What does a senior business development manager do?

As senior business development manager is mainly responsible for creating and maintaining solid relationships and making business decisions. They do plan ways to grow the business, find areas of client needs, manage business negotiations, and review and approve other business decisions. It is expected in their job to seamlessly complete target deadlines and delegate tasks to subordinates. Moreover, they should be able to have good working relationships with employees and clients, so good communication and interpersonal skills are necessary.
Senior business development manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior business development manager resumes:
- Manage the distributor/end user relationship in all accounts maintaining focus on emerging healthcare segments.
- Lead and manage large RFP responses to ensure corporate objectives for profitability, sustainability, and operational delivery objectives are meet.
- Develop trusting, lucrative business relationships with key decision makers as a proponent of healthcare technology integration initiatives.
- Execute first lighting IP agreement with Lumenetix.
- Create technical system designs, write customer proposals, and provide sales support for IP video customer initiatives.
- Help build application ISV group from ground-up including target markets, partner strategy, messaging, CRM, go-to-market programs.
- Maintain CRM systems to ensure firm is speaking to the right contacts with the right messages at the right time.
- Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
- Work closely with the referral sources in promoting owner occupy, investment, and SBA loans to identify businesses.
- Provide e-business development, requirement analysis, and gap strategy.
Senior business development manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Senior Business Development Managers are proficient in Healthcare, Cloud, and Business Relationships. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Interpersonal skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Business Development Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Healthcare, 7%
Dedicated to building relationships and setting a precedent of expertise and quality for GlobalData within the Healthcare industry.
- Cloud, 5%
Developed segment strategic direction and vision for Volume Purchase Agreements, E-Procurement, Cloud Solutions and major technology initiatives.
- Business Relationships, 5%
Hired as one of the company's first Business Development Managers responsible for developing and nurturing business relationships.
- Account Management, 5%
Oversee all corporate sales function, including key account management, customer relationship development and contract negotiations.
- Project Management, 4%
Introduced germicidal UVC to market on schedule including project management of final engineering product development stages.
- CRM, 4%
Worked with SAP partner channel team to certify Knack Systems as a RDS partner for CRM Web channel and Service solutions.
Most senior business development managers use their skills in "healthcare," "cloud," and "business relationships" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior business development manager responsibilities here:
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior business development manager to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Senior business development managers often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "supervised sales and pd reports and leveraged solid technical, creative and leadership skills to maximize sales growth and roi. "
Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling senior business development manager duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." According to a senior business development manager resume, here's how senior business development managers can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "demonstrated polished interpersonal skills in presenting appropriate mortgage solutions, winning and maintaining confidence of borrowers through exemplary customer service. "
Organizational skills. senior business development managers are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior business development manager responsibilities, because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." A senior business development manager resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "identified and initiated contact with potential clients, delivering presentations to c-level executives demonstrating organizational value and roi. "
Analytical skills. senior business development manager responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This resume example shows what senior business development managers do with analytical skills on a typical day: "analyze competition, market positions, product lines and service levels. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in senior business development manager job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what senior business development managers do. Senior business development manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." You can also see how senior business development manager duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "spearheaded the sales of nuance voice to text saas into the enterprise unified communication/messaging market. "
See the full list of senior business development manager skills
The three companies that hire the most senior business development managers are:
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Senior business development manager vs. Development & program manager
The responsibilities of a development and program manager depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, they are in charge of overseeing the operations behind various projects and programs, ensuring everything is running smoothly and efficiently. They must also devise new strategies to improve workforce performance and services, identify new opportunities for profit growth, and determine the needs of clients. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team in the joint effort to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between senior business development managers and development & program manager. For instance, senior business development manager responsibilities require skills such as "healthcare," "cloud," "business relationships," and "account management." Whereas a development & program manager is skilled in "professional development," "securities," "program management," and "program development." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Development & program managers earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $115,484. On the other hand, senior business development managers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $128,937.development & program managers tend to reach similar levels of education than senior business development managers. In fact, development & program managers are 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior business development manager vs. Business to business sales manager
A business to business sales manager is responsible for monitoring the company's business transactions and ensuring that the team meets sales goals and targets. Business to business sales managers review business accounts and perform adjustments to sales plans as needed to adhere to clients' requests and customer demands. They also conduct data and statistical analysis through the evaluation of market trends to identify opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the business and increase the brand's image in the market.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior business development manager resumes. While senior business development manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "healthcare," "cloud," "project management," and "market research," business to business sales managers use skills like "business sales," "sales professionals," "business travel," and "site inspections."
Business to business sales managers may earn a lower salary than senior business development managers, but business to business sales managers earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $83,440. On the other hand, senior business development managers receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $128,937.In general, business to business sales managers achieve lower levels of education than senior business development managers. They're 11.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior business development manager vs. Senior account manager
A senior account manager is in charge of managing and overseeing accounts in sales work, ensuring to meet all sales targets. Among the tasks of a senior account manager includes taking the lead and supervising workforce to its efficiency, devising strategies, and coming up with new opportunities to boost sales and strengthen client base. Moreover, it is also the task of a senior account manager to engage with clients, focusing on networking to attain better deals.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior business development managers are more likely to have skills like "client relationships," "strategic partnerships," "dod," and "product management." But a senior account manager is more likely to have skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "html css," and "product knowledge."
Senior account managers earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $95,395. Senior business development managers earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $128,937.senior account managers typically earn lower educational levels compared to senior business development managers. Specifically, they're 11.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior business development manager vs. Director of sales & business development
A director of sales & business development is responsible for monitoring the business and project plans, ensuring that the sales targets are met, according to project requirements and specifications. Directors of sales & business development perform data analysis to track business performance and identify opportunities to grow revenues and profits. They also coordinate with the clients and maintain healthy business relationships by enhancing their brand image on various platforms and reach the target audience. A director of sales & business development works closely with the marketing and sales team for public relations and marketing campaigns placement.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior business development managers and directors of sales & business development, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior business development manager might have more use for skills like "project management," "dod," "customer service," and "product management." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of directors of sales & business development require skills like "sales cycle," "sales strategies," "oil gas," and "direct sales. "
Directors of sales & business development enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $127,443. For comparison, senior business development managers earn the highest salary in the manufacturing industry.In general, directors of sales & business development hold lower degree levels compared to senior business development managers. Directors of sales & business development are 6.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior business development manager
Updated January 8, 2025











