Business Development (B2B)

Job Purpose

The Business Development (B2B) is a high-impact, target-driven individual contributor responsible for sourcing internship and project opportunities from tech companies, startups, SMBs, and international firms for NxtWave’s college-going students.

This is a hunter role. Your primary activity is cold calling decision-makers — Founders, CTOs, CEOs, Tech Leads, and HR Managers — to discover hiring needs and create internship opportunities where none have been posted. You own the company relationship end-to-end: prospecting, qualification, closure, and repeat engagement. Internal teams handle student profiling and interview coordination so you can focus on companies.

Key Responsibilities

1. Corporate Discovery & Direct Outreach

• Run high-volume cold calling as the primary daily activity — target 20–30 conversations with decision-makers per day (100–150+ weekly).
• Build pipeline independently using job portals, LinkedIn, AngelList, startup databases, company career pages, funding announcements, and hiring signals; lead-gen team support is supplementary.
• Use a consultative discovery approach: ask deep questions about team structure, product roadmap, hiring timelines, skill gaps, and growth challenges before pitching.
• Identify latent talent needs and pitch internships as high-ROI solutions to specific business problems — don’t wait for posted openings.
• Document every outreach attempt in the CRM to enable intelligent follow-up cadences.

2. Opportunity Qualification & Closure

• Capture full opportunity details from companies: project scope (micro-project, multi-week project, or multi-month internship), technical requirements, team structure, duration, time commitment, reporting, compensation, and expectations.
• Drive the company-side placement process end-to-end — align with the internal student team on availability, schedule interviews, brief the company, collect feedback, and close offers.
• Stay engaged post-placement to ensure the engagement runs smoothly and to surface follow-on opportunities.

3. Stakeholder Relationship Building & Account Development

• Become the company’s trusted hiring partner — the first call when a new requirement comes up.
• Convert single placements into repeat engagements, multi-role opportunities, and long-term partnerships.
• Collect success stories, case studies, and testimonials from companies and students to strengthen credibility.
• Represent NxtWave at startup events, tech meetups, founder networks, and industry forums to expand the partnership base.
• Contribute to social proof through LinkedIn posts, company spotlights, and placement journeys.

4. Pipeline Management & Performance Tracking

• Maintain disciplined CRM hygiene: company status, opportunity stage, and next-action date updated after every interaction; zero stale deals beyond 30 days.
• Participate in daily stand-ups and weekly reviews to align priorities and surface blockers.
• Share regular performance reports and insights on pipeline health, conversion trends, and channel effectiveness.

Job Specification

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in any discipline; MBA preferred but not mandatory.
• 1–5 years of full-time B2B sales, recruitment, staffing, or placement experience.
• Must have independently sourced and closed deals without warm leads or pre-assigned accounts (campus placements do not qualify).
• Demonstrated ability to manage 15+ active companies simultaneously with CRM discipline.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in CRM tools (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, or equivalent).
• Comfortable with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, RocketReach, or similar prospecting platforms.
• Able to use AI tools for prospect research, outreach personalization, and pitch preparation.
• Quick at learning and communicating about diverse tech stacks, development roles, and business functions.

Behavioural Competencies

• Hunter mindset: aggressively sources own pipeline and takes ownership of outcomes.
• Resilience: maintains consistent high-volume outreach through objections, voicemails, and dry periods.
• Consultative discovery: asks deep questions about company challenges before pitching solutions.
• Opportunity creation: identifies latent needs and positions internships as solutions to real business problems.
• Relationship-builder: invests in long-term institutional partnerships, not one-time transactional deals.
• Process-disciplined: follows structured follow-up cadences and documentation standards consistently.
• Target-driven: speaks in numbers and owns outcomes (placements closed, repeat companies), not just activities.
• Adaptable and coachable: adjusts approach quickly based on feedback and market signals.

What Strong Candidates Have Done

• Run a complete cold-to-close sales cycle independently: prospecting, qualification, discovery, pitching, negotiation, and closure — without warm leads.
• Sustained 120+ cold conversations per week for months without losing momentum.
• Identified a company need the company hadn’t recognized, and sold a solution against it.
• Recovered a stalled relationship with documented re-engagement tactics and a positive outcome.
• Managed 20+ active deals at different pipeline stages without dropped follow-ups.
• Built a personal network of decision-makers who respond within hours and proactively refer opportunities.
• Used CRM religiously — knows conversion rates, open deal counts, and follow-up schedules from memory.

This Role is NOT for You If

• Your only B2B sales experience came through a campus placement drive or structured MBA recruitment process.
• You have never independently sourced and closed deals without warm leads, referrals, or pre-assigned accounts.
• You see this role as a short-term stepping stone to strategy, product, or leadership without execution commitment.
• You are uncomfortable with sustained high-volume cold calling (20–30+ conversations daily) as a persistent discipline.
• Your sales background was primarily event-based, roadshow-driven, or heavily dependent on your company’s brand to open doors.
• You cannot recall a recent client, deal, and specific outcome without pausing or checking notes.
• You view rejection as personal failure rather than a natural part of the sales funnel.

Why This Role

• Direct impact: every placement is a visible outcome tied directly to your effort and execution.
• Variable compensation: performance-based pay that scales with placements closed and companies retained.
• Entrepreneurial ownership: you own pipeline, company relationships, and outcomes end-to-end.
• Market access: work with fast-growing startups, unicorns, established tech companies, and international firms.
• Skill-building: B2B sales, tech hiring, consultative selling, negotiation, and stakeholder management at speed.
• Structured support: internal teams handle student profiling and interview logistics so you focus on relationships and closure.
• Real-world exposure: direct conversations with Founders, CTOs, CEOs, and HR Managers — no corporate hierarchy layers.
• Growth trajectory: high performers progress into account leadership, regional expansion, or corporate partnership strategy.
• Meaningful work: you directly enable students to gain real work experience and launch successful careers.

Success Metrics in First 90 Days

• Month 1: Establish consistent daily outreach discipline; build initial qualified pipeline; discover first set of opportunities and close initial placements.
• Month 2: Scale to 100–150+ weekly call touchpoints; build active pipeline of 30+ companies; demonstrate predictable monthly placement velocity.

Month 3: Sustain pipeline with regular opportunity discovery; achieve healthy repeat company rate; establish yourself as a reliable placement partner with disciplined CRM hygiene.