Business Development Specialist II

Who You Are:

A relationship-driven, results-oriented sales professional who thrives on creating new business opportunities and building meaningful connections with prospective partners.

Energized by environments where identifying opportunities, developing relationships, and pursuing new business are part of the daily rhythm. Equally comfortable with proactive outreach, networking, referrals, and in-person industry events as tools for building a strong pipeline.

Thoughtful in approach, taking the time to understand a prospect's goals before recommending the right opportunity. Self-motivated, persistently professional, and adaptable, with the ability to independently research companies, engage decision-makers, and manage follow-up without losing the human side of the conversation..

What You'll Be Doing:

Business Development & Prospecting

• Identify and develop new business opportunities with marketplace companies and prospective sponsors and exhibitors, with accountability for pipeline and participation growth.
• Conduct targeted outreach to new prospects, existing leads, and companies within specific geographic markets
• Research prospective companies and identify relevant decision-makers
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities
• Develop thoughtful, personalized outreach and follow-up strategies

Relationship Development & Networking

• Build strong relationships with prospective sponsors, exhibitors, and industry contacts
• Attend approximately 1 to 2 external industry events per month to network, prospect, and develop new business
• Represent the company and its events professionally at external and customer-facing opportunities
• Leverage networking, referrals, and existing relationships to create new business opportunities

Sales & Opportunity Development

• Understand prospect goals and recommend sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities that align with their objectives
• Communicate the value of event participation, including access to a highly targeted audience, decision-makers, industry credibility, and strong attendee engagement
• Independently manage assigned sponsor and exhibitor opportunities, engaging the Senior Manager for complex or strategic opportunities.
• Develop increasing independence to own strategic opportunities and the full sales cycle as the pipeline grows

Pipeline & Market Development

• Maintain accurate prospect and opportunity information in the CRM
• Track outreach, meetings, qualified opportunities, and pipeline activity and adjust outreach and sponsorship strategies to improve performance.
• Work toward defined business development and pipeline goals
• Identify opportunities to expand sponsorship and exhibitor participation within new geographic markets and target segments
• Share insights from prospect conversations and external events to support new business identification

Collaboration

• Partner closely with the Senior Manager, Field Event Sales to align business development activity with overall sales priorities
• Collaborate with internal teams to support prospects throughout the sales process
• Develop increasing independence and ownership as knowledge of the business, event portfolio, and sales process grows

What You’ll Bring:

• Highly proactive approach to business development and prospecting
• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to establish trust across a wide range of stakeholders
• Comfortable networking and building connections in both formal and informal settings
• Ability to understand prospect needs and match them with the right opportunity
• Thoughtful persistence and strong follow-through without being overly transactional
• Entrepreneurial and curious mindset with the ability to identify and pursue opportunities independently
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Clear and compelling written and verbal communication
• Results-oriented with a focus on building meaningful pipeline and long-term partnerships
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while collaborating effectively with the broader team
• Familiarity with Google Workspace, CRM and email tools, Slack, and AI-powered productivity and research too

Experience/Education/Certifications Required:

• 3 to 5 years of experience in business development, sales, partnerships, account development, or a related field
• Bachelor's degree preferred or equivalent practical experience
• Experience in event sales, sponsorships, exhibitor sales, or the events industry preferred
• Proven ability to manage a sales pipeline and develop new business opportunities
• Experience engaging a range of decision-makers including company owners, partnership leaders, and business development stakeholders
• Experience in a remote or distributed work environment is a plus
• Willingness to travel to internal events and approximately 1 to 2 external industry events per month