Strategic Business Development Manager

Eurofins Scientific is an international life sciences company, providing a unique range of analytical testing services to clients across multiple industries, to make life and our environment safer, healthier and more sustainable. From the food you eat, to the water you drink, to the medicines you rely on, Eurofins laboratories work with the biggest companies in the world to ensure the products they supply are safe, their ingredients are authentic, and labelling is accurate. The Eurofins network is dedicated to delivering testing services that contribute to the health and safety of society and the planet, and to its corporate responsibility to protect the environment and ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion across its companies around the world. We’re proud to be an armed forces-friendly place to work and welcome applications from reservists, armed forces veterans (including the wounded, injured and sick), as well as cadet instructors, and military spouses and partners. If you want to continue to help make our world a safer and healthier place, then apply for the role below and become a part of the extraordinary Eurofins network The purpose of this role is to deliver profitable strategic new business growth by identifying, developing and securing new UK Food Testing customers across relevant Food Microbiology and Food Chemistry services. The role focuses on major food manufacturers, multi-site organisations and other complex, high-value prospective customers. The postholder owns the strategic new business sales cycle from targeted prospecting and senior stakeholder engagement through discovery, win planning, proposals, negotiation and contract award. They remain accountable through successful onboarding and an agreed initial trading period, before completing a structured handover to Account Management. This is a new customer acquisition role, not ongoing management of an existing customer portfolio. This is a full time role working 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday 09:00 till 17:00.   Must be based near to a Eurofins Food Testing site with an expectation to work in the offices up to two days a week, three days homebased, or on territory in the field . Identify, prioritise and proactively engage prospective customers with expected annual Food Testing spend of £200k+; develop named-account acquisition plans aligned with agreed sectors and commercial priorities. Generate and qualify high-value opportunities through targeted outreach, referrals, industry networks, customer insight and coordinated marketing activity. Identify opportunities to consolidate testing across customer sites and relevant Food Microbiology and Food Chemistry services, subject to operational capability and customer needs. Own agreed strategic new business revenue and commercial quality targets, balancing contract value, margin, implementation requirements and long-term customer potential. Refer opportunities outside the assigned customer segment or Food Testing scope to the appropriate commercial owner under agreed ownership rules. Build and maintain relationships with senior decision-makers and influencers across Quality, Technical, Procurement, Operations and executive leadership. Understand customers’ business priorities, testing programmes, supplier arrangements, decision processes, procurement timescales and service expectations. Position Eurofins as a credible technical and commercial partner using relevant insight, clear customer value and specialist support where appropriate. Develop multi-level stakeholder maps and tailored engagement plans that address the priorities of each buying-group member. Identify opportunities for long-term strategic partnerships without committing the business to services, capabilities or terms that have not been approved. Develop and execute documented win plans for priority opportunities, covering customer needs, stakeholder influence, competitive position, decision criteria, risks, milestones and next actions. Lead complex, multi-site and multi-stakeholder sales processes, coordinating technical, operational, commercial and customer-facing colleagues. Own high-value tender responses, customer presentations, proposal development and negotiations within agreed commercial authorities. Maintain accurate CRM records, opportunity values, qualification evidence, close dates and realistic forecasts; review pipeline progression and win/loss learning. Escalate investment requirements, contractual exceptions and delivery risks early to the appropriate decision-makers. Assess prospective customers’ current and future Food Microbiology and Food Chemistry testing requirements, including volumes, site footprint, turnaround and sample logistics. Proactively explore relevant Chemistry opportunities alongside Microbiology, using customer needs and available technical capability to shape the proposal. Work with technical specialists and operational teams to scope appropriate testing programmes, service solutions and implementation plans. Share customer insight and emerging Food Testing requirements to inform commercial priorities and potential service development. Identify priority UK food manufacturing sectors, strategic target accounts and relevant changes in customer requirements. Use approved prospecting tools, including LinkedIn and Sales Navigator where available, to research buying groups and create relevant senior-level engagement. Partner with Marketing on targeted account-based campaigns, relevant content and industry events; follow up and qualify resulting leads. Provide actionable competitor and market intelligence to commercial, technical and operational colleagues. Build commercially compelling, tailored proposals for high-value and multi-site contracts, with clear service scope, pricing assumptions and customer commitments. Work with Finance, Operations, Technical and commercial leadership to assess margin, capacity, implementation costs, operational feasibility and contractual risk. Lead negotiations within agreed pricing, legal, contractual and approval frameworks; obtain approval for exceptions and proposed investment. Ensure contract review, governance and record-keeping requirements are met before customer commitments are finalised. Coordinate the commercial transition from contract award to operational go-live, documenting testing specifications, site requirements, agreed terms and key contacts. Remain accountable for the new customer relationship through successful onboarding and an agreed initial trading period, addressing early implementation issues with relevant teams. Complete a structured handover to Account Management after that period, covering relationships, commercial commitments, service performance, risks and identified growth opportunities. Collaborate with other sales colleagues under agreed account ownership rules to maintain continuity and avoid conflicting customer approaches. Proven success winning significant new business in a complex, target-led B2B sales environment; evidence of creating and converting opportunities rather than solely managing existing accounts. Experience leading high-value, multi-stakeholder opportunities, complex negotiations and extended sales cycles. Ability to build credibility with senior decision-makers, develop strategic win plans and manage formal tenders or procurement processes. Strong commercial judgement in pricing, profitability, contractual risk and operational feasibility. Excellent presentation, communication, negotiation, organisati