Business Development Lead
$128,000–$192,000 year
HybridOakland, California, United States
Job Summary
Build and own a qualified pipeline of prospects across CPG, specifically snacking, beverage, and private label. Run structured outbound prospecting including account mapping, decision-maker identification, cold outreach, and trade show coverage. Lead prospects through category-creation selling by educating R&D, procurement, and brand teams on product value and performance. Manage sampling, spec alignment, and bench-to-pilot progression with customer R&D teams. Own the full deal cycle from first meeting through fulfillment, coordinating with distribution partners on logistics and handoff. Maintain rigorous pipeline hygiene and feed market intelligence back to R&D and leadership regarding competitive moves and pricing signals.
Required Qualifications
- 5 to 8 years of B2B sales or business development experience in food ingredient sales
- Background selling novel or innovative ingredients (for example, stevia, sugar reduction, or other new-to-market ingredients) or compound chocolate and coatings
- Experience in food
- Proven track record sourcing and closing new business, not just managing inherited accounts
- Comfortable selling a technical product to R&D, procurement, and commercial stakeholders simultaneously
- Fluent in ingredient sales mechanics: specs, sampling, trials, co-manufacturing, MOQs, indexed pricing
- Self-directed and resourceful; you build your own target lists, materials, and processes when they do not exist
Desired Qualifications
- confectionery or bakery
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