Businesses tend to expand. If managed well, a business can survive for years, decades, even centuries. But to achieve this sustainability, businesses need to have well-defined goals with tangible objectives, and expansion is one of them.
Expanding a business is never just about the aspiration of the owner; rather, it is mostly a need of the times, a shield against fierce competition, and, most importantly, keeping an organization growing is the only way to stay relevant with the market and its stakeholders.
There can be complex examples that will strongly advocate this phenomenon. However, to understand it more easily, imagine a million pairs of shoes made by Nike creating the need for another million pairs. Even with the calmest marketing efforts, if Nike fails to supply, a question will arise with its popularity: is Nike really a company capable of fulfilling the expectations of the market?
Before diving deeper into an adventurous career in business development, let’s start with the simple basics.
What is Business Development?
As we have talked about how and why growth is important for an organization, following that, we are stretching the definition here without being too formal. Simply put:
“Any plan, action, step, operation, or simply just decisions taken or taking place between or within an organization is Business Development.”
Unlike many business and finance terms, the term business development means exactly what it sounds like: the process of development, the process of making a business better.
Scopes and Fields of Business Development
Business is not a single-part mechanism. Even the smallest ones have a department that produces or provides, a part that promotes, a part that calculates, and always have at least two parties directly connected with each other: the maker and the customer.
So the efforts of developing a business cannot be limited to a single department. For example, if marketing is working above average, that’s great for the business but only when sales have the capacity to couple up. If marketing and sales are doing great, the production team must meet their deadlines to keep things moving forward in the right direction.
Business development is always about connecting the stakeholders within or outside the organization. And this universally creates the business development job descriptions of the business development team, especially at the entry level.
Job Descriptions of Business Development Are Not the Same in Every Position
Just like any other department, the business development department hierarchy starts at the entry level and goes as high as Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO). Let’s see the steps in brief:
Typical Business Development hierarchy
Entry level Business Development Positions
- Business Development Intern
- Business Development Representative (BDR)
- Sales Development Representative (SDR)
Mid-level Business Development Positions
- Business Development Executive
- Business Development Manager
- Account Manager / Partnerships Manager
Senior level Business Development Positions
- Senior Business Development Manager
- Head of Business Development
- Director of Business Development
Executive level Business Development Positions
- VP of Business Development
- Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO)
From there, someone may move into broader leadership roles like:
- Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Here is Why You Only Need to Know About,
The Job Description (JD) of a Business Development Representative and How the Rest Develops Over Time
In general, anyone interested in a Business Development career can begin in an entry-level role with a university degree, and additional certifications are usually not required at the start. BBA or MBA graduates, particularly those with a finance background, are often attractive to employers due to their understanding of revenue and profitability.
However, Business Development also welcomes candidates from marketing, management, economics, and technical fields. Success in Business Development depends more on communication, strategy, and relationship-building skills than on any single academic major.
A Job Description of a Business Development Executive typically varies slightly from industry to industry. But remember the rule of thumb: the more the sales, the more the revenue, the more likely it is to drive business growth. Therefore, the majority of the role will involve engaging with customers as much as possible with the goal of generating new sales.
Job Descriptions from 3 Business Development Representative Jobs in Austin, Texas, Published Between 1st to 26th January 2026:
Business Development Job Description Example #1
Company Name: 1Password
Industry: Cybersecurity / SaaS (Password Management & Extended Access Management)
(From the ad: enterprise password manager, digital security, cybersecurity.)
Job Description:
“1Password is growing faster than ever. We’ve surpassed $400M in ARR and we’re continuing to accelerate, earning a spot on the Forbes Cloud 100 for four years in a row and teaming up with iconic partners like Oracle Red Bull Racing and the Utah Mammoth.
About 1Password
At 1Password, we’re building the foundation for a safe, productive digital future. Our mission is to unleash employee productivity without compromising security by ensuring every identity is authentic, every application sign-in is secure, and every device is trusted. We innovated the market-leading enterprise password manager and pioneered Extended Access Management, a new cybersecurity category built for the way people and AI agents work today. As one of the most loved brands in cybersecurity, we take a human-centric approach in everything from product strategy to user experience. Over 180,000 businesses, from Fortune 100 leaders to the world’s most innovative AI companies, trust 1Password to help their teams securely adopt the SaaS and AI tools they need to do their best work.
If you’re excited about the opportunity to contribute to the digital safety of millions, to work alongside a team of curious, driven individuals, and to solve hard problems in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, then we want to hear from you. Come join us and help shape a safer, simpler digital future.
As an SMB BDR, you’ll be instrumental in driving our growth across the SMB sector within the EMEA Region. This role has a higher emphasis on generating inbound opportunities while still engaging in outbound activities. You will be the initial point of contact for potential customers, setting the foundation for successful sales engagements.”
Business Development Job Description Example #2
Company Name: LumApps
Industry: Employee Experience Software / Digital Workplace / SaaS (AI-powered Employee Hub & Intranet Platform)
Job Description (as written in the ad):
LumApps is now more than just an Employee Experience Platform — it is an AI-powered Employee Hub that supports companies in their digital transformation of communication, collaboration, and engagement with their customers, partners, and above all their employees.
Our platform is a proven leader in this dynamic market with a truly unique vision and product. It has been deployed by Fortune 500 clients around the world and is delivering meaningful business benefits. LumApps is identified as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions as well as in Intranets Forrester Wave, and regularly selected for the French Tech Next40/120 program.
✨ In 2025, LumApps strengthened its leadership position by partnering with Beekeeper, a pioneer in frontline employee experience solutions. This strategic collaboration expands our reach and impact across all types of workers — from HQ to the frontline.
Our mission: To make people feel that they belong and have a purpose.
To create an environment where all employees are engaged and work together towards the same goal. Over 700 leading companies trust our solution to:
🎯 Improve the productivity of their teams with our AI-powered Collaborative Experience Platform integrated with both Google and Microsoft collaborative suites,
🎯 Transform employees into real ambassadors of their company,
🎯 Make employees more efficient and better connected to their peers and relevant information, regardless of their location, with the tools and information they need at their fingertips,
🎯 Help companies reduce turnover, accelerate employee onboarding, better collaborate and share knowledge, and even improve their customer experiences.
With a team of over 600 Lumies spread across 11 offices (Lyon, Paris, Lille, Sophia Antipolis, London, Barcelona, Hamburg, Austin, Tokyo, Zurich, Krakow), we support large enterprises all around the world. Over the past year, we have been driving an ambitious phase in our journey under the impulse of our new shareholder Bridgepoint, aimed at propelling us to become the clear leader in our market and shine worldwide in our industry. We are looking for individuals who are excited to actively participate in this transformation.
If these core values sound like you: “be bold, do amazing things”, “say what you mean, do what you say”, “one team, same mission”, “always be evolving”: apply now!
Business Development Job Description Example #3
Company Name: Vitruvi (Vitruvi Software)
Industry: Construction Technology / Geospatial Construction Management / SaaS (Infrastructure & Telecommunications)
Job Description (as written in the ad):
Strategic Business Development Representative
About this position
Vitruvi Software, recently described as “A leading Geospatial Construction Management Solution” in PRNewswire, is looking for ambitious and driven Sales Development Representatives to add to our team. As a member of the Sales Organization at Vitruvi, the Strategic Business Development Representative will play a key role in the Sales team. This role will help stakeholders accelerate business strategies, meet goals and objectives, enhance the sales workstream, and increase the sales pipeline by using data insights and lead follow-up activities.
This role is responsible for providing data analyses that lead to actionable recommendations and a deeper understanding of customer behavior, the ideal customer profiles, and ultimately, increasing bookings. This role will mine through large datasets from multiple different sources to find trends, segment customers, and provide stakeholders with the best possible data to make decisions. In addition, this role will include following up on incoming leads (MQLs) and passing them on to the sales team.
About you
You have 1-3 years of experience in Business Development at a SaaS business or experience working with leadership in the telecommunications industry. You strive to continuously learn on the job. You are energetic and well organized, have an energetic phone presence, excellent listening, and strong written communication skills. You are a self-starter with a proven track record of success and tenacity. You are a team player with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate easily and effectively across all levels of the organization.
We Have Brought This Information about Job Descriptions of Business Development Representatives in These 3 Different SaaS Companies at a Glance
| Company Name | Salary Range | Key Responsibilities | Main Focus / Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Password | $61,000–$85,000 USD + commission | Generate inbound & outbound pipeline, act as first point of contact, qualify and nurture leads, manage sales pipeline, collaborate with Marketing & Account Executives, use Salesforce/Outreach/LinkedIn, continuous product learning. | Cybersecurity SaaS with stronger emphasis on inbound opportunities and SMB commercial accounts. |
| LumApps | Not listed (uncapped commission mentioned) | Heavy outbound prospecting, qualify inbound leads, own meeting quota, engage C-suite leaders, represent brand at events, collaborate with Account Executives & Marketing, promote Employee Experience solutions. | Enterprise Employee Experience platform with aggressive outbound sales and C-suite engagement. |
| Vitruvi | $65,000–$85,000 USD/year | Data-driven lead qualification, prospecting, MQL follow-ups, account research, pipeline building, analytics for sales strategy, support Account Executives. | Construction/telecom SaaS with strong analytics and data-insight responsibilities. |
Business Development in Different Organizations but the Job Responsibilities Are the Same
Business Development Job Responsibility #1: Lead Generation & Prospecting
- Outbound outreach (calls, emails, LinkedIn)
- Handling inbound leads / marketing-qualified leads (MQLs)
- Qualifying Prospects
Business Development Job Responsibility #2: Lead Generation & ProspectingDiscovering pain points and needs
- Identifying high-potential leads for Account Executives
- Pipeline Management
- Tracking and maintaining sales opportunities
Business Development Job Responsibility #3: Lead Generation & ProspectingUsing CRM tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, etc.)
- Collaboration with Sales & Marketing Teams
- Supporting Account Executives in closing deals
- Sharing insights with Marketing for campaigns
Business Development Job Responsibility #4: Continuous Learning & Adaptation
- Product knowledge and industry understanding
- Adapting strategies if something isn’t working
- Mentorship opportunities and career growth
The Responsibilities Shape Your JD or Job Description as a Business Development Professional
Based on the discussion above, it becomes very easy to understand that the JD of business development professionals is highly similar across organizations, as the primary or core goals are almost always the same.
Special Note:
(Difference Between Responsibility and Job Description in a Line: Job Description = “What the job is about”; Responsibility = “What you actually do every day.”)
