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Business Development Manager – South of Scotland

Employer
Scotland Food & Drink
Location
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh
Salary
£30,000 - £38,000.
Closing date
25 Mar 2021

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Business Sector
Food & Drink
Contract Type
Contract
Hours
Full Time
Function
Customer Services, Sales

Job Details

Business Development Manager – South of Scotland 

ABOUT SCOTLAND FOOD & DRINK 

Food and drink is one of Scotland’s best performing and fastest growing sectors. Scotland Food & Drink (SF&D) is the industry leadership and membership organisation tasked with driving responsible growth through a collaborative partnership between the industry and public sector. We are a membership organisation with over 400 companies at our heart. Through our leadership and delivery work, we seek to build Scotland’s reputation as “a land of food and drink” and make Scotland the best place in the world to run a food and drink business. 

Scotland's products are unique but so too is Scotland Food & Drink. No other country in the world has created a body which facilitates and enables government and industry to work side by side. And since our formation in 2007 food and drink has become the best performing industry in Scotland. Today it’s worth almost £15 billion.  

The food and drink sector’s collaborative strategy ‘Ambition 2030’, which we lead, aims to double the value of the country’s farming, fishing and food and drink industry to £30 billion by 2030. 

Building capability, forging a global reputation and developing the home and international markets for Scottish food and drink; Scotland Food & Drink is here to nurture, support and champion the people and products of Scotland’s food and drink industry to help deliver continued and growing success.  

We are here to guide our members to realise untapped potential, to unlock new markets and maximise opportunities.  We are committed to strengthening reputations, developing growth strategies, and broadening networks which will help deliver a competitive edge for our members and continued success for Scotland’s food and drink industry. 

Working collaboratively with South of Scotland Enterprise (SoSE), we are creating a new Business Development Manager role for the South of Scotland geography. 

The role is a fixed term contract for two years, with a review at 12 months.  The position will be based in the South of Scotland.  It is intended that this role may extend beyond the two year contract, subject to the success of the pilot programme. 

The South of Scotland Enterprise is an economic development agency which will drive inclusive growth and ensure the region benefits from a new tailored approach that supports a diverse and resilient economy, sustains and grows communities, and harnesses the potential of its people and resources. 

The food and drink sector is a significant part of the economy of South of Scotland, (Dumfries & Galloway and The Scottish Borders), and has a good base for growth in food, drink, agriculture and food tourism, with its wide range of primary produce, new businesses and willing investors.  ‘SoSE support sustainable and inclusive growth across the region. In an area that is bursting with vibrant culture, great businesses, and diverse people, SoSE’s role is to encourage and empower everyone.’  

 

JOB SUMMARY 

Business Development Managers (BDM) are Ambassadors for Scotland Food & Drink and South of Scotland Enterprise in their areas and are often the first and main point of contact for food and drink companies, our members, and partners. While this is a relationship management and business development role, the role itself is varied, and tasks will often be determined by requests for support from our business base. Integral to the role is the ability to collaborate with our partner agencies to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the food and drink support landscape, enabling partnership working to facilitate businesses development.  

 

JOB ROLE 

You will be responsible for looking after your own geography in the South of Scotland, operating as the lead point of contact for all matters specific to your accounts; each area BDM is responsible for filtering communication from and to the business base and SF&D / SoSE. 

It is envisaged that this collaboration with SoSE / SF&D will increase the level of engagement of South of Scotland companies in both SoSE and SF&D programmes and activities, ensure connectivity to wider industry development activities, enable a programme of joint SoSE/SF&D events to be organised, and facilitate connections between South of Scotland food and drink businesses and public sector partners. 

SF&D’s UKMD team facilitate commercial opportunities between suppliers and buyers, creating new opportunities for Scottish food and drink businesses to grow their sales and build their capabilities. The Export Strategy utilises the Scottish Development International network to support global development. 

Reporting to SF&D’s Head of Business Development and with a dotted line reporting to SoSE Head of Area Operations, the Business Development Manager is the conduit to this activity. 

The Business Development Manager would act as the key point of contact, taking the lead role in providing a range of relevant SoSE and SF&D Partnership support and would coordinate SF&D activity to help businesses grow and respond to available opportunities and challenges. 

Specific objectives would be agreed between SoSE and SF&D and reviewed and updated on a 6 / 12 monthly basis. 

A key remit in the first 12-months of this post will be to engage and gather intelligence / data to inform both SF&D and SoSE of new and innovative ways of working with the sector.  This can then help shape direction of delivery at the 12-month review period.   

In addition, this objective strategically aligns with the Dumfries & Galloway food and drink strategy action: Regional Food and Drink Collaboration - Explore ways in which the food and drink sector can collaborate further through industry engagement and representation in a cost effective and impactful way.  This can be expanded and delivered across the South of Scotland. 

 

Recruitment of members into the SF&D membership will complement these objectives but will be delivered by a structured business engagement plan with tangible member benefits being delivered.  These objectives will also build in SoSE’s ambition to support growth, bringing commerce and communities together, and streamlining their route to funding, markets, and success.  The individual will be tasked with driving greater collaboration between existing agencies in economic development and acting as the voice of SF&D and SoSE in the South. 

You will have strong core sales skills including influencing, negotiation, quick problem solving, numeracy & analytical skills, and a commercial mind-set. 

You will also be able to utilise SF&D’s CRM system to manage regular contact with your account base and ensure your time is purposeful / valuable to those present. 

Great communication is key in all BDM roles, both in dealing with the business base and the internal departments who assist you. This is a target driven role, so you’ll need to be able to maximise your productivity through prioritisation, time management & organisation. 

A full driving license is required. This is a field-based role so ideally you are located within the area and familiar with your territory, remaining cognisant that new technology from lockdown has taught us to learn to work more flexibly and efficiently. 

Knowledge of the food and drink sector is essential. 

 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 

Business Engagement 

Account Management of existing members / businesses within the territory,  

Understand each member business and highlight specific opportunities as appropriate. 

Regular email, phone, and face to face meetings.  

Develop and maintain key business relationships, proactively contacting the business base and working with our internal departments & external support partnerships. 

Liaise with wider SF&D / SoSE teams re business requests for assistance and ensure you are updated on all resource available, across each department. 

Provide the conduit between the business base and SF&D / SoSE to feedback on emerging industry issues, and improve the value of SF&D / SoSE services and SF&D membership.  

Outward engagement with SF&D / SoSE partners, councils, and other public sector agencies (Seafood Scotland, SE, HIE, SDI, SDS, Business Gateway etc) to raise awareness of activity,  

Create links with local producers and encourage referrals. 

Regular meetings with partners to exchange information regarding activity within your territory. 

Attend networking events and represent SF&D / SoSE at events, including public speaking. 

 

Member Recruitment 

Identify, recruit, and communicate with potential businesses in the food and drink sector within your area to encourage SF&D membership. 

Administration and teamworking 

Provide regular reporting against targets. 

Attendance at full organisation meetings and BDM team meetings. 

Maintain a customer relationship management system. 

Contribute to SF&D / SoSE cross-team projects, feeding into plans, sharing knowledge and contacts, and delivering work-stream elements as appropriate. 

 

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: 

Essential 

The successful candidate will: 

Be commercially minded, with knowledge and understanding of the Scottish food and drink sector and supply chain environment. 

Demonstrate good knowledge of economic development factors impacting the south of Scotland. 

Show good knowledge of the business support environment in Scotland and of Scottish Government policy and priorities in this area. 

Have proven account management skills, including account profiling, with demonstrable track record of programme delivery. 

Be a team player, strong people skills to develop new and existing relationships. 

Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills; clear communicator with excellent verbal, written and project management skills. 

Have excellent analytical, monitoring and reporting skills, allowing close monitoring of all programmes. 

Strong administration skills, maintaining high attention to detail. 

Demonstrate ability to solution build to meet the demand of account plans. 

Willingness to travel and able to attend events out with normal working hours. 

Exhibit good organisational and time management skills; proven ability to work to a deadline. 

Be resilient and tenacious. 

Desirable: 

Familiarity with Microsoft packages and an ability to learn in-house systems. 

Collaborate with internal teams, including Industry Development, Commercial Events & Projects, Communications and Marketing, Finance, and IT to support the delivery of projects and resolve queries.  

Experience of customer relationships in the retail or foodservice sectors. 

Full driving licence. 

 

TERMS 

Salary £30-38k dependent on experience. 

Annual Leave entitlement 25 days (plus 10 bank holidays) Working hours 35 hours per week, but flexibility required.  

This is a field-based role and given the current Covid-19 pandemic, all first stage interviews will take place via Teams calls and a degree of flexibility will be required. We appreciate your understanding on this matter. 

To apply, please send CV and covering letter by clicking the apply button with the title of the job you are applying for in the subject line. 

Scotland Food & Drink is an equal opportunities employer.  

Application deadline: Thursday 25th March 21, interviews will take place early April. 

Company

Scotland Food & Drink is the industry body for Scottish food and drink companies, now established for over ten years its role is to grow our companies and reputation in Scotland, the UK and abroad.

It is an industry-led organisation but it is supported by the Scottish Government and its key agencies. It is responsible for the development and implementation of the industry’s economic growth strategy.

As well as the key industry trade associations, our membership comprises over 350 companies operating in the food and drink sector. They range from small, artisan, start-up businesses to well-established multinational companies.  Our growth markets are both within the UK and overseas. 

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