Business Development Manager - USA

Inside Higher Ed; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 65,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Inside Higher Ed, Inc. is seeking a Business Development Manager for the USA to generate and convert new business opportunities within defined university territories.

The role focuses on proactive prospecting, stakeholder engagement, and revenue generation from new customers and unexplored relationships. This is a scale role across many institutions, with handover to Account Management for delivery and growth.

Qualifications

• Experience in B2B new business sales, preferably SaaS or data businesses.
• Ability to build and manage a high-volume outbound pipeline across institutions.
• Familiarity with qualification frameworks (e.g. BANT) and multi-channel outreach.

Responsibilities

• Prospect and build a pipeline across target universities and institutions.
• Map stakeholders and decision makers; run discovery calls to qualify needs.
• Present solutions and develop proposals, negotiate and close new business.
• Execute regional go-to-market plans and capture competitive intelligence.
• Maintain accurate CRM data and hand over won deals to Account Management.

Skills

Outbound prospecting

Multi-channel prospecting

Sales pipeline management

Negotiation

Presentation skills

Communication

SaaS sales

Willing to travel

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Business Development Manager - USA

LOCATION: Washington, D.C.

SALARY: $65,000 - $75,000 + commission

Inside Higher Ed provides the latest news, analysis and solutions for the entire higher education community. Inside Higher Ed is owned by Times Higher Education (THE), the world's most authoritative source of data, analysis and information on higher education, with five decades' experience dedicated to the field.

Our mission is to provide forward-looking insights and services to the entire higher education community, empowering individuals and organizations to excel and transform learners' lives.

About the role

The Business Development Manager is responsible for generating and converting new business opportunities within defined territories and target institutions – expanding the breadth of universities THE are able to support via their data & analytics, marketing, recruitment and events solutions. The role is focused on proactive prospecting, opportunity creation, stakeholder engagement and revenue generation from new customers and previously unexplored relationships. This is a scale role: BDMs drive new business across a large number of institutions in their territory, while still engaging senior leadership stakeholders and hand newly engaged institutions to Account Management for impactful delivery as well as retention and future growth.

Key Responsibilities

Prospecting & pipeline

• Execute structured outbound sales activity across target institutions, generating opportunities through phone, email, LinkedIn, events and referrals.
• Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified opportunities.
• Work closely with Marketing on campaign follow-up and lead conversion.

Stakeholder mapping & discovery

• Identify decision makers, influencers and users within target institutions, and map buying committees and procurement processes.
• Conduct discovery meetings and qualification calls.

Proposals & closing

• Present THE solutions aligned to customer needs and objectives, and develop proposals and commercial recommendations.
• Negotiate and close new business within agreed commercial guidelines.

Market insight

• Execute the regional go-to-market plan, including new segments and geographies agreed with the Business Development Director.
• Record competitive intelligence and complete win/loss reviews on closed deals.

Records & handover

• Maintain accurate stakeholder data within the CRM.
• Qualify new opportunities within 2 business days of first contact and log discovery in the CRM.
• Route bespoke or high-value deals through the Deal Desk for approval, bringing delivery specialists into pre sale where needed.
• Mark deals Closed-Won and log contract value and dates within 24 hours of contract, then hand over to Account Management with a strong brief.

Skills & Experience

• Experience (typically 2-5 years) in B2B new business sales, ideally within a SaaS, data or information business.
• A track record of hitting new business targets and building pipeline from outbound activity across a high volume of institutions.
• Strong multi-channel prospecting skills, including LinkedIn Sales Navigator and sales engagement tools.
• Familiar with qualification frameworks (e.g. BANT).
• Confident Salesforce user.
• Interest in higher education; understanding of university procurement is an advantage.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Additional languages are an advantage for international territories; willingness to travel.