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Director of Business Development - Technology

"My job is to help my company grow by generating new sales leads and product opportunities. I bridge engineering, product management and sales as these functions can often fall into the trap of operating in isolation. I need to be out with our sales team, meeting with customers and prospects all the time to build relationships and uncover emerging needs. I bring market intelligence back from the field to guide product management and engineering as part of a longer-term strategy to grow our business. I’m always on top of industry trends and new players."

Salary Range:

$120,900 - $156,900

The Tip

Go travel internationally. Go do a semester abroad. Go volunteer overseas. You’ll realize it’s a really big world. Once you realize this first hand, complacency is not an option.

Priority Knowledge & Skills
Strategic Marketing
  • Develop & execute a positioning strategy

  • Conduct a competitive analysis

  • Conduct an environmental scan

  • Develop & apply a segmentation strategy

 

Research & Insight
  • Demonstrate empathy & curiosity

  • Leverage contextual knowledge of technology

  • Ability to analyze data

  • Leverage research to support consumer insights

  • Presentation & report-writing skills

 

Product management
  • Measure return on investment (ROI)

  • Manage a budget

  • Develop & execute a pricing strategy

  • Manage projects

Sales & Channel Management
  • Apply principles of CRM

  • Manage a sales process

  • Conduct sales presentations

  • Develop & execute a distribution strategy

  • Leverage e-commerce

  • Develop merchandising strategy

  • Leverage co-operative marketing

 

Communications & Branding
  • Sponsorship & community investment

  • Leverage event & experiential marketing

  • Develop a promotional strategy

 

Content Curation & Design
  • Apply visual design fundamentals

  • Conduct content research & curation

  • Develop original content

  • Apply creative production processes

  • Develop content schedule & plan

  • Use design tools

Building Block Experiences
Education & Learning:
  • Bachelor of Arts (sociology). Did one semester abroad.

  • MBA, University of Cape Town (South Africa)

  • Avid listener of tech and sales podcasts. The Sales Evangelist is a current favourite.

 

"Sales is fast and changing; stagnation is a career killer. My goal was to break into international sales, which led me to pursuing an MBA in South Africa. The classroom learning combined with the cultural context of this experience created my unique value proposition. Few days go by when I don’t have a reason to refer back to my time in South Africa."

Employment Experiences:
  • Retail telecommunications sales during university

  • Took a variety of increasingly senior technology sales position

  • Following the MBA, moved into a senior business development job at a small technology start-up

  • My product line was acquired by a larger systems integrator and my position was relocated to London

 

"My employment pathway was intentional. I built my technology sales credentials early at home, but with a vision of working in a global technology company. My international MBA (combined with my sales experience) was my differentiator."

Community Experiences:
  • International travel and assignments makes active engagement in my community difficult

 

"This is a part of me I had to sacrifice, but with my recent three-year appointment in the UK, I want to become engaged in the community."

Contextual Experiences:
  • Doing an international exchange program in high school sowed the seed for building an international career

 

"It sounds like a cliché, but the exchange program I did in high school was life-changing. After this, the question wasn’t “if,” it was “how” I’ll build a global life."

Relationships:
  • Focused on building international networks

 

"I have a genuine passion for other people’s stories. This interest is reciprocated. I consider my international relationships a constant opportunity to learn from others."

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