Business Development Manager

Our reputable client in the software space is seeking Business Development Managers to join their growing team! You will own the top of our acquisition funnel - and the team responsible for building it.

This is a player-coach leadership role. You will carry your own relationships and sourcing targets while hiring, developing, and coaching a team of associates against theirs. Your team will be early in their careers, learning outbound prospecting, software businesses, and our acquisition criteria simultaneously. Your responsibility is to give them the structure, coaching, tools, and feedback they need to become productive quickly.

You will combine hands-on sourcing with team leadership, building a high-performing acquisition sourcing function that consistently identifies, qualifies, and advances attractive acquisition opportunities.

This role will be 100% onsite based out of their downtown Toronto office.

What You’ll Do

Lead and Develop the Team

• Hire, onboard, and coach acquisition sourcing associates from ramp through productivity.
• Establish clear expectations for ramp, activity, pipeline development, and results, and understand where each team member stands against those expectations.
• Provide hands-on coaching across prospecting, messaging, qualification, relationship management, and follow-up.
• Build repeatable processes and playbooks that help new associates become productive quickly.
• Lead by example by maintaining your own relationships, sourcing activity, and acquisition targets.

Build the Acquisition Pipeline

• Identify and qualify acquisition targets that fit our criteria, typically owner-operated vertical market software businesses with long-tenured customers and defensible niches.
• Plan and execute outbound prospecting campaigns across LinkedIn, email, phone, trade shows, and in-person meetings.
• Build durable relationships with founders, owner-operators, and CEOs, as well as the intermediaries around them, including investment bankers, brokers, and PE and VC funds.
• Partner with deal leads across our operating groups to advance qualified targets through the acquisition process.

Scale Through Technology

• Lead the team's adoption and application of AI tools across research, list building, enrichment, outreach drafting, prioritization, and other sourcing workflows.
• Identify what works, turn it into repeatable processes, and ensure those practices transfer effectively to new team members.
• Use AI to help the team operate at a level of volume and efficiency that would be difficult to achieve through manual effort alone.
• Stay current on emerging tools and identify practical ways they can improve sourcing performance.

Own Pipeline Management

• Own Salesforce hygiene, reporting, and pipeline visibility across the sourcing team.
• Establish and enforce high standards for CRM data quality and activity tracking.
• Use reporting and pipeline data to identify gaps, manage performance, and improve team outcomes.

What We’re Looking For

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in enterprise software sales, outbound business development, corporate development, or venture capital deal sourcing.
• Experience hiring, managing, or formally coaching an outbound sales or deal sourcing function.
• A personal track record of consistently meeting or exceeding targets in a fast-paced outbound environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build rapport both remotely and through cold outreach.
• The credibility and communication skills to build relationships with founders, owner-operators, CEOs, and other senior decision-makers.
• Demonstrated fluency with AI tools for research and outreach, along with the ability to teach and coach others on how to use them effectively. Be prepared to walk us through how you use AI in your own work.
• Strong Salesforce experience, including building reports and holding a team accountable for CRM data discipline.
• A self-directed, entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to work autonomously, think independently, and set priorities for yourself and your team.
• Willingness to travel to meet companies and attend industry trade shows.
• Strong Excel and Microsoft Office skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, economics, or a related field.

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You

• Are energized by both building relationships and building teams.
• Enjoy coaching early-career talent and take pride in seeing people become productive and successful.
• Know how to balance high activity with thoughtful, high-quality relationship building.
• Are comfortable being accountable for a number while also developing the people responsible for delivering it.
• Are naturally curious and can quickly understand unfamiliar software businesses and industries.
• Are persistent, resilient, and comfortable with the realities of cold outbound work.
• See AI as a competitive advantage and enjoy finding better ways to work.
• Bring structure and accountability without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Lead from the front—you are willing to make the calls, send the emails, build the relationships, and do the work alongside your team.

Perks & Benefits

• Full-time employment with a competitive salary, variable pay, and comprehensive benefits.
• A clear career track with opportunities for long-term professional growth.
• Exposure to an international, entrepreneurial environment with a strong growth-driven culture.
• The opportunity to build and lead a critical function at the front end of our acquisition strategy.

AI may be used to support certain administrative aspects of our recruitment process. However, all applications and resumes are reviewed by qualified human reviewers, and all screening and hiring decisions are made solely by the hiring team.

The posted salary range reflects expected compensation for this role in accordance with Ontario pay transparency requirements. Actual compensation will be determined based on the successful candidate’s experience, skills, and qualifications and may fall anywhere within the range.