Business Development Representative

CAI Software, LLC; United States; On-site; USD 50,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

CAI Software is seeking a Business Development Representative to join the Process Manufacturing team. This role owns the top of the funnel, qualifying inbound inquiries and driving outbound pipeline generation across CAI's software portfolio.

You'll research prospects, understand their business problems, and craft credible outreach to engage decision-makers, coordinating with Sales to move opportunities forward and contribute to revenue growth.

Qualifications

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to research companies and map accounts.
• Judgment in qualifying opportunities and prioritizing leads.
• Curiosity to learn unfamiliar business and technical concepts.
• Excellent organization and attention to detail in workflow.
• Proficiency with CRM discipline and data accuracy.
• Ability to tailor outreach without over-investing time.
• Comfort engaging with managers and executives.
• Coachable and able to adjust approach based on results.

Responsibilities

• Respond to and qualify inbound inquiries.
• Research target accounts and contact history before outreach.
• Understand business problems and stakeholders to assess fit.
• Schedule qualified opportunities with sales and provide handoff notes.
• Build target account lists by industry and use case.
• Run personalized outreach via email, LinkedIn, and phone.

Skills

Written and verbal communication

Research and account-mapping

Qualifying opportunities

Curiosity and learning

Organization and follow-through

CRM discipline

Personalized outreach

Executive communication

Coachability and adaptability

Tools

CRM

Job description

CAI Software builds purpose-built solutions that help manufacturers, processors, and distributors accelerate performance. Our mission is to enable manufacturers to transform performance through a connected, AI-assisted ecosystem that delivers visibility, control, and continuous improvement. We bring the deep operational expertise and enterprise infrastructure to be a true long-term performance partner.

With 6,200+ active customers worldwide and a market-leading position in every vertical we serve, CAI combines 45+ years of industry expertise with modern AI-driven execution - helping businesses move faster, operate smarter, and perform at their peak. We work across 15+ industries and 10+ countries, guided by three values built into our name: Candor, Accountability, and Impact.

CAI Business Units and the Markets We Serve

CAI Software is organized into three business units: Graphic Communications, Process Manufacturing, and Discrete Manufacturing - aligned to the industries we serve. This structure keeps our teams close to customer needs while operating with the scale and support of a global software company.

Process Manufacturing

This role is part of our Process Manufacturing business unit, which delivers ERP and operational software to manufacturers that transform raw materials into finished goods through formulas, recipes, or batch-driven processes. We serve food and beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical, nutraceutical, paint, supply chain logistics and related manufacturers - supporting end-to-end operations built for measurable performance outcomes.

This role supports pipeline generation across CAI's process manufacturing software portfolio, engaging prospects across multiple products and the industries they serve, from food and beverage and industrial manufacturing to logistics and supply chain.

About the Role

CAI Software is seeking a Business Development Representative to join our Process Manufacturing team. This role owns the top of the funnel for CAI's process manufacturing software portfolio, driving both inbound qualification and outbound pipeline generation. This is not a volume-only role. The BDR is expected to understand the prospect's business problem, determine fit, and provide Sales with enough context to move the opportunity forward. The strongest candidate can research a company, understand its business, identify who likely owns the problem, and create a credible reason to engage, comfortable learning unfamiliar processes and terminology, asking good questions, and knowing when an opportunity is ready to move to Sales.

What You'll Do

• Respond to and qualify inbound inquiries.
• Research the person, company, and account history before outreach.
• Understand the business problem, current process, systems in place, and key stakeholders.
• Determine whether the opportunity is a fit or should be disqualified.
• Schedule qualified opportunities with the appropriate salesperson and provide clear handoff notes.
• Continue follow-up with leads that have potential but are not ready to move forward.
• Build and prioritize target account and contact lists by industry, company profile, persona, and use case.
• Run personalized outreach through email, LinkedIn, and phone.
• Create messaging based on the contact's role, company environment, and likely operational priorities.
• Identify alternate stakeholders and internal referrals when needed.
• Re-engage dormant leads, previous opportunities, former customers, and existing accounts with cross-sell potential.
• Partner with the Account Executive to identify and pursue whitespace expansion opportunities within existing client accounts.

Account Research & Qualification

• Research company size, locations, products, technology environment, business initiatives, and relevant company activity.
• Use research to create a credible reason for engagement.
• Conduct light discovery around business pain, current process, project timing, and scope.
• Gather enough information to confirm fit without replacing full technical discovery by Sales.
• Maintain accurate lead, contact, account, activity, lifecycle, disposition, and source data.
• Track inbound and outbound conversion, lead quality, response rates, and account penetration.
• Share feedback with Sales and Marketing on lead quality, messaging, objections, and trends.
• Support target-account, re-engagement, and cross-sell initiatives.

Messaging & Territory Support

• Write and test persona-specific email and LinkedIn messaging.
• Adjust messaging based on performance and prospect feedback.
• Support U.S. and international sales teams across time zones.
• Provide Spanish-language outreach for Latin American and multinational prospects.

What We're Looking For

• Strong written and verbal communication.
• Strong research and account-mapping skills.
• Good judgment when qualifying opportunities.
• Curiosity and ability to learn unfamiliar business and technical concepts.
• Strong organization and follow-through.
• CRM discipline and attention to detail.
• Ability to personalize outreach without over-investing time per contact.
• Comfortable engaging managers through executives.
• Coachable and able to adjust approach based on results.

Preferred

• 2+ years of B2B or SaaS business development / sales development experience.
• Experience managing both inbound qualification and outbound prospecting.

• Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.