Witan Search
Business Development Director
London
Posted about 24 hours ago
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
1Upload CV
2Analyse CV
3Improve CV
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Role Purpose
The Business Development Director will lead the organisation’s growth strategy identifying new markets, customers, applications and partnerships that deliver sustainable revenue and margin growth. The role requires a commercially astute leader with strong technical awareness, sector knowledge and the ability to build long-term relationships with senior decision-makers across manufacturing, distribution, industrial, specialty chemical, agrochemical, life sciences, food, pharmaceutical or related markets.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and deliver the business development strategy for target chemical markets, sectors, territories and customer segments.
- Identify, qualify and convert new business opportunities through market analysis, networking, prospecting, tenders, referrals and strategic account planning.
- Build and maintain senior-level relationships with customers, distributors, channel partners, suppliers and industry stakeholders.
- Lead complex commercial negotiations, including pricing, contract terms, supply agreements, service levels and long-term partnership arrangements.
- Work closely with technical, regulatory, operations, supply chain, finance and customer service teams to ensure proposals are commercially viable and operationally deliverable.
- Analyse market trends, customer needs, competitor activity, regulatory developments and emerging applications to inform growth plans.
- Own the sales pipeline, forecasting, CRM discipline and opportunity reporting, providing clear visibility to senior leadership.
- Develop value propositions, proposals and presentations that translate technical product or service capabilities into customer-focused commercial solutions.
- Represent the company at customer meetings, trade shows, conferences, industry forums and networking events.
- Ensure all business development activity complies with health, safety, environmental, quality, ethical and regulatory requirements relevant to the chemical sector.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Experience and Qualifications
- Significant experience in business development, strategic sales, commercial leadership or key account management within the chemical sector or a closely related technical B2B environment.
- Strong understanding of chemical manufacturing, distribution, formulation, contract manufacturing, specialty chemicals, industrial chemicals or adjacent markets.
- Proven track record of delivering revenue growth, margin improvement, new customer acquisition and long-term account development.
- Experience managing complex sales cycles involving technical, procurement, regulatory, quality and executive stakeholders.
- Degree-level qualification in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering or relevant technical subject preferred.
- Postgraduate qualification, MBA or professional commercial training would be advantageous.
- Experience using CRM systems, pipeline management tools and data-led forecasting methods.
- Ability to travel regularly for customer meetings, site visits, trade events and industry networking.
- Experience in both Organic and Inorganic chemical sales.
- Experience in commercial leadership of R&D projects from cradle to market.
- M&A commercial development experience preferred.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Key Skills and Competencies
- Commercially focused, with strong judgement around profitability, pricing, risk and customer value.
- Technically credible, with the ability to engage confidently with scientific, technical and operational stakeholders.
- Strategic thinker who can translate market insight into practical growth plans.
- Excellent relationship-building, influencing and negotiation skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication, including proposal writing and executive-level presentations.
- Analytical and data-informed, with the ability to interpret market intelligence, pipeline metrics and financial performance.
- Resilient, self-motivated and comfortable operating in long-cycle, complex B2B sales environments.
- Collaborative leadership style, able to align cross-functional teams around customer and commercial priorities.
- Strong awareness of compliance, quality, health and safety, sustainability and regulatory expectations in the chemical industry.
Key Performance Indicators
- Revenue growth and gross margin contribution from new and existing customers.
- Value and quality of qualified pipeline opportunities.
- New customer acquisition, strategic account growth and retention rates.
- Conversion rate from prospect to proposal and proposal to contract.
- Delivery of agreed territory, sector or product growth plans.
- Accuracy of sales forecasts and CRM reporting.
- Strength and depth of customer, partner and stakeholder relationships.
- Contribution to market intelligence, product development insight and strategic planning.
Trusted by 25,000+ job seekers
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Location