Director, Business Development - North America

Poka is seeking an experienced hands-on Sales leader to manage the rapid growth of its new business development department. You will be responsible for uncovering new business opportunities and drive the acquisition of new logos. Your ability to thrive in a fast-paced, result-oriented, start-up culture will put you on track for success. The ideal candidate is hands-on and passionate about winning in a growing market. The position will report to the Vice President of Global Sales & Partnerships based in our Montreal office. 

What is Business Development

• Building as many relationships as possible as the business progresses, which opens the gates of opportunities for the sales personnel to close their deals.
• Generating leads, growing the pipeline and closing deals.
  

Why is Business Development Important

• Reaching a buyer "now requires a larger effort by smarter people"
  
• A business developer should be strategic, broad minded and collaborative in approach.

Mission of the Director, Business Development

Primary

• Accelerate time to First Sales in New Accounts for sales team
• Drive credibility and thought leadership in the industry
• Find new business opportunities that occur in the business environment. 
  
• Drive pipeline creation strategy and programs together with MDRs, Marketing is outbound driven to increase visibility of the company with customers and potential partners.
  
• Evangelize a market, a customer base on the use of the solution to drive brand recognition, credibility and thought leadership
• Act as facilitator with CxO and large partners (business relation and recruitment) to drive pipeline creation
• Find the match between a product (or solution) and a segment in the market. 
• Identify potential good-fit customers and building a relationship between a company and a solution for the sales team to eventually pitch and close
  
• Research, prospect and create a pipeline of targeted potential customers to pass off to sales for further vetting and closing.
• Generating well-researched, qualified leads to hand off to your sales team. 
• Establish short and long-term collaborations with the potential referral partners (technology, association, consulting firms, etc) and agents . 
• Reach and surpass your company’s revenue and growth goals

Secondary

• Identify industry trends (market and customers watch)
• Present and consult with the management team on business trends with a view to developing new services, products, and distribution channels.
• Contribute and influence the offering definition towards growth for the vertical in terms of services, solutions, support
• Support value proposition articulation
• Maintain knowledge of current market/segment conditions
• Support Executive Proposal Presentation
• Assist Sales in Executive Engagement 

Typical Activities

• Networking
• Evangelization
  
• Client Relationship Building
• Face-to-Face client prospecting (one-on-one meeting)
• Conference Presentation / Webinar / Blogs
• Client Association Membership & Events
• Industry / Segment Association / Council & Events
• Communication with PR/Analyst together with Marketing
• Community Involvement (as applicable)
• Pipeline Updates

Segment and Geographies

• FMCG: Food & Beverage, Consumer Packaged Goods, Homecare / Personal Care Products
• Industrial / Manufacturing: Building Products, Packaging Material, Industrial Products, etc.
• Global initially, North America in the longer run

Measures of Success

• Steady-State Qualified Pipeline
• Influenced Revenues
• Conversion Rate and Velocity on leads brought in
• Sales (small quota)

Experience and Skills required

• Hands-on Experience in the manufacturing industry with existing networks/relationships that can be leveraged to accelerate in the early stage; F&B, CPG, Industrial products a serious plus
• Lean Manufacturing, Toyota Way, TPM, CI exposure and experience
• Consultative Selling Skill
• Existing network in the industry
• Comfortable and experienced interacting with CxOs
• Self-motivated by the achievement of objectives
• Excellence in presenting and articulating business value and messaging
• Comfortable engaging and selling through virtual communication tools
• Willing to travel frequently for work when possible