Post job

What does a negotiator do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A Negotiator is primarily in charge of communicating with clients and business partners to negotiate and establish sales, building positive relationships in the process. They typically perform market research and analysis to develop plans and sales pitches, coordinate with the company's legal team, arrange appointments with clients to discuss contract terms, and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, a negotiator maintains an active communication line with staff, regularly reporting to managers for a smooth and efficient workflow.

On this page

Negotiator responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real negotiator resumes:

  • Manage the sales per FHLMC guidelines to ensure the integrity of each sale.
  • Identify and select Medicaid manage care providers for contracting opportunities.
  • Manage expectations of DCMA / DCAA regulators and when necessary defend evaluated/negotiated positions.
  • Provide assistance with escrow questions pertaining to taxes and insurance.
  • Prepare and submit reports as required by the IDIQ contracts.
  • Initiate initial mortgage insurance claims on cases that are covered by PMI.
  • Communicate with MLS coordinator to update MLS to correspond to current active/pending status.
  • Contract manager for Medicaid personal care and consumer direct personal care contracts in NYS.
  • Acquire a strong in depth knowledge of many loans like FHA, VA and investors.
  • Adhere to all state, company and GSE guidelines and adapt to changes in procedures.
  • Review, draft and negotiate all internal procurement, marketingagreements, consulting services agreements and NDAs.
  • Process short sale requests base on the investor, client, and GSE guidelines to ensure compliance.
  • Obtain delegated authority for approving modification and partial claim request for FHA and VA files that meet guidelines.
  • Perform all duties associate with import and export transactions with letter of credit and without letter of credit.
  • Assist homeowners in the preparation of all applicable documents, applications and forms base on HUD and individual bank requirements.

Negotiator skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Negotiators are proficient in Financial Statements, PowerPoint, and Nielsen. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Interpersonal skills, and Problem-solving skills.

We break down the percentage of Negotiators that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Financial Statements, 11%

    Evaluated risk, analyzed accounts and closed out loans after final review of financial statements, credit reports and other criteria.

  • PowerPoint, 10%

    Reviewed and wrote policies & procedures, designed departmental PowerPoint presentations and assisted coworkers to facilitate quality performance improvement.

  • Nielsen, 7%

    Analyzed market conditions utilizing Nielsen and Arbitron ratings, share and station trends for Atlanta and West Palm Beach markets.

  • Loan Modifications, 7%

    Handled Presidential/escalated loan Modification requests.

  • Foreclosure, 6%

    Updated extensive recorded/filed to ensure investor requirements are met concerning condition of property, and measure take to deter foreclosure.

  • Strategic Sourcing, 4%

    Purchased goods/services; applied Strategic Sourcing Methodology to purchase orders.

Most negotiators use their skills in "financial statements," "powerpoint," and "nielsen" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential negotiator responsibilities here:

Business skills. One of the key soft skills for a negotiator to have is business skills. You can see how this relates to what negotiators do because "because most real estate brokers and sales agents are self-employed, they must be able to manage every aspect of their business, including billing and advertising." Additionally, a negotiator resume shows how negotiators use business skills: "represented company in arbitration settlement negotiations that resulted in an agreement to obtain governmental approval for the sale of the business. "

Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform negotiator duties is interpersonal skills. Negotiators responsibilities require that "real estate brokers and sales agents spend much of their time interacting with others, such as clients and contractors." Negotiators also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "utilize strong negotiation skills and interpersonal skills, while adhering to all applicable guidelines, requirements & regulations. "

Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for negotiators to perform their duties. For an example of how negotiator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "real estate brokers and sales agents must be able to address concerns relating to a property." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a negotiator: "coordinated with attorneys regarding dispute resolution and arbitration hearings on claims in litigation. ".

Organizational skills. A big part of what negotiators do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to negotiator responsibilities because "real estate brokers and sales agents must be able to manage their own time for planning and prioritizing their work." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical negotiator tasks: "engaged in regulatory audits for tena and hud; identified and located documents to minimize organizational risk. "

Most common negotiator skills

The three companies that hire the most negotiators are:

Choose from 10+ customizable negotiator resume templates

Build a professional negotiator resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your negotiator resume.
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume
Negotiator Resume

Compare different negotiators

Negotiator vs. Business development internship

A business development intern is responsible for supporting the organization's goals and objectives in providing the best services to clients and ensuring a smooth flow of operations with maximum productivity and efficiency. Business development interns observe the operational processes of the department and perform duties under the supervision of a direct manager or tenured staff. They also assist with the creation of new products and services, pitching strategies to promote them in the market, develop marketing campaigns, and creating proposals for business partnership purposes. A business development intern must be detail-oriented and highly organized to support daily operations.

We looked at the average negotiator salary and compared it with the wages of a business development internship. Generally speaking, business development interns are paid $30,486 lower than negotiators per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between negotiators and business development interns are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like financial statements, powerpoint, and financial analysis.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a negotiator are more likely to require skills like "nielsen," "loan modifications," "foreclosure," and "strategic sourcing." On the other hand, a job as a business development internship requires skills like "market research," "social media marketing," "data entry," and "crm." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Business development interns tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,190. In contrast, negotiators make the biggest average salary, $94,895, in the media industry.business development interns tend to reach higher levels of education than negotiators. In fact, business development interns are 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.6% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Negotiator vs. Business internship

In a business internship, the responsibilities will vary by the directives given by the supervising staff. However, one of the primary duties as an intern is to perform support-related tasks for the department or office where they are assigned. An intern may participate in marketing research and analysis, devising sales strategies, producing progress reports and presentations, and even handling social media accounts for public relations, all while under the supervision of a more experienced colleague.

Business internship positions earn lower pay than negotiator roles. They earn a $28,350 lower salary than negotiators per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both negotiators and business interns have skills such as "financial statements," "financial analysis," and "tax returns. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real negotiator resumes. While negotiator responsibilities can utilize skills like "powerpoint," "nielsen," "loan modifications," and "foreclosure," business interns use skills like "customer service," "power bi," "visualization," and "data analysis."

On average, business interns earn a lower salary than negotiators. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, business interns earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $38,332. Whereas negotiators have higher pay in the media industry, with an average salary of $94,895.business interns earn higher levels of education than negotiators in general. They're 5.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Negotiator vs. Business developer

A business developer specializes in conducting in-depth business analysis and crafting various strategies that would not just help a business grow, but also strengthen client base and brand awareness. One of their primary responsibilities revolves around identifying areas in need of improvement. They come up with new services that will boost customer satisfaction, examining the potential for revenue and figuring out new opportunities from trends or other pre-existing programs within the company. All of this is conducted according to the vision, mission, and policies of the organization.

An average business developer eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of negotiators. The difference in salaries amounts to business developers earning a $38,003 higher average salary than negotiators.By looking over several negotiators and business developers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "strong negotiation," "outbound calls," and "contract negotiations." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a negotiator is likely to be skilled in "financial statements," "powerpoint," "nielsen," and "loan modifications," while a typical business developer is skilled in "healthcare," "crm," "customer service," and "work ethic."

Business developers earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $118,082. Comparatively, negotiators have the highest earning potential in the media industry, with an average salary of $94,895.When it comes to education, business developers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to negotiators. In fact, they're 6.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Negotiator vs. Business development consultant

The role of business consultants is to provide an analysis of a company on its business practices and make recommendations for long-term goals. This role is also connected with various duties and responsibilities, including reviewing the company's financial statements, engaging in research on how to improve the company's offers, and developing new business models. Also, business consultants are responsible for negotiating contracts as needed, initiating plans and strategies to minimize company losses and drive profits. They may also function as the company's representative in promotional events and trade associations.

Business development consultants average a higher salary than the annual salary of negotiators. The difference is about $21,521 per year.According to resumes from negotiators and business development consultants, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "outbound calls," "financial analysis," and "contract negotiations. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A negotiator uses "financial statements," "powerpoint," "nielsen," and "loan modifications." Business development consultants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "healthcare," "crm," "cloud," and "strategic thinking. "In general, business development consultants earn the most working in the media industry, with an average salary of $95,927. The highest-paying industry for a negotiator is the media industry.In general, business development consultants hold higher degree levels compared to negotiators. Business development consultants are 10.6% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of negotiator

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse business and financial jobs