Business Development Manager
Citation GroupNew Business Development Manager
Depending on the successful candidate's location, regular travel to either the Food Alert office in London or Citation Group's Head Office in Wilmslow will be required to support collaboration, leadership activities and business needs.
About Us
Food Alert is one of the UK's leading food safety and health & safety consultancies, trusted by some of the biggest names in hospitality and food service. With an ambitious growth agenda and a reputation built on expertise and excellence, this is a business that takes compliance seriously and takes its people's careers even more seriously.
We're also part of The Citation Group, one of the UK's leading providers of Health & Safety, HR, Employment Law, and ISO services. With 110,000+ clients, over 15 acquisitions in 3 years, and backing from KKR, Hg Capital, and HarbourVest, our growth is accelerating and we want you to be part of it.
About the Role
You're not selling something people might want — you're selling something they can't operate without. Food safety compliance is non-negotiable for our clients, which means you're walking into conversations where the need already exists. Your job is to connect that need to the right solution, and to do it brilliantly.
This is a 100% new business role. There is no account management. No inherited client base. No existing portfolio to fall back on.
Success in this role comes from your ability to identify opportunities, open doors, create relationships and convert prospects into clients.
Whilst you'll have access to marketing support and occasional opportunities, this role is built around proactive business development. Candidates who rely solely on inbound enquiries or warm leads will struggle.
Your ability to generate activity, create pipeline and maintain momentum will directly influence your success and earnings.
What You'll Be Doing
- Generating your own pipeline through outbound activity, networking, referrals and prospecting
- Identifying and engaging decision-makers across leisure, stadiums, travel & transport and food manufacturing
- Creating opportunities where no existing relationship exists
- Conducting high-quality discovery conversations
- Building commercial urgency and moving prospects through the sales cycle
- Managing opportunities from first contact through to close
- Consistently delivering against pipeline, activity and revenue targets
- Developing deep sector knowledge to become a trusted adviser rather than just another salesperson
What We're Looking For
We are only interested in proven new business sales professionals.
You'll ideally have:
- A strong track record in B2B sales
- Demonstrable success in self-generated business development
- Experience building and converting your own pipeline
- Consistent overperformance against sales targets
- The ability to influence senior decision-makers
- High levels of resilience, pace and commercial curiosity
Particular interest will be given to candidates who have sold into:
- Leisure
- Hospitality
- Stadiums and large venues
- Travel and transport
- Food manufacturing
This role is not for everyone. If your success has been built primarily through account management, inherited relationships or a steady flow of inbound leads, this probably isn't the right opportunity.
If you're someone who enjoys creating opportunities, opening conversations, overcoming objections and winning new business, you'll thrive here.
For the right person, this offers significant earning potential, genuine autonomy and the opportunity to build a long-term career with one of the UK's leading compliance consultancies.
Benefits
- Tailored on-the-job training, mentoring and progression support
- 25 days' holiday + bank holidays + 3 'gift days' over the festive period
- Additional leave benefits (e.g. marriage week, new grandparent leave)
- Enhanced sick pay and life insurance
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Healthcare cash plan including discounted gym membership
- Referral bonuses, incentive vouchers and team socials—we know how to celebrate!
About Citation Group
The Citation Group (legally Citation Limited) is a British-headquartered business-services group providing subscription-based compliance services to small and medium-sized enterprises. Its service lines include HR and employment law advice, health and safety consultancy, ISO certification, food-safety compliance and workplace e-learning. The group supports SMEs in the UK, Canada and Australia, and is owned by investors KKR, Hg and HarbourVest Partners.
Interested in this role?
Apply now to join Citation Group.