Business Development Manager
Job Description
As our Business Development Manager, you’ll create impact by directly driving revenue generation, catalysing and nurturing partnerships, and capitalising on new business opportunities.
Reporting to our Head of Growth, this role centres on getting our materials out of the lab and into products in the market. You’ll be selling our portfolio of developing material products to some of the biggest names in fashion - whilst using insights gained in sales meetings to shape future products. We’ll also count on you to be our eyes and ears to the market, keeping the team abreast of trends and opportunities across a wide spectrum of application spaces.
This isn’t a plug and play position. We're looking for someone who has the ingenuity and drive to help us build the material brand of the future. No matter your background, you’ll use your emotional intelligence and thorough understanding of sales techniques to help us reach the next level of commercialisation.
Efficiently convert inbound leads into qualified leads by understanding the specific needs and pain points of each potential customer
Develop + manage efficient lead management systems and automation tools, ensuring that each lead is promptly followed up with and nurtured through the sales funnel
Review and edit sales contracts with support from our legal counsel
Contribute to ongoing financial analysis, helping us to tell our quantitative growth story to our key stakeholders
Conduct market research to unearth new areas of opportunity for the company over the short, medium, and long term
Liaise with our Product team on both material sampling logistics and our product direction (which will be informed by sales meetings)
Assist in organising sales events, webinars and conferences
Assess effectiveness of sales operations in order to identify areas of improvement
REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Hard skills
You love selling. You have 3-5 years of experience in sales, account management, or business development - and you can draw from this experience to evidence prior success in implementing sales strategies that hit revenue targets.
You have experience working with CRM systems and managing sales pipeline processes
You have experience reviewing legal contracts. Detail oriented by nature, you’re comfortable with combing through legal contracts to propose changes that safeguard our growing business.
You think in Excel. You love spreadsheets and are comfortable creatively sourcing data points to build defensible financial forecasts.
Soft skills
You understand humans. You’re the type of person who can radically empathise with a variety of people and are known to quickly build genuine connections with leads.
You’re undaunted by ambiguity. When you encounter a roadblock, your default response is “what an interesting challenge….”, a mindset which continuously enables you to creatively generate solutions + workarounds.
You self start. You’re self-guided and highly comfortable balancing multiple assignments simultaneously within a fast-paced startup environment
DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
The following skills and experience are not required for the role, but would be beneficial for a successful applicant:
Existing knowledge of the fashion industry and/or automotive industry
Already spends free time reading and thinking about biodesign, material trends, fashion tech and / or the circular economy
Company pension scheme
Private health insurance, including vision and stipends
Enhance parental leave policy
Hybrid working arrangements
Flexible working hours
Cycle-to-work scheme
Headspace subscription
Dog-friendly office in Balham
Access to LinkedIn Learning
Individual training budget for professional development
OUR HIRING PROCESS
Round 0. Apply online and submit link(s) to any relevant work you’ve done
Round 1. 30 minute phone interview where we’ll dive into your work history and motivations for applying to Modern Synthesis
Round 2. 1 hour skills interview where we’ll explore the skills and knowledge you’ll bring to this role. If you are successful during this round you will be invited to complete a paid (we don’t believe in free work!) case study to complete before Round 3
Round 3. 1 hour cultural fit interview where you’ll present back your case study and we’ll discuss how work at Modern Synthesis aligns with your values and future plans
MODERN SYNTHESIS ED&I STATEMENT
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. The greatest ideas stem from a variety of perspectives, and an environment that supports equal representation and opportunities for all.
We are committed to driving global change. We only have one planet we all call home, and we need to work together to protect it. We believe in collaboration and a culture of debate. Disagreements are a chance to refocus our direction. We call this co-culture.
We welcome people of all races, genders, religions, ages, backgrounds, and abilities to our workplace and are committed to ensuring all our employees are safe, heard, represented and provided with every opportunity to thrive.
Equally we will act with integrity, purpose and respect in everything we do. We too are human. We will likely make mistakes and need to continue evolving our approach to ED&I as the world around us changes.