Business Development Manager

We are seeking an experienced business development professional with a strong commercial network across the nutraceutical and functional ingredients industry to drive sales growth throughout North and South America.

This position will focus on developing new business, expanding existing customer relationships and strengthening distributor partnerships across the Americas. The successful candidate will take ownership of regional commercial activities, working directly with dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers, ingredient distributors and functional food and beverage companies.

The ideal candidate will have extensive experience selling specialty nutritional ingredients, with a strong understanding of ingredient applications, formulation requirements and customer purchasing processes.

An established network of industry contacts, combined with a proven ability to identify new commercial opportunities and develop long-term customer relationships, will be essential.

We are particularly interested in individuals who have developed their careers within the nutritional ingredients sector and can demonstrate a track record of generating new business, developing strategic customer relationships and delivering sustained commercial growth.

This is a hands-on commercial position suited to an experienced industry specialist who enjoys identifying new opportunities, engaging directly with customers and taking ownership of business development across a diverse regional market.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Business Development

• Develop and execute commercial strategies across North and South America, focusing on revenue growth, new customer acquisition and market expansion.

• Leverage an established industry network to identify and develop opportunities with dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers, ingredient distributors and food and beverage companies.

• Build direct relationships with key commercial, purchasing, technical and product development decision-makers.

• Identify opportunities to introduce specialist nutritional ingredients into existing and new customer product portfolios.

• Develop new customer accounts while increasing business with established regional and multinational customers.

• Manage the complete sales cycle, from initial customer engagement and opportunity identification through to commercial negotiations and supply agreements.

• Take ownership of regional sales targets, customer development activities and commercial performance.

Strategic Account Management

• Develop and manage relationships with key regional and multinational customers across the Americas.

• Identify opportunities to expand existing accounts through new ingredient applications, product development initiatives and portfolio penetration.

• Build relationships with dietary supplement manufacturers, contract manufacturers, brand owners and formulation partners.

• Work closely with customer procurement, R&D, formulation and commercial teams to understand their ingredient requirements and identify suitable solutions.

• Lead commercial negotiations, pricing discussions and customer supply agreements.

• Maintain strong relationships with key decision-makers and ensure consistent engagement throughout the customer development process.

Distributor & Channel Development

• Manage and develop existing distributor relationships across assigned markets.

• Identify opportunities to strengthen distribution coverage throughout North and South America.

• Develop new distributor partnerships where additional market presence is required.

• Work closely with distribution partners to identify end-user opportunities and accelerate ingredient adoption.

• Support commercial development across Latin American markets.

• Establish clear commercial objectives and monitor distributor performance.

• Support joint customer visits, technical presentations and market development activities.

Market Development & Commercial Strategy

• Identify commercial opportunities across dietary supplements, nutraceuticals, functional foods and beverages, and other relevant nutritional applications.

• Maintain a detailed understanding of the nutritional ingredients market, including competitor activity, emerging ingredient applications and customer requirements.

• Identify opportunities for specialist nutritional ingredients within new product development and reformulation projects.

• Develop regional sales plans and identify opportunities for further market penetration.

• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline visibility and commercial reporting.

• Provide market intelligence and customer feedback to support ingredient positioning, product development and future commercial strategy.

Technical & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with technical, regulatory, marketing and supply chain teams to support customer development projects.

• Engage with customer R&D and formulation teams to understand application requirements and identify appropriate ingredient solutions.

• Support technical discussions relating to ingredient functionality, product applications, formulation compatibility and commercialisation.

• Coordinate ingredient presentations, technical meetings and customer product development initiatives.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure effective management of commercial opportunities and customer requirements.

Experience & Qualifications

Industry experience

• Extensive commercial experience within the nutraceutical, dietary supplement or functional ingredients industry.

• Strong knowledge of nutritional ingredients, their applications and the commercial dynamics of the dietary supplement and functional food sectors.

• Experience selling specialty nutritional ingredients to manufacturers, brand owners, contract manufacturers and ingredient distributors.

• An established network of customers, contract manufacturers, ingredient distributors and industry decision-makers across North America.

• Demonstrated success in developing new business and managing strategic customer accounts within the ingredients industry.

• Experience commercialising technically complex ingredients and supporting customer product development initiatives.

• Proven ability to manage distributor relationships and develop business across multiple markets.

• Commercial exposure to Latin America and experience developing international distributor networks would be advantageous.

Technical ingredient knowledge

• Strong understanding of functional and nutritional ingredients, their applications and commercial positioning.

• Understanding of ingredient functionality, formulation requirements and the technical considerations involved in customer product development.

• Ability to communicate the technical and commercial benefits of specialist nutritional ingredients to customers.

• Experience working with technical, applications and regulatory teams to support ingredient commercialisation.

• Knowledge of ingredient applications across dietary supplements, functional foods and beverages, and other relevant nutritional categories.

Commercial capabilities

• Strong track record of delivering sales growth through new customer acquisition, account development and market expansion.

• Ability to identify commercial opportunities and translate customer requirements into ingredient sales.

• Experience managing complex customer relationships, commercial negotiations and regional sales pipelines.

• Comfortable operating independently and taking direct responsibility for commercial results.

• Ability to engage confidently with commercial, procurement, technical and senior management stakeholders.

• Strong relationship-building skills and the ability to develop long-term partnerships with manufacturers, brands and distributors.

Location & travel

• USA-based position, with a home-office working arrangement.

• Willingness to travel regularly throughout North and South America to meet customers, distributors and commercial partners.

• Approximately 50% regional travel anticipated.

• Strong English communication skills. Spanish or Portuguese language capabilities would be advantageous.

A degree in Food Science, Nutrition, Food Technology, Business or a related discipline would be advantageous.

What We Are Looking For

We are particularly interested in speaking with established sales and business development professionals who have built their careers within the North American nutraceutical ingredients market.

The ideal candidate will already have strong relationships with dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers, regional distributors and key commercial decision-makers, alongside the technical and commercial understanding required to develop ingredient opportunities from initial customer discussions through to commercial supply.

Experience managing an established customer portfolio is valuable, but this position requires someone who is equally comfortable generating new business, opening customer accounts and developing new markets independently.

Individuals with experience commercialising specialist functional ingredients who understand the formulation, technical and commercial requirements of manufacturers are of particular interest.