Senior Business Development Manager

At NewCold, we're shaping the future of the food supply chain. Our warehouses and transport network connect the world's major food manufacturers with retailers and food service providers. Join a collaborative team of doers, innovators, and engineers dedicated to making a real impact with advanced robotics and cutting-edge technology to pioneer smarter, more sustainable operations.

About the role

The Senior Business Development Manager is a strategic commercial leader responsible for converting qualified market opportunities into profitable customer partnerships that support NewCold's growth objectives. This role leads customer pursuits from opportunity assessment through proposal development, pricing, negotiation, and contract execution, translating complex supply chain challenges into tailored commercial and operational solutions. The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguous environments, builds strong customer relationships, simplifies complex technical and financial concepts, and applies disciplined commercial leadership to deliver successful growth outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Customer Acquisition & Consultative Commercial Leadership: Lead strategic customer development efforts by identifying and advancing qualified opportunities, building trusted relationships with key stakeholders, and guiding customers through discovery, site visits, proposal discussions, and commercial negotiations. Develop tailored commercial solutions by understanding customer supply chain needs, operational challenges, and strategic objectives, aligning them with NewCold's capabilities in automation, network design, and long-term value creation.
• Deal Strategy & Execution: Lead commercial deal development and execution by owning business case creation, proposal development, and contract negotiations from initial opportunity through close. Develop profitable and aligned customer solutions by translating customer requirements into compelling commercial proposals, building financial models, and ensuring alignment across scope, assumptions, service commitments, and contract terms throughout the pursuit.
• Project Development Leadership: Lead early-stage strategic customer opportunity development by defining project scope, objectives, milestones, risks, and cross-functional workstreams, while ensuring alignment among key stakeholders to advance strategic customer pursuits. Drive internal planning and decision-making by partnering with Solution Design and Project Development teams, preparing executive-level business case materials, and ensuring customer requirements, project assumptions, timelines, and commercial commitments remain aligned.
• Real Estate, Land Acquisition & Market Strategy: Lead land acquisition and site strategy initiatives by managing site evaluations, purchase and sale agreement (PSA) negotiations, due diligence activities, and stakeholder coordination to support strategic growth opportunities. Drive market and development assessments by analyzing customer demand, competitive and economic conditions, and site feasibility, then translating insights into clear commercial recommendations and executive-ready decision materials.
• CRM & Process Management: Drive business development execution and pipeline management by maintaining CRM accuracy, providing forecasting and opportunity visibility, improving lead qualification processes, and leading cross-functional pursuit teams through key milestones and decision points. Influence stakeholders and develop team capability by aligning internal teams around customer and commercial objectives, managing execution risks, and mentoring team members on business cases, proposals, and deal development.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in business development, consultative sales, commercial strategy, supply chain, logistics, industrial real estate, project development, or related fields.
• Proven commercial leadership skills with experience managing complex customer pursuits through proposal development, pricing, negotiation, contract execution, and business case development.
• Strong analytical and financial acumen, including the ability to assess revenue, costs, margins, investment returns, risks, and commercial viability.
• Deep understanding of supply chain and operational environments, with knowledge of warehousing, automation, transportation, industrial development, or related industries; experience in cold storage, 3PL, CPG, or industrial real estate is preferred.
• Strong project management and cross-functional leadership capabilities, including managing stakeholders, coordinating workstreams, driving alignment, and advancing strategic initiatives.
• Excellent communication and technical proficiency, including executive-level presentations, CRM and pipeline management, and advanced skills in Excel, PowerPoint, Salesforce, and commercial planning tools.
• Willingness to travel for customer meetings, site visits, industry events, diligence activities, and internal collaboration.
• Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, finance, economics, engineering, real estate, or a related field.

Pay

The typical pay range for this role is $145,000 - $155,000. This position is eligible for a bonus in addition to the base pay range listed above. The actual base salary offer will depend on a variety of factors including experience, education, geography, and other relevant factors.

Benefits

NewCold provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a full range of competitive benefit programs, including:

• Health insurance
• Retirement savings plans
• Life and disability insurance programs
• Paid and unpaid time away from work
• 4 weeks of accrued Paid Time Off
• Paid holidays throughout the calendar year

The specific programs and options available may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location and date of hire.