Business Development & Specification Sales Manager

Business Development & Specification Sales Manager

About Sesame

Sesame designs, engineers and installs specialist accessibility products and lifts, from repeatable solutions through to major bespoke projects for landmark buildings and estates in the UK and internationally. Our technical capability is genuinely differentiated; our ambition now is to build the commercial system to match it.

The opportunity

We are creating a new senior commercial role to drive sustainable, profitable growth. This is not a role to administer incoming enquiries or manage an inherited territory. It is to create new opportunities, get Sesame in earlier at design and specification stage, and build lasting referral and recommendation channels that generate recurring business over several years.

You will be Sesame's internal expert in professional business development, specification sales and channel development. The Managing Director and Director will give you direction, senior backing and access to our technical experts, but you will bring the commercial method, energy and execution that the business does not currently have in-house. The balance of the role is roughly 70% consultant, specification, strategic account and channel development, and 30% proactive new-business hunting.

What you will do

• Build the channel network. Develop long-term relationships with lift consultants, access consultants and selected lift companies so they recognise when Sesame is suitable, involve us early and recommend or specify us.
• Develop strategic accounts. Grow relationships with architects, major property owners, estates and developers, working to structured account plans rather than occasional contact.
• Activate the market. Turn CPDs, events, product launches, case studies and campaigns into measurable commercial activity, owning the commercial purpose and follow-up.
• Own the commercial relationship. Identify and qualify opportunities, engage the right client-side decision-makers, arrange focused technical meetings, and keep commercial ownership before, during and after our technical experts join the conversation.
• Convert and progress. Drive opportunities through specification, proposal, negotiation and order, maintaining a clear pipeline with reliable source, influence and next-action records.
• Develop international opportunities. Grow selected agents, collaborators and high-value international prospects where there is a credible route to profitable business, without diluting the priority UK network.
• Improve how we sell. Segment the market, prioritise the accounts that matter, challenge low-value activity, and build a repeatable commercial methodology that can be measured, improved and scaled.

How the role works

You are not expected to know every product variation or make unsupported technical commitments. You do need to become technically knowledgeable enough to recognise credible opportunities, ask intelligent questions and prepare all parties well. When an opportunity is qualified, our Managing Director, engineering lead or another specialist leads the detailed technical discussion, while you retain commercial ownership of the meeting and the follow-up.

You will also make good use of our developing AI and commercial-intelligence systems for meeting preparation, account history, opportunity prioritisation and drafting. The principle is simple: these tools research, retrieve and draft; you review, decide and communicate. No external communication leaves Sesame without your review and approval.

What we're looking for

• Proven success in specification, consultant, channel or relationship-led selling.
• Experience in construction, building systems, specialist engineering, accessibility, capital equipment or a comparable sector.
• A track record of creating new business, not just managing inherited accounts.
• Credibility with senior consultants, architects, engineers, property professionals and commercial decision-makers.
• Ability to manage long, technically complex sales cycles with strong qualification and pipeline discipline.
• Confidence to challenge ineffective activity and poor commercial decisions, and to build and improve a sales methodology.
• Technical curiosity, without needing to be the final engineering authority.
• Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, and comfort working directly with company directors.
• Comfortable using AI-supported systems while retaining personal accountability.
• Direct lift, accessibility or vertical-transportation experience.
• Existing consultant or architectural relationships.
• International partner or agent-development experience.
• Experience selling bespoke, engineered or high-value products.

A strong specification salesperson from façades, specialist building products, architectural systems, premium engineering or capital equipment may suit this role better than a lift-industry candidate whose experience is limited to servicing an existing territory.

Package

• Base salary: competitive senior salary in the region of £55,000 to £65,000, depending on experience and calibre.
• Commission: uncapped, based principally on the profitable new business you originate, rewarding value and margin rather than unit volume.
• Company-growth accelerator: a further incentive linked to overall company growth above an agreed baseline.

Full commission details will be shared and agreed as part of the offer process.

Why this role

This is a senior, hands-on role with real commercial authority and the backing of the company's directors. You will shape how Sesame structures its market, decides which relationships matter most, and turns genuine technical strength into sustainable, profitable growth. If you want to build a commercial system rather than inherit one, we would like to hear from you.