Role & responsibilities

Job Title: Head of Business Development

Industry: Retail Sales

Location: Santacruz (HO)

Employment Type: Full-time

Reporting To: Director

Team: Business Development, Sales, Partnerships and Retail Expansion

Role Summary

Head of Business Development will be responsible for developing and executing the company's growth strategy across retail stores, distribution channels, key accounts, institutional sales, marketplaces and strategic partnerships.

The role requires a hands-on leader who can identify new business opportunities, build relationships with key stakeholders, negotiate commercial agreements and create a high-

performing business development and sales function. The ideal candidate should be comfortable operating in a start-up environment, building processes from the ground up and working closely with the founders and cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

Business Growth and Strategy

- Develop and execute the overall business development and retail expansion strategy.
- Identify current revenue opportunities across retail stores, franchise models, distributors, dealers, marketplaces, corporate accounts and institutional customers.
- Conduct market, competitor and customer analysis to identify high-potential categories, locations and customer segments.
- Prepare annual and quarterly business plans, sales forecasts, budgets and expansion roadmaps.
- Build scalable go-to-market strategies for new products, territories and customer segments.

Retail and Channel Expansion

- Identify and evaluate potential retail locations, channel partners, distributors, franchisees and strategic accounts.
- Lead the expansion of the companys offline and online retail presence.
- Develop commercial models for company-owned stores, shop-in-shop formats, franchise stores and distributor-led sales.
- Establish channel policies covering pricing, margins, territories, incentives and performance expectations.
- Ensure healthy channel relationships while minimizing pricing conflicts and revenue leakage.

Partnerships and Key Accounts

- Build strategic relationships with retailers, distributors, marketplaces, corporate clients, property developers, malls and other relevant partners.
- Lead commercial negotiations, partnership agreements and contract closures.
- Develop and manage a pipeline of high-value accounts and partnership opportunities.
- Create customized business proposals,



presentations and commercial solutions for prospective partners.
- Maintain strong relationships with decision-makers and key stakeholders.

Sales Leadership

- Own business development and sales targets across assigned channels and markets.
- Recruit, train and manage the business development and sales team.
- Define territories, account ownership, targets, incentive structures and performance standards.
- Conduct regular sales reviews and support the team in closing strategic or complex opportunities.
- Build a performance-driven culture focused on accountability, customer value and sustainable growth.

Commercial and Financial Management

- Develop pricing, margin and revenue models in coordination with finance and operations.
- Evaluate the commercial viability and return on investment of new partnerships, locations and markets.
- Monitor revenue, gross margin, customer acquisition costs, sales productivity and partner profitability.
- Ensure business growth is aligned with the companys cash-flow, profitability and working-capital objectives.
- Negotiate favorable commercial terms while protecting the companys margins and brand positioning.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Work closely with marketing to develop lead-generation campaigns, retail promotions and partner marketing programs.
- Coordinate with operations and supply-chain teams to ensure product availability and timely fulfilment.
- Collaborate with product and merchandising teams to share market feedback, customer insights and category opportunities.
- Support finance and legal teams in commercial evaluation, contracting, compliance and collections.
- Provide regular business updates, forecasts and recommendations to the founders and leadership team.

Process and Technology

- Establish business development processes, standard operating procedures and reporting systems.
- Implement and maintain a customer relationship management system for lead tracking and pipeline management.
- Develop sales dashboards and management reports to improve visibility and decision-making.
- Build a structured process for lead qualification, proposals, negotiations,



onboarding and account management.
- Use data and customer insights to improve sales conversion, productivity and partner performance.

Qualifications and Experience

- Bachelors degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Retail Management, Commerce or a related field.
- Master of Business Administration or equivalent postgraduate qualification is preferred.
- Approximately 15 years of experience in business development, retail sales, channel sales, key account management or market expansion.
- At least 10 years of experience in a sales or business development leadership role.
- Experience working with a start-up, high-growth company or new-business division is strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated success in achieving revenue targets and building new markets or sales channels.
- Strong network within the relevant retail category, distribution ecosystem or customer segment is an advantage.
- Experience in negotiating commercial agreements and managing large or strategic accounts.
- Working knowledge of retail operations, pricing, margins, inventory, supply chain and customer acquisition.
- Proficiency in CRM platforms, spreadsheets, sales analytics and presentation tools.

Required Skills and Competencies

- Strong commercial and financial acumen
- Strategic thinking with hands-on execution ability
- Excellent negotiation and deal-closing skills
- Leadership and team-building capabilities
- Strong communication and presentation skills
- Relationship-building and stakeholder-management skills
- Data-driven decision-making
- Market research and opportunity assessment
- Sales forecasting and pipeline management
- High ownership and accountability
- Ability to work effectively with ambiguity and limited resources
- Willingness to travel and spend time in the market
- Resilience, adaptability and a strong entrepreneurial mindset

Preferred Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a commercially focused leader who:

- Has built a business, market, territory or sales channel from the ground up.
- Understands both offline and digital retail models.
- Is comfortable moving between strategy, negotiations, field sales and team management?
- Can work closely with founders while independently owning business outcomes.
- Balances aggressive growth with profitability and operational feasibility.
- Has strong market intelligence and can convert insights into executable growth plans.

📌 Business Head_Niitaka Meru_Malad (W) (Maharashtra)
🏢 NIITAKA MERU INDIA
📍 Maharashtra