Business Development Specialist II

Responsibilities

• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

Requirements

• 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
• 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