Senior Business Development Manager

Best Services International Freight UK Ltd; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Best Services International Freight UK Ltd is seeking a business development professional to expand our UK & EU freight forwarding footprint. You will open new direct shipper relationships, shape multi-modal logistics solutions and collaborate with our operations and product teams to deliver value to customers.

You will build a robust pipeline for Air and Ocean freight, target UK/EU–China and other trade lanes, and travel to meet clients, present proposals and close profitable solutions while

Qualifications

• Experience in UK freight forwarding or international logistics.
• Proven track record of winning and developing direct shipper accounts.
• Strong Air Freight and/or Ocean Freight knowledge.
• Experience in new business development and GP generation.
• Established UK freight and shipper network.
• Ability to approach senior decision-makers and open new business opportunities.
• Understanding of freight pricing, operations and customer service requirements.
• Commercial judgement focused on profitability and sustainable growth.
• Proactive, resilient and self-motivated approach to business development.
• Ability to work independently while coordinating with operations and product teams.

Responsibilities

• Identify, prospect and win new direct shipper / BCO customers in the UK market.
• Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified business opportunities.
• Develop relationships with logistics, supply chain, procurement and other relevant decision-makers.
• Conduct regular face-to-face / online customer meetings, site visits and commercial presentations.
• Use a structured combination of networking, referrals, cold outreach, LinkedIn, industry events and other prospecting channels to generate new opportunities.
• Understand customers' supply chain requirements and develop tailored Air, Ocean and multimodal freight solutions.
• Work closely with Product, Pricing, Operations and overseas offices to develop competitive commercial proposals.
• Convert opportunities into sustainable, profitable and long-term business.
• Develop existing customer relationships where cross-selling opportunities exist.
• Maintain strong market awareness covering customers, competitors, carriers, suppliers and industry developments.
• Manage sales activity, pipeline and commercial performance against agreed targets.
• Represent BSI Freight UK at relevant customer meetings, exhibitions, networking events and industry activities.

Skills

Freight forwarding

UK market experience

Sales / new business development

Air Freight knowledge

Ocean Freight knowledge

Profitability focus

Relationship building

Pricing knowledge

Independent worker

Tools

CRM

MS Excel

Job description

About the Role

This is a business development-focused position for someone who understands the UK & EU freight forwarding market, enjoys opening new doors, and has a proven ability to build long-term relationships with direct shippers. You will be responsible for developing new business opportunities across Air Freight and Ocean Freight, with particular opportunities across UK/EU–China, UK/EU–Asia and wider international trade lanes. The successful candidate will work closely with our UK operations and product team, as well as BSI's overseas offices and extensive network in China, to develop competitive and practical logistics solutions for customers.

Responsibilities

• Identify, prospect and win new direct shipper / BCO customers in the UK market.
• Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified business opportunities.
• Develop relationships with logistics, supply chain, procurement and other relevant decision-makers.
• Conduct regular face-to-face / online customer meetings, site visits and commercial presentations.
• Use a structured combination of networking, referrals, cold outreach, LinkedIn, industry events and other prospecting channels to generate new opportunities.
• Understand customers' supply chain requirements and develop tailored Air, Ocean and multimodal freight solutions.
• Work closely with Product, Pricing, Operations and overseas offices to develop competitive commercial proposals.
• Convert opportunities into sustainable, profitable and long-term business.
• Develop existing customer relationships where cross-selling opportunities exist.
• Maintain strong market awareness covering customers, competitors, carriers, suppliers and industry developments.
• Manage sales activity, pipeline and commercial performance against agreed targets.
• Represent BSI Freight UK at relevant customer meetings, exhibitions, networking events and industry activities.

Qualifications

Our priority is an experienced freight forwarding professional with a strong commercial track record in the UK market. Ideally, you will have:

Required Skills

• Significant experience within the UK freight forwarding or international logistics industry.
• A proven track record of winning and developing direct shipper accounts.
• Strong Air Freight and/or Ocean Freight knowledge.
• Demonstrable success in new business development and GP generation.
• An established network within the UK freight and shipper community.
• The confidence and experience to approach senior decision-makers and open new business opportunities.
• A good understanding of freight pricing, operations and customer service requirements.
• Strong commercial judgement with a clear focus on profitability and sustainable growth.
• A proactive, resilient and self-motivated approach to business development.
• The ability to work independently in the market while collaborating closely with operations and product teams.

Preferred Skills

Candidates with a stable and successful long-term career history within freight forwarding are particularly encouraged to apply.

We are also interested in hearing from highly experienced freight forwarding professionals currently working in:

• Key Account Management
• Customer Service
• Freight Operations
• Product Management

If you have strong customer-facing experience, deep freight forwarding knowledge, clear commercial instincts and a genuine ambition to move into a business development role, we would be interested in hearing from you.

China & Asia Experience

Given BSI's strong network and market position in China, experience involving China–UK, Asia–UK or China–Europe trade lanes would be particularly valuable. We would especially welcome candidates who have experience:

• Working with Chinese-owned businesses or Asian manufacturers.
• Managing China/Asia-related import or export business.
• Working with customers, suppliers or overseas offices in China.
• Operating effectively across both UK and Chinese/Asian business environments.

Mandarin and/or Cantonese language capability would be a significant advantage, but is not essential.