Business Development Manager

Robert Walters South Africa

Duties & Responsibilities

Product growth & commercialisation * Partner with product, delivery, and leadership teams to commercialise new products - ensuring each product has a clear value proposition, target segment, pricing model, pitch deck, and sales process before it goes to market. * Act as the bridge between product and sales: pull newly delivered products back into the sales cycle, package them for outbound and inbound motions, and equip the broader team with the assets and talk tracks they need. * Build and maintain product-specific pitch decks, one-pagers, demo flows, and proposal templates across DTC, B2B, and Marketplaces (Takealot, Amazon). * Develop go-to-market plans for new product launches - including positioning, target client lists, sequencing, pricing, and sales enablement.

New business & pipeline * Source new business through inbound and outbound lead generation strategies, maintaining a robust pipeline of qualified client opportunities across DTC, B2B, and Marketplaces. * Manage the full sales process: discovery, pitches, proposals, scopes (with the delivery team), and handover to project management for launch. * Facilitate and manage the paid discovery process to ensure clients are scoped, quoted, and onboarded accurately. * Collaborate closely with the Head of Sales / CCO to close new deals across full eCommerce builds, digital contracts, marketplace enablement, and product-led offerings. * Track, record, and close deals against sales targets - ensuring win-win outcomes for the client, and the wider group.

AI-led prospecting & outreach * Own and run AI-led outbound prospecting - using tools like Apollo, Clay, Instantly, ChatGPT/Claude, and lead-enrichment platforms to build, segment, and personalise outreach at scale. * Build and continuously improve multi-channel outbound sequences (email, LinkedIn, follow-up cadences) that combine AI personalisation with sharp, human-quality messaging. * Use AI to research target accounts and stakeholders - tech stack, recent commercial moves, pain points - and convert that research into relevant, high-conversion outreach. * Test, measure, and iterate on outbound performance (open rates, reply rates, meetings booked, pipeline created) and feed learnings back into messaging, ICP, and product positioning. * Stay ahead of the AI-for-sales landscape - bringing new tools, workflows, and tactics into the commercial team. Sales enablement & process * Ensure outbound marketing and lead-generation activities are running consistently and producing qualified pipeline. * Research, plan, and assist the sales team in developing presentations and pitches tailored to each product line and client vertical. * Maintain commercial discipline across systems (ClickUp, Pipedrive, Process Street) - pipeline hygiene, accurate forecasting, and clean handovers. * Actively participate in strategic planning for the commercial team and contribute to achieving annual sales targets and strategic objectives.

Desired Experience & Qualification

* Diploma or degree / NQF level 6 or 7 in a relevant field (Commerce, Marketing, Business, or related discipline). * 5+ years of experience in sales, business development, product marketing, or product growth roles - ideally with exposure to selling technology or platform-based products. * Direct experience selling into, or operating within, the eCommerce ecosystem - including DTC, B2B, and/or Marketplaces (Takealot, Amazon, or equivalent). * Working knowledge of ERP systems and how they integrate with commerce platforms (e.g. SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, Syspro). * Hands-on understanding of platform and systems integration - APIs, middleware, OMS/WMS, and the practical realities of connecting commerce, ERP, and fulfilment. * Strong grounding in retail - ideally with experience working with or selling to brands and retailers. * Solid digital marketing literacy - performance marketing, SEO, CRM, content, and how digital channels drive eCommerce revenue. * Demonstrable experience using AI tools in a commercial setting - AI-driven prospecting, enrichment, personalised outreach, and content/pitch generation. This is a core requirement of the role, not a nice-to-have. * Track record of closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals with enterprise or mid-market clients.