustained track record in a results-driven sales role within a Commercial or Sales functions in the TIC sector.
• Demonstrable experience in planning, prospecting, and winning large scale Food Retail business, ideally within the TIC sector.
• Working knowledge of food sector standards i.e., GFSI, FSSC & GLOBALG.A.P. etc. and their relevance to Food Retail compliance needs.
• Ability to plan strategic market approaches, make data driven decisions, and deliver successful outcomes through skilled planning, ‘needs based’ selling, and fanatical prospecting.
• Creative and entrepreneurial thinking to exploit niche and enterprise level opportunities.
• Excellent communicator with the ability to confidently manage key stakeholder relationships at senior and C-suite level.
• Excellent negotiation, persuasion, and presentation skills.
• Ability to hunt new business.
• Ability to motivate fellow peers and colleagues.
• Travel is required to sites that are accessible by car. Must have a valid driving license and means of travel.
• Have a flexible approach to work around different multiple time zones as part of a global organisation, along with the ability to undertake international travel and stay overnight when required.
• Close proximity and ease of access to key head offices across the UK.