Business Development Executive

Sound Diplomacy; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading creative economy consultancy is seeking a Business Development Executive to drive consultancy lead generation and manage proposals. The role allows for remote or hybrid working and requires strong organisational skills and experience in sales coordination. Candidates will work within a collaborative team environment and can expect clear opportunities for growth in consultancy and commercial activity. Knowledge of culture and cities is desirable.

Benefits

Exposure to international projects

Collaborative team culture

Opportunity for professional development

Qualifications

• Experience in business development, sales coordination, or commercial support roles.
• Excellent written and spoken English for drafting proposals.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Identify and research new consultancy leads across public and private sectors.
• Support and manage the full consultancy proposal process.
• Manage administrative aspects of the consultancy sales pipeline.

Skills

Business development experience

Sales coordination

Writing professional proposals

Organisational skills

Working with budgets

Job description

• Reports to: Head of Business Development
• Salary: £35,000 per annum
• Location: Remote or London-Hybrid
• Contract: Full-time
• Languages: Fluent English required.
• Additional languages are desirable but not required (Spanish, German, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese).

About Sound Diplomacy

Sound Diplomacy is the leading creative economy consultancy specialising in cities, real estate and cultural venues. We use research, data and strategy to demonstrate the economic and social value of music and the creative industries, while also delivering world‑class international events that shape global conversations on music, culture and cities.

As part of our growth strategy, we are strengthening our business development capability to better align consultancy, events and sponsorship activity, improve internal processes, and support long‑term, sustainable growth.

The Role

The Business Development Executive is a core role within Sound Diplomacy’s commercial function. Reporting directly to the Head of Business Development, the role focuses primarily on consultancy business development, with additional support across events and sponsorship sales where appropriate.

This is a hands‑on role with responsibility across the full sales cycle: from lead identification and early‑stage conversations through to proposal development, budgeting, deal management and sales pipeline administration. The role is well suited to someone who is highly organised, commercially aware, confident working with proposals and numbers, and interested in the creative economy, culture, cities and the built environment.

Key Responsibilities

Consultancy Business Development (Primary Focus)

• Identify and research new consultancy leads across public and private sector clients in target markets
• Support and manage the full consultancy proposal process, including:
  • Coordinating opportunities from initial meeting through to deal close
  • Working with the consultancy team to define scopes of work, methodologies and timelines
  • Preparing and coordinating consultancy proposals and tender responses (RFPs)
  • Developing project budgets, pricing structures and cost‑of‑sales calculations
• Manage all administrative and operational aspects of the consultancy sales pipeline, including CRM updates, opportunity tracking and reporting
• Support follow‑up, negotiation and deal management activity

Events & Sponsorship Business Development (Secondary Focus)

• Identify potential leads for events, partnerships and sponsorship opportunities
• Support proposal development for event and sponsorship sales
• Liaise with the events team to shape event concepts, commercial offers and sponsorship packages
• Prepare initial budgets and manage administrative processes related to event and sponsorship pipelines

Skills & Experience

Essential

• Experience in business development, sales coordination, proposals, or commercial support roles
• Excellent written and spoken English, with confidence drafting professional proposals and correspondence
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Comfortable preparing and working with budgets, pricing and financial information
• Experience responding to RFPs and/or public‑sector tenders
• Ability to manage multiple opportunities and deadlines simultaneously
• Self‑motivated and comfortable working remotely

Desirable

• Experience in consultancy, professional services, events or sponsorship sales
• Interest in music, culture, cities, real estate or the creative economy
• Additional language skills (Spanish, German, Cantonese, Mandarin or Japanese)

What We Offer

• A fully remote or London‑hybrid role within a globally recognised cultural consultancy and events business
• Exposure to international projects, cities, developers, cultural organisations and major events
• The opportunity to develop strong commercial, proposal and strategic skills
• A collaborative and values‑driven team culture focused on quality, trust and impact

Working Hours & Location

Sound Diplomacy operates globally, working with clients and partners across multiple time zones, from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

The role can be fully remote, or London‑hybrid for candidates based in or near London. Our core working hours are aligned to GMT, and the team largely works within this framework. However, some flexibility is required to accommodate client meetings, project milestones or events in different time zones.

This role is best suited to candidates based in Europe (GMT / CET) or the US East Coast, where time zone overlap works well with our core team and clients.

Progression & Growth

This role offers clear opportunities for progression as Sound Diplomacy grows its consultancy, events and commercial activity. The Business Development Executive will work closely with senior leadership, gaining exposure to international markets, senior clients and complex consultancy and sponsorship deals.

Over time, there is scope to take on greater responsibility across deal ownership and commercial strategy, with potential progression into a Business Development Manager role, depending on performance and business needs.