Head of Business Development & Solutions Design

Culina Group Limited; Lutterworth; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 25 days

Company bonus

Private medical

Car allowance

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Wellness programme

Eye care vouchers

Rewards & recognition

Employee discounts

Job summary

Culina Group is seeking a Head of Business Development & Solution Design to lead strategic growth in the Chilled & Fresh Division. You will own the end-to-end sales cycle, shape tailored logistics solutions, and partner with senior stakeholders to win new business and expand key accounts.

Based in the UK, you will combine strategic planning with hands-on leadership, driving EBIT growth and ensuring compelling value propositions across group opportunities.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in driving revenue growth within logistics, warehousing or supply chain.
• Strong ability to win new business and expand existing accounts.
• Experience in leading strategic accounts, negotiations and value-based contracting.
• Excellent proposal writing with commercial acumen and clarity.
• Proven leadership of cross-functional teams and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Establish structured lead generation, pipeline management and performance tracking.
• Own the full sales cycle from initial contact to contract and rollout.
• Develop existing customers with growth plans and EBIT focal points.
• Lead strategic account management for high-potential clients.
• Design and tailor complex logistics and IT solutions for customers.
• Collaborate with group commercial teams to identify and advance opportunities.
• Contribute to marketing strategy and compelling content for the division.

Skills

Revenue growth

New business

Strategic account mgmt

Contract negotiation

Proposal writing

Team leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Market analysis

Job description

Company Description

Culina Group is a leading UK 3rd party food & drinks logistics provider offering dedicated and shared user warehousing and distribution solutions.

At Culina we have a winning culture, we believe that our culture is one of the reasons our company continues to thrive… A place where you're valued, challenged, and inspired!

Job Description

We have an exciting new opportunity to join our team as the Head of Business Development & Solution Design. The Culina Group Chilled & Fresh Division is a market leading 3PL, specialising in the management and delivery of time sensitive and perishable goods. Supporting a blue-chip client base, the business has a turnover in excess of £650m and delivers more than 17m pallets per year.

The Head of Business Development & Solution Design will help to shape, deliver and support the execution of the commercial growth strategy for the Chilled & Fresh Division over the next 3-5 years. This role combines strategic planning, with hands on leadership of business development activities, focusing on both new business acquisition and development of targeted existing key accounts with high growth potential.

Strategic planning is key to the critical success of this role and in line with developing a pipeline of new business coming into the Company, you will be required to ensure a thorough knowledge of the industry, its competitors and the solutions and services that the Company can provide. Developing tailor made customer solutions across the Chilled & Fresh Division and the wider Culina Group will be fundamental to the success of the role.

A high level of experience and a proven track record of owning a new business opportunity throughout the sales cycle and into a strong Contractual agreement is critical. Equally important, is the ability to work across all levels, both internally and externally to help ensure the best possible outcome for Culina and the customer.

Key responsibilities of the Head of Business Development & Solution Design

• New Business Development: Establish and implement a structured approach to lead generation, pipeline management, and performance tracking.
• Complete Sales Cycle: Own the customer onboarding process from introduction, solution design, pricing agreement, Contract negotiation and implementation.
• Development of Existing Customers: Working with the rest of the Chilled & Fresh commercial team, to identify customers with significant development opportunities and develop plans to increase EBIT and lock in those customers for the long-term.
• Strategic Account Management: Ownership of a limited, but very select group of customers that are critical to the businesses long-term growth aspirations.
• Solution Design: Help to develop & design complex logistical and IT solutions to form part of the value proposition. Solutions may require bespoke development and investment, which must form part of the internal business case.
• Develop Group Opportunities: Work with the various Group commercial teams, to ensure all potential group opportunities are identified and progressed in an elegant and timely manner.
• Marketing: In collaboration with the central marketing function, help to develop a coherent marketing strategy and visual content for the Chilled & Fresh Division.
• Act as an ambassador for the Chilled & Fresh Division, engaging with internal/external stakeholders, industry bodies, and strategic partners.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in driving significant revenue growth through both new business acquisition and strategic account expansion, essentially within a logistics, warehousing, or supply chain environment.
• Strong understanding of the UK logistics and supply chain sector, including market dynamics, customer expectations, and operational models.
• Experienced in the writing of high quality proposals and tender documents, which are both creative and compelling with strong commercial acumen underpinning the commercials and content.
• An emotionally intelligent and proactive individual, able to represent the Company to the highest possible standards to a wide-ranging audience.
• Excellent numeracy and analytical skills, with attention to detail and capability to translate the operational and commercial solutions into a dynamic visual format.
• Direct experience managing high value strategic accounts, including contract negotiation, service expansion, and relationship development.
• Extensive experience of negotiating Contracts with a solid understanding of Contracting principles in the third party logistics sector.
• Experience of managing and developing a small but high performing team and then indirectly managing wider stakeholders involved in the solution design and delivery.

Additional Information

As part of our drive to make Culina Group a great place to work. We are proud to be an inclusive and diverse organisation where we are committed to employee development and recognising success for hard working performers.

Our dedicated learning and development programmes are open to every employee to give you the opportunity to shape your own future within logistics and continue to work in an environment where team culture thrives.

Our People are the driving force behind our success, which is why we offer a wide range of benefits which include:

• Annual Leave – Competitive holiday entitlement of 25 Days plus 8 Bank Holidays
• Company Bonus – We do our best work to succeed together. When we achieve our goals you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme
• Private Medical Cover – This gives you peace of mind, you have choice, flexibility and speed of access to the most clinically appropriate care via Bupa
• Car Allowance
• Pension scheme – we want colleagues to enjoy a comfortable retirement so we offer a great contribution of 5% employee and 8% employer
• Life Assurance - x4 your annual salary
• Wellness – Via our Employee Assistance Programme we offer immediate access to a confidential telephone counselling and legal information service that operates 24 hours a days, 365 days a year
• Eye Care Vouchers – We can provide you with substantial savings with free eye tests and discounts on prescription glasses
• Reward & Recognition – We recognise that employees have gone the extra mile via Employee of the month and year, special recognition and long service awards.
• Everyday discounts - via our benefit platform you will have access to over 50 retailer discounts for everyday savings!