Head of Business Development
About the Role
Our client is looking for an entrepreneurial and commercially driven Head of Business Development to build and own its F&B revenue vertical.
The role will be responsible for developing and closing revenue opportunities across brand partnerships, KOL packages, live commerce, and F&B affiliate programs, while building a repeatable commercial playbook that can eventually be replicated across other business verticals.
This is an individual-contributor-to-team-builder role. Initially, the successful candidate will personally build the F&B pipeline and revenue engine. Once the commercial playbook is proven, they will recruit and lead a BD team to scale it.
STRICT REQUIREMENT — F&B EXPERIENCE
Candidates MUST have direct professional experience in the F&B industry.
This is a non-negotiable requirement. Candidates with general sales, media, advertising, or business development experience but without direct F&B industry experience will not be considered.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Own the revenue target across:
- Brand deals
- KOL/influencer packages
- Live commerce
- F&B affiliate partnerships
- Build and manage the end-to-end F&B commercial pipeline, from prospecting and pitching through negotiation, closing, and repeat business.
- Develop a structured F&B Business Development Playbook covering:
- Commercial products and packages
- Pricing
- Target customer segments
- Sales proposition
- Prospecting methodology
- Sales pipeline
- Pitching and closing process
- Client retention and repeat business
- Create a playbook and commercial model that can subsequently be replicated across other verticals.
- Identify and develop strategic relationships with F&B brands, restaurant groups, chains, and other relevant partners.
- Build strong relationships with decision-makers and convert relationships into measurable revenue.
- Work closely with content, marketing, and operations teams to ensure commercial packages are aligned with delivery capabilities.
- Track pipeline performance, conversion rates, deal value, and client retention.
- Once the F&B playbook is proven, recruit, train, and manage BD Executives to scale the function.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
- Success will be measured primarily through:
- Pipeline value
- Closed revenue per month
- Monthly F&B revenue
- Pipeline-to-revenue conversion
- Average deal value
- Repeat client rate
- Client retention
- Revenue generated from new commercial products/packages
REPORTING & TEAM
- Initially operate as a hands-on commercial leader, personally responsible for building the F&B revenue engine.
- Recruit and manage BD Executives once the playbook and commercial model are established.
- Work cross-functionally with content, marketing, operations, and leadership.
- Report directly to the Managing Director.
CANDIDATE PROFILE
- Mandatory: Professional experience within the F&B industry.
- Proven experience in Business Development, Sales, Commercial, Partnerships, or Key Account Management within F&B.
- Strong understanding of the F&B ecosystem and its commercial decision-makers.
- Demonstrated track record of personally generating and closing revenue.
- Strong negotiation, pitching, relationship management, and closing capabilities.
- Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to build processes and commercial systems from scratch.
- Comfortable working against aggressive revenue targets and measurable KPIs.
- Strong commercial judgment and ability to identify new revenue opportunities.
- Experience with KOL/influencer marketing, digital media, live commerce, content partnerships, or affiliate models within F&B is highly advantageous.
- Must be comfortable starting as a hands-on individual contributor before building and managing a team.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
Build the F&B proposition → Establish pricing and packages → Build the pipeline → Close revenue → Prove repeatability → Build the BD team → Scale the model.
Skills: Sales Management, Media Planning, Social Media, B2B Sales, Sales and Marketing, Communication, TikTok Ads, Sales Strategy, Meta Ads, B2C Sales