Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Business Development

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Business Development is a senior, revenue-focused leader responsible for designing and executing go-to-market strategies, building and scaling strategic partnerships, driving pipeline and revenue growth, and leading a high-performance business development team. This role requires a strong blend of commercial acumen, negotiation skill, cross-functional collaboration, and data-driven decision making to identify market opportunities, close complex deals, and accelerate company growth.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Business Development Manager / Head of Partnerships with proven quota attainment and strategic deals closed.
Enterprise Account Director or Strategic Sales Manager with experience selling complex solutions.
Corporate Development or Strategy Director with experience in partnerships, alliances, or M&A.

Advancement To:

Vice President (VP) of Business Development / Head of Growth
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) or Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
General Manager / Country or Regional Lead for commercial operations

Lateral Moves:

Head of Strategic Partnerships / Alliances
Director of Product Strategy or Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and own the full-funnel business development strategy to drive new revenue streams, including target market segmentation, ideal customer profiles (ICPs), channel strategy, and tactical account penetration plans to meet and exceed annual quota.
Build, coach, and scale a high-performing business development team (individual contributors and managers), define KPIs, implement performance cadences, conduct regular 1:1s, and create professional development plans.
Identify, qualify, and prioritize strategic partnership and channel opportunities (resellers, OEMs, system integrators, technology alliances) to accelerate market reach and reduce customer acquisition cost.
Lead end-to-end enterprise sales cycles for strategic, high-value deals: discovery, solution design, commercial terms, procurement navigation, contract negotiation, and closure while ensuring legal and compliance alignment.
Create and execute go-to-market (GTM) plans for new products, vertical expansions, or geographic entry, coordinating cross-functional resources across product, marketing, customer success, finance, and legal.
Own pipeline management and forecasting processes, maintaining CRM hygiene (Salesforce, HubSpot) and delivering accurate weekly/monthly/quarterly revenue and deal-stage reports to the executive team.
Negotiate master service agreements, partnership contracts, channel agreements, NDAs, and complex commercial terms while protecting company interests and maximizing long-term value.
Drive market intelligence and competitive analysis: synthesize market trends, competitor positioning, pricing dynamics, and buyer needs to inform product and pricing strategy.
Design compensation and incentive programs for business development and partner teams aligned to company growth objectives and margin targets.
Lead cross-functional initiatives for customer acquisition, strategic account expansion, and renewal acceleration, partnering closely with customer success and account management to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities.
Own strategic account management for marquee customers and partners, developing joint business plans, executive sponsorship, and quarterly business reviews (QBRs) to increase wallet share.
Create high-quality sales enablement materials — playbooks, value propositions, ROI calculators, competitive battlecards, and proposal templates — to accelerate seller productivity and shorten sales cycles.
Oversee pipeline generation activities including outbound prospecting programs, channel enablement, partner marketing, event sponsorships, and thought leadership to fuel a predictable sales funnel.
Partner with finance to model revenue scenarios, deal economics, partner margins, and ensure profitable pricing and discounting practices are enforced.
Represent the company at industry conferences, investor/customer meetings, and public forums to build visibility, generate leads, and secure speaking or co-marketing opportunities.
Drive strategic M&A, investment, or joint-venture sourcing and diligence in coordination with corporate development teams to accelerate inorganic growth.
Implement process improvements and technology stack enhancements (CRM, sales engagement, analytics tools) to scale operations and increase forecasting accuracy.
Ensure legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements are met across commercial agreements, data handling, and partner engagements in target markets.
Measure and report on business development ROI and KPI dashboards: pipeline coverage, win rates, average deal size, sales cycle length, partner-influenced revenue, and customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Establish and maintain executive-level relationships with C-suite and senior stakeholders at prospects, customers, and partners to influence long-term strategic outcomes.
Design and run partner onboarding, certification, and enablement programs to ensure partner readiness and consistent customer outcomes.
Collaborate with product management to capture customer feedback, prioritize roadmap items influenced by strategic partners and key enterprise customers.
Lead pricing strategy initiatives, pilot alternative commercial models (consumption-based, tiered, enterprise licensing), and test go-to-market pricing hypotheses to maximize revenue and retention.
Create a repeatable, scalable process for territory design, account segmentation, and coverage model adjustments as the company grows.
Own renewal and expansion strategies for strategic accounts in coordination with account management to minimize churn and maximize lifetime value.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Collaborate with marketing to design partner co-marketing campaigns, lead-nurture workflows, and demand generation programs targeted at ICPs.
Provide input to product teams by documenting strategic customer requirements and co-creating joint solutions with partners.
Assist legal and finance during contract review cycles by providing deal context, commercial intent, and risk/benefit evaluation.
Mentor junior business development specialists through structured shadowing, real-time deal coaching, and periodic deal review sessions.
Drive continuous improvement of sales processes and playbooks based on win/loss analysis and voice-of-customer insights.
Coordinate executive-level introductions and customer references to accelerate deal momentum during final-stage negotiations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Strategic Sales Planning & Execution: develop multi-quarter revenue plans and go-to-market strategies aligned to company goals.
CRM Mastery (Salesforce, HubSpot): pipeline hygiene, opportunity management, territory assignments, and forecasting.
Contract & Commercial Negotiation: experience structuring master services agreements, SLAs, licensing, and reseller agreements.
Financial Modeling & Deal Structuring: ARR/NRR modeling, margin analysis, discount approval workflows, and ROI assessments.
Enterprise Sales & Solution Selling: experience selling complex B2B SaaS, technology, or professional services into enterprise accounts.
Partner & Channel Management: partner recruitment, enablement, co-selling models, and revenue sharing structures.
Market Research & Competitive Analysis: synthesize market data, TAM/SAM/SOM assessments, and buyer persona development.
Sales Enablement Tools: proficiency with sales engagement platforms (Outreach, Salesloft), proposal/configuration tools (CPQ), and content libraries.
Data Literacy & Analytics: ability to interpret pipeline metrics, conversion rates, funnel analysis, and use tools like Excel, Looker, Tableau or Power BI.
M&A & Corporate Development Familiarity: experience participating in deal sourcing, diligence, and integration planning (preferred).
Pricing Strategy & Commercial Model Design: development and testing of tiered, consumption-based, or enterprise pricing frameworks.
Contract Lifecycle & Compliance Awareness: understanding of GDPR, data privacy impacts on commercial agreements and cross-border transactions.

Soft Skills

Executive Presence & Stakeholder Management: ability to influence C-suite stakeholders and manage complex, multi-stakeholder deals.
Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving: synthesize ambiguity into clear priorities and executable plans.
Leadership & People Development: hire, coach, and retain top sales and partnerships talent; create high-performance cultures.
Persuasive Communication & Presentation: craft compelling narratives and present business cases to internal and external audiences.
Negotiation & Influence: lead high-stakes negotiations and build consensus across cross-functional teams.
Resilience & Tenacity: persistence in long sales cycles and ability to pivot strategy in response to market feedback.
Cross-functional Collaboration: strong partnering skills with product, marketing, operations, legal, and finance.
Customer Empathy & Relationship Building: create trusted advisor relationships that drive long-term partnerships.
Time Management & Prioritization: manage competing priorities and focus on highest-impact activities.
Analytical Mindset: use quantitative and qualitative insights to drive decisions and optimize go-to-market execution.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA or advanced degree in Business, Strategy, or Finance preferred for strategic, enterprise-facing roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration / Management
Marketing / Sales
Finance / Economics
Computer Science / Engineering (for technical product GTM)
Strategic Management / Entrepreneurship

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

8–15+ years of progressive experience in B2B sales, business development, partnerships, or corporate strategy with at least 3–5 years in a leadership role.

Preferred:

10+ years total experience with a proven track record of building and scaling business development teams, closing enterprise deals, establishing channel programs, and delivering consistent revenue growth. Experience in SaaS, cloud, technology, or professional services is highly desirable.