One of my clients, an independent design agency, is looking for a New Business Development Manager who loves generating and closing new business.

Building and owning sales pipelines, identifying opportunities, leadin pitches, and converting prospects into clients is your speciality.

But please note, this role is not partnership-led or retention-focused – it is about direct sales, process, and closing.

You’ll work closely with the senior leadership team and studio to turn opportunities into clear, compelling proposals and ideally deliver early commercial wins.

You will have Sporting experience / sports industry knowledge, ideally with an existing sports network. This is a non-negotiable.

You will also have agency experience within a creative, branding, or marketing environment.

What you bring:

• Proven experience within a creative, branding, or marketing agency, in a business development role focused on direct sales, not partnerships or client retention
• Sporting experience or sports industry knowledge, ideally with an existin sports network
• Strong lead generation capability with hands-on pipeline building
• Proven track record of closing deals, not just supporting pitches
• Owning and championing daily sales initiatives
• Networking confidence, able to proactively create and uncover opportunities
• Charismatic and confident communication
• Commercial mindset, with the ability to deliver against the agency’s marketing and sales strategy
• A strong understanding of opportunity assessment and the RFP process
• Ability to build proposal decks and present confidently, driven by product knowledge
• Self-motivation and effective working autonomously, knowing when to collaborate closely with studio teams
• Curiosity and proactivity, with a willingness to learn and ask the right questions
• Demonstration of longevity and success in previous roles
• Experience working in Google Workspace (Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive) as part of daily sales and proposal workflows

• Proactively identifying and generating new business opportunities through outbound activity, warm leads, and targeted research
• Building and managing a structured sales pipeline using CRM and clear processes
• Owning day-to-day sales activity and driving opportunities from first contact through to closing
• Assessing opportunities and leading responses to briefs and RFPs
• Building proposal decks and working closely with the studio to shape solutions and pricing
• Pitching confidently and handling negotiations with prospective clients
• Selling the agency’s core services, including digital services and Inspired Sprints
• Upselling previous and dormant clients where appropriate
• Focusing on UK-based growth, with London identified as a key priority market

• Any new business you have personally generated and closed
• The types of services you’ve sold (e.g. brand, digital, campaign, sprint-based work)
• Any relevant sports or entertainment industry experience or network

Just to clarify, this is a hands-on position, commercially focused, and centred on winning work and generating revenue. It is NOT a partnerships or sponsorship role, a purely strategic or leadership position, or a role where leads are handed to you to close.