New Business Development Manager

New Business Development Manager

London | Hybrid - 2 days a week in the London office

Marketplace | Seller Acquisition | Commercial Growth

Are you a Buyer, Category Manager, Commercial Manager or Marketplace professional who loves spotting opportunities, finding the right brands and turning them into commercial growth?

Or perhaps you're already working in marketplace, eCommerce, supplier acquisition or new business and are ready to step into a role where you can shape category growth, lead a team and have a genuine impact on what customers can buy?

We're looking for a New Business Development Manager to help grow an exciting Marketplace proposition across a portfolio of well-known retail brands including The Range, Homebase, Wilko and Bathstore.

This is a fantastic opportunity to combine commercial strategy, category insight, new business and people leadership in a role with real ownership.

What's the role?

As New Business Development Manager, you'll own seller acquisition across around half of the Marketplace's category portfolio, working alongside another BDM responsible for the remaining categories.

Your focus will be on identifying where the Marketplace needs to grow, understanding the gaps in the current range and then finding the brands, suppliers and specialist sellers who can fill them.

You'll use customer demand, search data, competitor activity, category insight and commercial priorities to decide who the Marketplace should be working with next.

You'll then take those opportunities from prospecting through to negotiation, agreement and launch, building relationships with brand owners, founders and senior commercial contacts along the way.

You'll also lead and develop a team of New Business Leads and Executives, setting targets, coaching the team and creating a high-performing new business function.

Ultimately, your success will be measured not simply by the number of sellers you bring on board, but by whether you're bringing in the right sellers, the right products and profitable incremental GMV.

What you'll be doing

• Own seller acquisition across your allocated categories, setting clear priorities around brands, sellers and range opportunities
• Identify category and range gaps using customer demand, search data, competitor insight and commercial performance
• Research the market and proactively identify exciting brands, suppliers and specialist sellers
• Build relationships with founders, brand owners and senior commercial contacts
• Pitch the Marketplace proposition and negotiate commission, fees and commercial terms
• Build and manage a targeted, well-qualified new business pipeline
• Own forecasting and provide clear visibility of pipeline, conversion, risks and opportunities
• Work closely with Digital Trading to identify new categories, brands and product opportunities
• Lead, coach and develop your New Business Leads and Executives
• Set clear individual and team targets and create a culture of accountability and high performance
• Work with Compliance and Seller Experience teams to ensure new partners meet Marketplace standards
• Support the transition from signed agreement through to successful launch and early trading
• Monitor new seller performance, including live SKUs, GMV and early trading
• Identify larger strategic opportunities including exclusive ranges, brand partnerships and joint growth plans
• Work with Retail Media to identify promotional and media opportunities for strategic sellers
• Bring market, competitor and seller insight into the wider Marketplace leadership team
• Represent the Marketplace externally at industry events, trade shows and with agencies, integrators and other partners

Why this role?

This isn't a role where you'll simply manage an existing supplier base.

You'll have genuine influence over what the Marketplace sells, which brands it partners with and where it grows next.

You'll combine category thinking with commercial acquisition, while leading a team and contributing directly to the wider Marketplace strategy.

BH37577