Director of business development (cpg)

Remote - within the following US states: AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, KS, MO, PA, TX

The Company Behind the Role

Our client is an established insights consultancy partnering with consumer brands to solve business challenges through custom market research. With a strong existing client base, they’re now investing in their next stage of growth by building a dedicated new-business function focused on winning new CPG clients.

You'll Enjoy This Role If....

• You’re a true new-business hunter and enjoy opening doors with companies where no relationship currently exists.
• You know the CPG world and understand the commercial challenges facing consumer brands.
• You’ve sold market research, insights, consulting, or other professional services and enjoy a consultative sale rather than a transactional one.
• You’re comfortable creating your own pipeline and don’t expect an SDR team to fill your calendar.
• You enjoy figuring out what works — from targeting and messaging to outreach strategy and sales process.
• You can speak comfortably with senior marketing leaders and connect research and insights to the business problems they’re trying to solve.
• You’re equally comfortable developing the strategy and doing the hands-on work required to turn prospects into clients.
• You like the idea of having significant ownership and helping build something that can grow beyond you.

What You'll Do

• Lead new-business development focused on winning new CPG clients and expanding the organization’s presence within the consumer market.
• Develop and execute a targeted outbound strategy, identifying the right companies, decision-makers, and opportunities to pursue.
• Build relationships with senior marketing and insights leaders through thoughtful, multi-channel prospecting and outreach.
• Own the sales process from initial contact and discovery through proposal development, negotiation, and close.
• Position custom research and insights solutions around clients’ commercial challenges, translating research capabilities into clear business value.
• Partner with research colleagues to develop solutions, scope engagements, and create compelling proposals for prospective clients.
• Develop sales messaging, case studies, capabilities materials, and other resources that strengthen new-business conversations.
• Build structure around the outbound function, including pipeline stages, KPIs, forecasting, prospect segmentation, and reporting.
• Use CRM and sales intelligence tools to manage opportunities, track activity, and maintain visibility into the new-business pipeline.
• Explore AI and emerging sales technologies that can strengthen prospecting, outreach, and relationship development.
• Re-engage previous clients where there is an opportunity to rebuild the relationship and generate new work.
• Share market feedback and competitive intelligence with leadership, research, and marketing teams to help inform future offerings and growth strategy.
• Represent the organization at relevant industry events and conferences and build relationships within the broader CPG community.
• Help determine when additional business development resources are needed and contribute to building the team as the function grows.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of B2B sales experience, including significant experience selling market research, insights, consulting, agency, or other professional services.
• A demonstrated track record of personally generating new-business opportunities through outbound prospecting and converting them into revenue.
• Strong knowledge of the CPG industry and an understanding of how consumer brands operate, including brand strategy, innovation, retail, and commercial priorities.
• Experience selling to senior client stakeholders, including CMO, VP, and Director-level decision-makers.
• The ability to build genuine, long-term client relationships while remaining focused on winning new business.
• Experience managing complex, consultative sales cycles that may take several months from initial conversation to close.
• Confidence discussing custom research and insights solutions with prospective clients; direct market research industry experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience building or improving an outbound sales approach, particularly within a smaller or growing organization.
• Strong pipeline management, CRM, forecasting, and commercial planning skills.
• A self-directed approach and the ability to succeed without a large sales infrastructure or established SDR team behind you.
• Existing relationships within the CPG industry would be a plus.
• Willingness to travel approximately 20–30% for client meetings, industry events, and company gatherings.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work for any employer in the United States. Our client is unable to sponsor or take over the sponsorship of an employment visa.