Business Development Director

maersk; Elk Grove Village (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Maersk is seeking a highly driven Business Development Director to aggressively grow our LTL portfolio by acquiring net-new customer logos. This role focuses on prospecting, qualifying, and closing new LTL business, with minimal account management.

The ideal candidate is a proven logistics sales professional with deep experience selling LTL (Standard and WhiteGlove) to shippers. You will identify and win new logos, partner strategically with prospects, and build trusted relationships for

Qualifications

• 7+ years in new business acquisition in U.S. ground freight (LTL/FTL).
• Experience selling LTL, FTL, and related transportation solutions.
• Strong data-driven prospecting and consultative selling skills.

Responsibilities

• Identify and close new logo accounts for Maersk Ground Freight.
• Build a robust sales pipeline and forecast in SFDC.
• Collaborate with pricing, operations, and legal to craft proposals.
• Represent Maersk at industry events and customer meetings.
• Negotiate pricing and contracts to close profitable business.

Skills

LTL Sales

Prospecting

CRM SFDC

Negotiation

Strategic Selling

Salesforce

Tools

Salesforce

CRM systems

Job description

Business Development Director

We are seeking a highly driven Business Development Hunter to aggressively grow our LTL portfolio by acquiring net-new customer logos.

This role is focused exclusively on prospecting, qualifying, and closing new LTL business, with minimal account management responsibility.

The ideal candidate is a proven logistics sales professional who thrives in a fast-paced, quota-driven environment and has deep experience selling LTL (Standard and WhiteGlove), B2B/B2C transportation solutions to shippers. Experience in selling FTL, final mile, dedicated, pool point transportation solutions is a considered a plus.

As a Business Development Director, you are a catalyst in this mission. Your work goes beyond selling - you will identify and win new‑logo business, partner strategically with prospects, and build trusted relationships that lead to enduring value and transformational growth.

What You'll Do

As a key member of the North America Business Development team, your focus will be to generate and close new business in the Maersk Ground Freight portfolio. You will identify ideal target customers using data, insight, and intuition - and you'll position Maersk as the logistics partner that delivers clarity, reliability, and innovation. In this position you will be responsible for outreach, identifying and prospecting new logos for Maersk Ground Freight and generating sales as well as building a sales pipeline that allows consistent business growth for ground freight.

Sales Execution

• Conduct discovery to understand shipper freight profiles, lane structures, service requirements, and pain points
• Present and sell LTL solutions including standard LTL, expedited LTL, volume LTL, cross-border, and accessorial-heavy freight
• Collaborate with pricing, operations, and carrier management teams to build competitive solutions
• Negotiate pricing, contracts, and service agreements to close profitable business

Market & Relationship Development

• Build relationships with transportation, supply chain, and procurement decision-makers
• Maintain strong market awareness of LTL carriers, capacity trends, and competitive landscape
• Represent the company at industry events, trade shows, and customer meetings

Performance & Reporting

• Maintain accurate pipeline and activity reporting in CRM
• Meet or exceed new logo revenue and margin targets
• Track and report on prospecting activity, win rates, and sales cycle performance

Travel: 30-50%

Key Responsibilities

• Win New-Logo Business: You are laser-focused on acquiring new customers. You identify, engage, and convert high-potential prospects into long‑term Maersk clients.
• Prioritize with Insight: Use multiple data sources - market intelligence, CRM analytics, supply chain databases, and internal benchmarks - to segment and prioritize target accounts with the highest potential value and strategic fit.
• Lead with Empathy and Purpose: Build relationships through genuine understanding, active listening, and customer-first engagement. You earn trust and influence by putting the customer's goals at the center.
• Collaborate to Win: Work closely with solution engineering, operations, product, pricing, and legal to craft compelling proposals that balance commercial goals with operational feasibility.
• Own the Sales Cycle: Use structured sales methodologies (Maersk Value Selling, Challenger, Miller Heiman, SPIN, etc.) to manage the full sales lifecycle from first contact to contract signature.
• Build a Better Pipeline: Keep a strong and healthy pipeline in SFDC - SalesForce.com, driven by both proactive outreach and strategic account targeting.
• Execute with Discipline: Use Covey's principle of "beginning with the end in mind" - set clear objectives, measure results, and constantly improve your approach.

What Makes You a Great Fit

You're motivated to win every day and drive growth with onboarding new business and developing solutions that drive value for the customer and our organization. You are organized, disciplined and ferocious, driven by closing deals and hunting. You blend the humility and resolve of a Jim Collins "Level 5 Leader" with the curiosity, integrity, and empathy that Dale Carnegie and Stephen Covey championed. You ask the right questions, dig deep into problems, and deliver outcomes that make customers say: "Why weren't we working with Maersk sooner?"

Experience & Capabilities

Proven track record (7+ years) in new business acquisition, ideally in ground freight within the United States especially LTL (standard and white glove deliveries). Additional experience in final mile home delivery, FTL and dedicated solutions as well as domestic freight forwarding is a plus.

• Demonstrated ability to win "new logo" customers through data-driven targeting, strategic outreach, and consultative selling.
• Deep understanding of domestic transportation (LTL, FTL, Dedicated, Final mile, pool point solutions)

Strong analytical and com