Commercial Development Associate - Dallas

Manna; Dallas, Northern (TX, KY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Manna is expanding its drone-delivery service into the United States, and we are hiring a Commercial Development Associate to secure viable local markets. You will engage vendors, property owners, and communities before launch, build partnerships, and ensure smooth onboarding and ongoing relationships.

Ideal candidates bring vendor management, negotiation, and communications skills, with willingness to travel to new markets and operate with cross-functional teams to drive rapid, market-ready

Qualifications

• Experience in vendor management, procurement, business development, or a sales-related role.
• Experience introducing a new service, platform, or physical operation into US markets.
• Experience working directly with external stakeholders such as landlords, property owners, vendors, partners, or local authorities.
• Experience progressing agreements, contracts or partnerships where there is limited precedent or an undefined playbook.
• Strong negotiation and contract management skills.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to assess vendor performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Strong communications skills, with the ability to explain unfamiliar concepts clearly and without jargon.
• Willingness to travel regularly and spend time on the ground in new locations.
• Experience in logistics, supply chain, or e-commerce is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Identify, evaluate, onboard and manage local vendors from first contact through to a live agreement and ongoing relationship management.
• Negotiate commercial terms with vendors—pricing, menus, promotions, and service levels—to secure best value for Manna and its customers.
• Support the Operations team on securing launch sites, providing local market and vendor insight and helping engage property owners.
• Engage directly with decision-makers to explain how the service operates and address concerns.
• Set up and manage partnerships with aggregators where appropriate.
• Ensure participating vendors understand how the service works prior to customer introduction.
• Track vendor performance against KPIs and service levels, addressing issues proactively.
• Identify clusters of vendors in candidate cities and suburbs to help pinpoint potential new bases.
• Keep the Customer Service team up to date on vendor news, menus, and promotions for accurate information.

Skills

Vendor management

Procurement

Business development

Sales

Negotiation

Contract management

Analytics

Communication

Travel

Job description

About Manna

At Manna,we'rechanging how the world receives things-by taking delivery to the skies.

Our mission is simple but ambitious: to make high-speed suburban delivery affordable, green, and safe. We design and build our own aviation-grade drones that deliver food, coffee, groceries, and more directly from local stores and vendors to people's doors in just a few minutes.

We'rea team that Drive with Impact, are Safety Focused, and knows that the best ideas come from Team Players who show up as their Authentic Selves. We move fast, we are passionate about what we do, andwe'realways pushing a growth mindset to be better in everything we do.

If you want to build world-changing technology with real-world impact (and have a bit of fun while doing it),you'lllove it here.

Welcome to Manna-where we deliver the future.

Role Purpose

Mannaoperatesan established drone delivery service and is expanding into the United States.

We are hiring aCommercial Development Associateto prepare new U.S. markets for launch. In this role you are accountable for external engagement: proving food supply through local vendors or third-partypartners andengaging with customers and local communities before the service is introduced.

This role requires direct, hands‑on engagement with property owners, merchants, partners, and local stakeholders who may be unfamiliar with drone delivery. Theobjectiveis to ensure new markets are commerciallyviable, locally understood, and ready for rollout.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify, evaluate, onboard and manage local vendors owning the full lifecycle from first contact through to a live agreement and ongoing relationship management.

• Negotiate commercial terms with vendors-pricing, menus,promotionsand service levels-to secure the best value for Manna and its customers.

• Support the Operations team on securing launch sites-providing local market and vendor insight and helping engage property ownerswhereuseful. Site acquisition and approvals are owned by Operations.

• Engage directly with decision-makers to explain how the serviceoperatesand address concerns.

• Set up and manage partnerships with aggregators whereappropriate.

• Ensure participating vendors understand how the service works prior to customer introduction.

• Track vendor performance against agreed KPIs and service levels, addressing any issues proactively.

• Identifyclusters of vendors in candidate cities and suburbs to help pinpoint potential newbases andexplore vendor opportunities beyond food as new categories open.

• Support Corporate Affairs and Communications on early customer and community engagement in new areas, acting as a local point of contact and addressing questions or objections clearly and factually.

• Keep the Customer Service team up to date on new vendors, menus,specialsand promotions so customers receiveaccurate,timelyinformation.

• Work with communications,supportand marketing teams to ensureaccuratelocal messaging, and collaborate with Operations, Finance and Legal to keep vendor relationships aligned with business needs and compliance requirements.

• Keep the vendor pipeline and recordsaccurateand up todate andcapture learnings from early US market entry to make expansion intoadditionalmarkets more repeatable over time.

This role does not require prior experience in all areas listed below. Candidates may come from a range of backgrounds, provided they havedemonstratedthe ability to learn quickly,operateindependently, and represent a business credibly in unfamiliar settings.

Relevant experience may include some combination of the following:

• Experience in vendor management, procurement, business development, or a sales-related role.

• Experience introducing a new service, platform, or physical operation into US markets.

• Experience working directly with external stakeholders such as landlords, property owners, vendors, partners, or local authorities.

• Experience progressing agreements,contractsor partnerships where there is limited precedent or an undefined playbook.

• Strong negotiation and contract management skills.

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to assess vendor performance andidentifyareas for improvement.

• Strong communicationskills, with the ability to explain unfamiliar concepts clearly and without jargon.

• Willingness to travel regularly and spend time on the ground in new locations.

• Experience inlogistics, supply chain, or e-commerce is a plus.