Retail Business Development Representative

Middlebox; Vancouver; Hybrid; CAD 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Summer Fridays

Remote to start

Founding Vancouver hire

Annual bonuses

Free products from clients

Job summary

Middlebox, a Vancouver-based boutique consulting agency, is seeking a Business Development Representative to grow client retail pipelines in the Indie & Specialty channel—building prospect lists, running cold outreach, tracking retail conversations, and most importantly, closing sales. You'll help strengthen relationships with existing retail partners and open doors to new ones.

The role works closely across our retail team and interfaces with our clients' senior leadership, so strong

Qualifications

• Degree in any discipline—analytical or quantitative fields are a plus.
• Open to recent graduates; 1-2 years in analytical or fast-paced roles is a bonus.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to drive multiple priorities.

Responsibilities

• Build monthly prospect lists for indie and boutique retailers across channels.
• Conduct cold outreach via email, phone, and LinkedIn to move opportunities.
• Coordinate sampling and follow up; lead initial calls with retail buyers.
• Maintain CRM data and generate reports; keep Faire profiles updated.
• Collaborate with retail team; support materials and onboarding tasks.
• Travel occasionally for trade shows and retailer tours.

Skills

Prospect research

Cold outreach

CRM reporting

Strong communicator

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

HubSpot

Faire

Job description

Middlebox (middlebox.com) is a boutique consulting agency that helps high-growth, digitally native consumer brands launch in US Specialty Retail stores. We work with standout brands across beauty, personal care, wellness, and home goods, working with brands like Vacation®, Saltyface, Fishwife, Rocco, Magic Molecule, and more. Our work spans strategy, outreach, sell-in, account management, and operational execution. We sell into top-tier retail accounts like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Goop, Erewhon, Ulta, Sephora, and hundreds of leading indie retailers. Our lean, remote team of industry veterans is known for deep relationships and a hands-on approach to driving sales with the most influential retailers in the US.

About the Role:

We're seeking a Business Development Representative to grow our clients' retail pipelines in the Indie & Specialty channel—building prospect lists, running cold outreach, tracking retail conversations, and most importantly, closing sales. You'll help strengthen relationships with existing retail partners and open doors to new ones. The role works closely across our retail team and interfaces with our clients' senior leadership, so strong organizational and communication skills are essential to manage and grow retail pipelines across multiple brands and categories. This role is highly cross-functional and offers real upward mobility as the business grows—an ideal spot for someone eager to learn the consumer goods space, see how high-growth brands scale, and engage with top US retailers. Our team is remote across the US, and this is the role that starts our Vancouver chapter: you'd be our first hire on the ground here, working directly with our founder to build a local hub—which means direct access to leadership and a real hand in how this role and team take shape.

This position starts as a month-to-month contract with a path to full-time. It's remote to start, with a move to a hybrid schedule (roughly 3 days a week from a Vancouver coworking space) planned for the new year as we build out our Vancouver base. We also offer Summer Fridays year-round.

About Middlebox:

Middlebox (middlebox.com) is a boutique consulting agency that helps high-growth, digitally native consumer brands launch in US Specialty Retail stores. We work with standout brands across beauty, personal care, wellness, and home goods, working with brands like Vacation®, Saltyface, Fishwife, Rocco, Magic Molecule, and more. Our work spans strategy, outreach, sell-in, account management, and operational execution. We sell into top-tier retail accounts like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Goop, Erewhon, Ulta, Sephora, and hundreds of leading indie retailers. Our lean, remote team of industry veterans is known for deep relationships and a hands-on approach to driving sales with the most influential retailers in the US.

About the Role:

We're seeking a Business Development Representative to grow our clients' retail pipelines in the Indie & Specialty channel—building prospect lists, running cold outreach, tracking retail conversations, and most importantly, closing sales. You'll help strengthen relationships with existing retail partners and open doors to new ones. The role works closely across our retail team and interfaces with our clients' senior leadership, so strong organizational and communication skills are essential to manage and grow retail pipelines across multiple brands and categories. This role is highly cross-functional and offers real upward mobility as the business grows—an ideal spot for someone eager to learn the consumer goods space, see how high-growth brands scale, and engage with top US retailers. Our team is remote across the US, and this is the role that starts our Vancouver chapter: you'd be our first hire on the ground here, working directly with our founder to build a local hub—which means direct access to leadership and a real hand in how this role and team take shape.

This position starts as a month-to-month contract with a path to full-time. It's remote to start, with a move to a hybrid schedule (roughly 3 days a week from a Vancouver coworking space) planned for the new year as we build out our Vancouver base. We also offer Summer Fridays year-round.

What you’ll be doing:

• Build monthly prospect lists for each client account, researching and identifying highly qualified indie and boutique retailers across multiple channels (grocery, wellness, salons, etc.) that align with each brand’s positioning and target customer.
• Conduct cold outreach to prospective retail partners via email, phone, and LinkedIn, managing follow ups and moving qualified opportunities through the pipeline toward an opening order.
• Coordinate sample send outs to qualified prospective accounts, including tracking samples and following up after delivery.
• Schedule and lead initial calls with retail buyers to introduce the brand and answer questions.
• Audit, update, and build reporting in our internal CRMs.
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date account and opportunity records in HubSpot.
• Become an expert in Faire, keeping our clients’ profiles optimized.
• Establish reporting best practices across our brands, combining our CRM data with your own industry research.
• Assist in preparing retail materials, presentations, and product information packs.
• Coordinate closely with the retail team on new leads and opportunities.
• Support the retail team with administrative tasks related to ongoing projects and larger account setups, including retailer/vendor setup forms, product information and PDP assets, and helping coordinate onboarding.
• Visit stores in your area regularly to monitor product placement and competitor activity.
• Travel occasionally for trade shows and retail tours in US cities.

What we’re looking for:

• Degree in any discipline—analytical or quantitative fields are a plus.
• Open to recent graduates; 1-2 years in an analytical or fast-paced environment is a bonus.
• Sharp and quick to learn, with the analytical chops to turn messy data into a clear recommendation.
• A strong ownership mentality—you chase problems down instead of waiting to be told.
• Highly computer-literate and fast to pick up new tools (CRMs, spreadsheets, AI tools).
• Extremely detail-oriented with strong organizational skills.
• Strong communicator who can juggle multiple priorities at once.
• Must be based in Vancouver.

Why Apply?

• Compensation equivalent to $50,000-$60,000 CAD, depending on experience.
• Starts as a month-to-month contract, with an opportunity to transition to full-time in 2027.
• Get in on the ground floor as Middlebox's founding Vancouver hire, helping shape our Canadian team from day one.
• Potential for annual bonuses based on company performance.
• High-exposure professional growth working alongside world-class consumer brands.
• Remote to start, with occasional in-person team meetups in US cities like NY, LA, and Miami.
• Summer Fridays year-round, as long as key deliverables are met.
• Plenty of free products from our clients.