This Dairy Business Development Manager job description sets out the main duties, qualifications, skills and measures of success for the role, which is also known as Area Sales Manager, Territory Manager, Sales Executive or New Business Manager. Download it free as a Word or PDF template and adapt it for your own vacancy.
| Job title | Dairy Business Development Manager |
| Also known as | Area Sales Manager, Territory Manager, Sales Executive, New Business Manager |
| Department | Sales and commercial |
| Reports to | Commercial Director or Head of Sales |
| Direct reports | None |
What does a Dairy Business Development Manager do?
Finds and wins new customers, channels and markets for a dairy business. Builds and manages a sales pipeline, writes proposals and tenders, and uses market and competitor analysis to target the opportunities that best fit the company's products, capacity and margins.
Dairy Business Development Manager duties and responsibilities
Market and competitor analysis
- Research market trends, customer segments and growth areas in dairy and related categories
- Analyse competitors' products, pricing, capacity and positioning
- Assess new markets and channels for size, margin, risk and fit with plant capacity
- Share insight with sales, marketing, product development and senior management
Prospecting and pipeline
- Identify target customers in retail, food service, food manufacturing and export
- Make first contact, qualify leads and arrange meetings with decision-makers
- Build and maintain a pipeline with clear stages, values and probabilities
- Review the pipeline weekly and focus effort on the best opportunities
- Represent the business at trade fairs, conferences and industry events
Proposals and tenders
- Write proposals, tender responses and business cases for new customers
- Build pricing models with finance that cover milk cost, conversion cost, logistics and margin
- Coordinate input from technical, quality, operations and supply chain teams
- Present proposals and negotiate commercial terms within agreed authority
- Arrange samples, trials and site visits for prospective customers
Closing deals and handover
- Agree contracts and specifications with customers and internal teams
- Confirm that operations has the capacity, milk supply and packaging to deliver
- Hand new accounts over to account management with a clear plan
- Track the early performance of new business and resolve start-up issues
Reporting and compliance
- Report pipeline value, conversion rates and new revenue to management each month
- Keep customer records accurate in the customer relationship system
- Follow competition law, anti-bribery rules and company policy in all dealings
- Review lost bids and apply the lessons to future proposals
Dairy Business Development Manager qualifications and experience
Essential
- Degree in business, marketing, food science or a related subject, or equivalent experience
- Solid experience in business development or new business sales in food, dairy or fast-moving consumer goods
- Track record of winning new customers and growing revenue
- Experience writing proposals, tenders and business cases
- Strong commercial understanding of pricing, cost and margin
- Experience managing a pipeline in a customer relationship system
Desirable
- Experience in dairy ingredients, food service or private label
- Knowledge of dairy processing capabilities and constraints
- Experience entering new export markets
- Qualification in marketing or market research
Skills and attributes
- Prospecting and networking
- Persuasive writing and presentation
- Commercial and financial analysis
- Negotiation
- Strategic thinking
- Resilience and self-motivation
- Collaboration across functions
How success is measured
- New revenue and volume won against target
- Pipeline value and conversion rate
- Margin on new business against target
- Proposals and tenders submitted on time
- New customers, channels or markets opened
Working conditions and safety
Office or home-based, with regular travel to prospective customers, trade events and company sites. Some international travel and overnight stays, depending on target markets.
- Follow health and safety rules and safe systems of work, and wear the correct PPE
- Follow food safety, hygiene, HACCP and quality procedures at all times
- Report hazards, accidents, near misses and concerns promptly
Dairy Business Development Manager interview questions
Use these questions to assess candidates for a Dairy Business Development Manager role. Each one includes what a good answer shows.
- How do you decide which new markets or customer segments to target?
What a good answer shows: Ranks opportunities on size, growth, margin, competition, risk and fit with products and plant capacity. - Walk us through how you manage a sales pipeline.
What a good answer shows: Clear stages, qualification criteria, values and probabilities, regular review, and effort focused on deals most likely to convert. - What goes into a strong proposal for a food-service or manufacturing customer?
What a good answer shows: Clear grasp of customer needs, a focused offer, technical fit, robust pricing, supply assurance and evidence of value. - How do you price new business when milk costs are volatile?
What a good answer shows: Builds costs with finance, uses milk price links or review clauses, and protects margin against market swings. - You win a large contract, but operations says capacity is tight. What do you do?
What a good answer shows: Confirms the constraints, agrees phasing with operations, sets realistic dates with the customer and tightens capacity checks before bidding. - A target customer is happy with its current supplier. How would you win the business?
What a good answer shows: Learns their pain points, offers distinct value, starts small as a trial or second supplier, and stays persistent. - How do you gather competitor information legally and ethically?
What a good answer shows: Uses public sources, market research and customer feedback; never seeks confidential data or discusses prices with competitors. - How do you assess the risk of taking on a new customer?
What a good answer shows: Checks credit, reputation, contract terms, volume reliability, margin and fit with capacity before committing. - How do you hand over a new customer to account management?
What a good answer shows: A structured handover covering history, commitments, contacts and plan, with a joint introduction and support through start-up. - How do you persuade colleagues who do not report to you to support a bid?
What a good answer shows: Explains the opportunity and benefits, respects workloads, sets clear deadlines and recognises their contribution.
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Frequently asked questions
Finds and wins new customers, channels and markets for a dairy business. Builds and manages a sales pipeline, writes proposals and tenders, and uses market and competitor analysis to target the opportunities that best fit the company's products, capacity and margins.
Employers usually look for: degree in business, marketing, food science or a related subject, or equivalent experience; solid experience in business development or new business sales in food, dairy or fast-moving consumer goods; track record of winning new customers and growing revenue.
A Dairy Business Development Manager usually reports to the Commercial Director or Head of Sales.
Yes. Download the free Word template, add your location, contract and salary details, and adapt the duties to your site. You can then advertise the role on Dairy Jobs.
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