Enterprise - Business Development Representative New MN, IL, MI

Forward Networks; Minnesota, United States, Northern America, Americas; Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward Networks is seeking an experienced Enterprise - Business Development Representative to qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns, webinars, and inquiries across MN, IL, and MI. You will conduct discovery calls, identify business needs, and schedule qualified meetings and product demos for Account Executives to advance opportunities.

You will articulate Forward Networks’s digital twin value proposition, maintain accurate Salesforce records, and collaborate with Marketing and Sales to

Qualifications

• 2–3 years in Business Development or a customer-facing role; networking knowledge preferred.
• Ability to learn technical concepts quickly and stay organized with details.
• Energetic, coachable, resilient, and eager to build a career in enterprise sales.

Responsibilities

• Qualify inbound leads and respond to demand-generation activities.
• Conduct discovery calls to understand prospects' needs and use cases.
• Schedule meetings and demos for Account Executives to progress opportunities.
• Articulate the value of a digital twin to prospects.
• Maintain Salesforce records and visibility into pipeline.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Sales for lead quality and handoffs.
• Stay up to date on Forward Networks and networking/ cloud trends.

Skills

Business Development

Curiosity

Organizational skills

Self-motivation

Sales tools

Salesforce

LinkedIn Navigator

Enterprise sales mindset

Tools

Salesforce

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Job description

Enterprise - Business Development Representative

MN, IL, MI

Forward was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, building the industry's first network digital twin: a mathematically accurate model of the production network. It's the foundation for autonomous networking, giving engineers and AI agents the ability to know the impact of every change before it touches production. That founding instinct still defines how we work. We're accurate and evidence-driven, relentless about clarity, and we'd rather be certain than comfortable, building a groundbreaking platform that transforms how teams run and secure networks across every major cloud and vendor environment.

Global leaders like Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell trust Forward, alongside fast-growing enterprises and government agencies, realizing an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits, according to IDC. Backed by top-tier investors, including A. Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Section 32, and Threshold Ventures, and headquartered in Santa Clara, we're most proud of our team: curious people who'd rather build what doesn't exist than accept how things have always been done.

Forward Networks is looking for an experienced Business Development Representative

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Qualification: Respond to and qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns, webinars, website inquiries, and other demand-generation activities.
• Prospect Engagement: Conduct discovery calls to understand prospects’ business needs, challenges, and potential use cases for Forward Networks.
• Meeting Generation: Schedule qualified meetings and demos for Account Executives to progress opportunities through the sales cycle.
• Messaging & Education: Clearly articulate Forward Networks’s value proposition and educate the prospects on the value of a digital twin.
• CRM Management: Maintain accurate and timely records in Salesforce, ensuring visibility into lead activity and pipeline.
• Collaboration: Partner with Marketing to provide feedback on lead quality and campaign effectiveness, and with Sales to ensure smooth handoffs.
• Continuous Learning: Stay up to date on Forward Networks’s platform and the dynamic changes in the networking, security and cloud infrastructure space.

Qualifications

• Experience: 2 - 3 years in Business Development, business development, or a customer-facing role (internship or full-time); knowledge of computer networking, SaaS or data/technology industry experience preferred
• Skills:
• Curiosity and ability to quickly learn technical concepts.
  Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Goal-oriented and self-motivated.
• Tools: Familiarity with Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and other prospecting tools is preferred.
• Mindset: Energetic, coachable, resilient, and eager to build a career in enterprise sales.

The expected On-Target Cash Earnings for this role is between $100,000-$120,000 per year. Within this range, individual pay is determined by several factors including but not limited to, job-related skills, work experience, and relevant education/training

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Forward ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.