Business Development Manager jobs: skills, pay and how to get hired
Updated 5 Nov 2026. Figures from the jobs in our search, not the whole market.
Contents
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What a business development manager does
A business development manager, in German ads often under the word Geschäftsentwicklung, looks for growth the company does not have yet: a customer segment it has never sold to, a country it is not in, a partner that brings customers or a product it lacks. The work starts with research and outreach, runs through first meetings, pitches and proposals, and ends with a deal or a partnership that someone else will grow.
The role sits next to three others. The sales manager runs the sales team and the customers the company already has; key account managers and account executives belong to that road. The marketing manager brings in demand at scale, and the sales engineer answers the technical questions in a deal. The steps from business development representative to VP of business development are in the career paths of this role.
Reaching strangers has rules, and each country's section names its own: the EU GDPR for contact data in the EU, the German UWG and the Swiss UWG for cold calls and emails, the US CAN-SPAM Act for commercial emails, UK PECR for emails and calls, and India's DPDP Act for personal data. This page describes the work; it is not legal advice.
The skills the ads ask for
We read a sample of the ads every day and count the skills they name. On a computer, hover a skill in the text to see its share; on a phone, the table has the same figures.
| Skill | Share of ads | What is expected |
|---|---|---|
| Business Development | 66% | Find and open new customers, markets and partners, and turn them into lasting revenue. |
| Sales | 62% | Run a sale from first contact to signature, and know when to hand it on. |
| Lead Generation | 9% | Find and reach the right prospects through research, outreach, events and referrals. |
| Negotiation | 9% | Prepare a negotiation, know your limits and the other side's, and close without giving value away. |
| CRM | 19% | Keep every contact, opportunity and next step in the CRM, current and honest. |
| Partnerships | 11% | Build partnerships that bring customers or capabilities, with clear goals on both sides. |
| Salesforce | 4% | Work in Salesforce: opportunities, stages, reports and the forecast. |
| Proposals and Tenders | 6% | Write proposals and answer tenders that match the buyer's criteria and your offer. |
| Go-to-Market | 6% | Plan how a product reaches a new market: whom to sell to, through which channels, at what price. |
| Presentation skills | 4% | Pitch clearly to buyers and to your own leadership, with a story and the figures behind it. |
| Communication skills | 21% | Write and speak so a stranger answers, and keep long relationships going. |
Shares of the business development manager ads we read in the last 7 days, as of 5 Nov 2026. Our ads, not the whole market.
The core leads: business developmentAsked in 66% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Find and open new customers, markets and partners, and turn them into lasting revenue. itself, sellingAsked in 62% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Run a sale from first contact to signature, and know when to hand it on. from first contact to signature, finding the right prospectsAsked in 9% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Find and reach the right prospects through research, outreach, events and referrals. and negotiatingAsked in 9% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Prepare a negotiation, know your limits and the other side's, and close without giving value away. the terms. Market researchSize a market or a segment and find out what its buyers need, from data and interviews., partnershipsAsked in 11% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Build partnerships that bring customers or capabilities, with clear goals on both sides., market entry plansAsked in 6% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Plan how a product reaches a new market: whom to sell to, through which channels, at what price. and proposals and tendersAsked in 6% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Write proposals and answer tenders that match the buyer's criteria and your offer. come next, with an eye on pricingAsked in 9% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Understand the pricing model and the margin, and when a discount is worth it. and margin.
The tools are named side by side and none is a must everywhere: CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot or Pipedrive, prospecting tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Excel and PowerPoint for plans and pitches. Keeping the CRM currentAsked in 19% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Keep every contact, opportunity and next step in the CRM, current and honest., SalesforceAsked in 4% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Work in Salesforce: opportunities, stages, reports and the forecast. or HubSpotAsked in 6% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Work in HubSpot: contacts, sequences, deals and reports. in particular, presentingAsked in 4% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Pitch clearly to buyers and to your own leadership, with a story and the figures behind it. and writing to strangersAsked in 21% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Write and speak so a stranger answers, and keep long relationships going. are in most ads. Ads for international roles want EnglishAsked in 68% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).The language of international deals and of many teams; most ads ask for it., and those in German-speaking countries GermanAsked in 64% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Asked for in most German ads, for German customers and partners. as well.
Where the jobs are, country by country
Each country below has its own figures: which cities have the most jobs in our list, whether the number is going up or down, how often ads offer remote or hybrid work, the titles used in the country, and pay ranges from published research, in the local currency.
Germany
11% of the ads offer hybrid work, and 49% are fully remote.
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: €52,000 to €68,021 a year
- Mid-level: €71,703 to €82,676 a year
- Senior: €82,000 to €94,832 a year
Total pay: neither German source gives a bonus or commission figure for business development managers; variable pay, where an ad offers it, is never certain.
Entry level runs from StepStone's starting figure to Gehalt.de's figure for under three years of experience; mid-level from Gehalt.de's figure for three to six years to its middle figure. The senior range is an estimate as well, from StepStone's figure for experienced managers to Gehalt.de's upper quarter. Both sites give estimates and say nothing of how many salaries they rest on.
Sources: Gehalt.de: Business-Development-Manager/-in (2026), StepStone: Business Development Manager (2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Outreach rules and titles: the German UWG, part of German competition law, limits cold calls and asks for consent before marketing emails, even between businesses in most cases, next to the EU GDPR for contact data. Ads say Business Development Manager, often with a market or product in the title, and German ads use the word Geschäftsentwicklung.
Language: most German ads ask for GermanAsked in 64% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Asked for in most German ads, for German customers and partners. and many for EnglishAsked in 68% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).The language of international deals and of many teams; most ads ask for it..
Job figures as of 5 Nov 2026.
United States
19% of the ads offer hybrid work, and 54% are fully remote.
100% of the ads that say are full-time.
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: $61,344 to $73,963 a year
- Mid-level: $73,963 to $92,444 a year
- Senior: $117,852 to $178,000 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives business development managers bonuses of about $2,000 to $32,000 and commissions of about $2,000 to $46,000 a year. Variable pay depends on targets, the company and the year, and is never certain.
Entry level runs from Payscale's figure for managers in their first year to its figure for the first four years; mid-level from there to Indeed's average for business development manager ads; senior from Payscale's average for business development directors to the upper tenth of their range.
Sources: Payscale: business development manager (Oct 2026), Payscale: business development director (Sep 2026), Indeed (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
How the work is offered: US ads mostly offer full-time employment, often with a base salary and a variable part. The US CAN-SPAM Act lets businesses send commercial emails without prior consent, but asks for honest sender details, a postal address and a working opt-out; calls and texts to phones have their own US rules.
Job figures as of 5 Nov 2026.
United Kingdom
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: £28,745 to £37,740 a year
- Mid-level: £37,740 to £42,970 a year
- Senior: £67,000 to £70,421 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives UK business development managers bonuses of about £1,000 to £16,000 and commissions of about £3,000 to £23,000 a year; variable pay is never certain.
Entry level runs from Payscale's figure for managers in their first year to its figure for the first four years; mid-level from there to Indeed's average; senior from the upper tenth of Payscale's range to the top of Indeed's. Indeed's page rests on many salaries, Payscale's figures by experience on few.
Sources: Payscale (Oct 2026), Indeed (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Outreach rules: UK PECR, the privacy and electronic communications rules, allow marketing emails to company addresses with a clear opt-out but ask for consent when the recipient is an individual, and UK marketing calls must be checked against the opt-out registers first.
Switzerland
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: CHF 70,000 to CHF 85,651 a year
- Mid-level: CHF 85,651 to CHF 100,606 a year
- Senior: CHF 109,521 to CHF 157,000 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives Swiss business development managers bonuses of about CHF 4,000 to CHF 35,000 a year; variable pay is never certain.
Entry level runs from the lowest salary Lohnanalyse lists to its figure for those starting out; mid-level from there to Payscale's average; senior from Lohnanalyse's average to the upper tenth of Payscale's range. Both Swiss pages rest on few salaries, so the Swiss figures are thin.
Sources: Payscale (Apr 2026), Lohnanalyse: Business Development Manager/in (Jul 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Outreach rules: the Swiss UWG, a Swiss competition act, asks for consent before mass marketing emails and forbids marketing calls to numbers marked as not wanting them. Many Swiss roles ask for German or French next to EnglishAsked in 68% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).The language of international deals and of many teams; most ads ask for it..
India
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: ₹3.54 lakh to ₹5.91 lakh a year
- Mid-level: ₹5.91 lakh to ₹8.14 lakh a year
- Senior: ₹15.48 lakh to ₹34.09 lakh a year
Total pay: Payscale gives business development managers in India bonuses of about ₹15,000 to ₹4.13 lakh and commissions of about ₹25,000 to ₹4.06 lakh a year; variable pay is never certain.
Entry level runs from Payscale's figure for managers in their first year to its figure for the first four years; mid-level from there to Payscale's average for the role; senior from Payscale's figure for business development directors with five to nine years to its average for directors, a page last updated in 2025 that rests on few salaries.
Sources: Payscale: business development manager (Oct 2026), Payscale: business development director (Jun 2025).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Outreach rules: India's DPDP Act, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023, sets consent rules for personal data as its rules come into force in stages, and Indian telecom rules restrict unsolicited calls and messages to numbers on the do-not-disturb list. Many Indian business development roles also sell to customers abroad.
A new market, step by step
- Choose: size the segment or country with research and talks, and agree with leadership whom to go after and why.
- Reach: find the right companies and people, and contact them within the outreach rules of the country.
- Qualify: find out early who has the need, the budget and the authority, and drop the rest.
- Win: pitch, propose, negotiate and close the first deals or partnerships.
- Hand over: pass the new customers to sales or account management with everything they need, and report what the market taught you.
Around the plan come the surprises: a market that is smaller than the research said, a partner whose priorities change, a big deal that slips a quarter. A good business development manager is trusted by leadership for an honest pipeline and by customers for promising only what the company can deliver.
Your CV for a business development manager job
A business development manager's CV is read by hiring software that matches the ad's words, and then by a head of sales or a managing director who wants to know which markets you opened, what you sold and to whom. Give both: the keywords and the evidence.
Use the keywords the ads use
- Name the work as the ad does: "business development", "new business", "pipeline", "partnerships", "market entry", and the CRM you used. The skills table above shows which keywords the ads use most.
- Say what you sold and to whom: the product, the customers' industry and size, and the countries.
- Show results the way business development is judged: new customers and revenue won, partnerships signed, pipeline built, targets met.
- Name a sales course or a certificate in progress as in progress, with the month you expect it.
Prove each skill
A business development line proves itself with a market, a deal and a figure: what you opened and what it brought.
| Skill | Weak line | Strong line, with proof |
|---|---|---|
| New marketAsked in 66% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Find and open new customers, markets and partners, and turn them into lasting revenue. | Responsible for business development. | Opened the Nordic market for a logistics software: eleven new customers in eighteen months, a third of the region's revenue. |
| PipelineAsked in 9% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Find and reach the right prospects through research, outreach, events and referrals. | Generated leads. | Built a pipeline of forty qualified opportunities from zero in six months with outreach and two trade fairs. |
| PartnershipAsked in 11% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Build partnerships that bring customers or capabilities, with clear goals on both sides. | Managed partners. | Signed a reseller partnership that brought a fifth of new customers in its first year. |
| NegotiationAsked in 9% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Prepare a negotiation, know your limits and the other side's, and close without giving value away. | Negotiated contracts. | Closed a three-year framework contract with a hospital group without a discount beyond the agreed limit. |
| CRMAsked in 19% of business development manager ads (as of 5 Nov 2026).Keep every contact, opportunity and next step in the CRM, current and honest. | Used Salesforce. | Kept a forecast in Salesforce that came within a tenth of the actual result four quarters running. |
Keep confidential details out: no customer names, prices or contract terms the company has not made public.
How we read our data
- The jobs: the business development manager jobs in our job search (business development managers and directors, heads of business development, and the German word Geschäftsentwicklung), matched by their titles the way the search matches them; sales manager, key account manager and account manager jobs are counted on the sales manager page. Our list is not the whole market, so we give shares and rankings, never counts.
- The skills: every day we read a sample of these ads and count the skills in them with a fixed word list. Only the counts are kept, never the text of an ad.
- Pay: from published salary research, each source named with its date, as a range from entry level to senior. Our ads are not used for it.
- Dates: every figure is worked out again each day and shows the day it was worked out.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a business development manager do?
- Opens new business: finds and wins new customers, markets and partners, then hands them on to sales or account management.
- Is business development the same as sales?
- They overlap. Sales grows the business the company has; business development looks for business it does not have yet. In small companies one person does both.
- Do I need a degree?
- Many ads ask for a business or technical degree, and the product decides which; a record of deals counts for more.
- Is the pay all commission?
- Rarely. Most roles pay a base salary, and many add a bonus or commission tied to targets, which is never certain.
- What should a business development manager's CV show first?
- The markets, customers and partners you opened, and what they brought.
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