Job Description:

New Business Lead | Location: London - minimum 2 days per week in the office

Salary: Competitive
Contract: Permanent, Full-time
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:45am-5:30pm

We are delighted to be recruiting on behalf of a leading, fast-growing UK retailer for an exciting opportunity as a New Business Lead, based from their London office.

Our client is a well-established and highly successful retail business, recognised as one of the UK's fastest-growing privately owned companies, with a nationwide store estate and ambitious plans for continued growth.

As the business continues to expand its digital proposition, this is a fantastic opportunity for a commercially driven New Business Lead to play a key role in accelerating the growth of its online propositions.

The Role

As New Business Lead, you will be responsible for identifying, acquiring and onboarding high-potential brands, sellers and suppliers across the business's digital fulfilment models.

You will build and manage a strong new business pipeline, taking opportunities from initial prospecting and engagement through commercial negotiation, contracting, onboarding, launch and early-life performance.

Working closely with Buying, Marketplace, Digital, Merchandising, Content and Operations, you will identify category opportunities, close assortment gaps and bring exciting new brands and product ranges.

This is a highly commercial role suited to someone who understands e-commerce, marketplaces, supplier acquisition and retail, and who is confident turning opportunities into tangible commercial results.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and recruit new brands, suppliers and marketplace sellers across priority categories.
• Build and maintain a high-quality new business pipeline from lead generation and initial outreach through to negotiation, contracting and launch.
• Proactively identify brands, suppliers and product ranges that address assortment gaps, customer demand and strategic category opportunities.
• Develop and execute acquisition strategies to deliver new business, range growth and revenue targets.
• Identify, prioritise and accelerate strategically important new business opportunities.
• Conduct market, competitor and category analysis to identify emerging brands, trends and commercial opportunities.
• Represent the business at trade shows, supplier meetings, industry events and webinars to identify and engage prospective partners.
• Develop compelling commercial propositions that clearly communicate the benefits of partnering with the retailer.
• Lead commercial discussions and negotiate terms that support both partner success and business objectives.
• Identify opportunities to secure marketing investment and Advertising Revenue (ADREV) as part of supplier onboarding and launch plans.
• Negotiate promotional launch activity to maximise supplier visibility, customer engagement and early sales performance.
• Manage the end-to-end onboarding journey for new brands, suppliers and sellers, ensuring products are fully live and trade-ready.
• Ensure appropriate seller and product compliance throughout the onboarding process.
• Keep Buyers and wider stakeholders informed of pipeline progress, key opportunities and commercial developments.
• Work collaboratively across multiple functions to ensure new partners are successfully launched and positioned for long-term growth.

About You

• We are looking for a commercially minded and proactive New Business / Business Development professional with experience within e-commerce, marketplaces, digital platforms or retail.
• You will ideally have:
• 3-5+ years' experience in business development, sales or partner acquisition within a marketplace, e-commerce or digital platform environment.
• Proven experience with seller and product compliance.
• Experience of seller acquisition and onboarding within a marketplace ecosystem.
• Experience using Mirakl Marketplace and/or Virtualstock would be highly desirable.
• A strong commercial mindset, with the ability to identify opportunities and turn them into revenue and range growth.
• A genuine interest in retail, e-commerce and online selling.
• Strong communication, influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to pitch to a diverse range of sellers and suppliers.
• Strong written, numerical and analytical skills.
• Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage multiple opportunities and stakeholders simultaneously.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including experience working with formulas and graphs.
• The confidence and interpersonal skills to build strong relationships with external partners and internal stakeholders.
• A professional, collaborative and respectful approach, with the ability to thrive in a cross-functional environment

Why join?

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing retail business at an important stage of its digital expansion. You will have genuine ownership of new partner acquisition and the opportunity to directly influence range expansion, customer proposition and commercial growth across two established retail brands.

If you are an ambitious commercial professional with a passion for e-commerce, marketplaces and new business, this could be an excellent next step in your career.

Apply now to find out more about this exciting New Business Lead opportunity.

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