Associate/Senior Associate Business Development

Job Title: Associate / Senior Business Development, Pet Care

Department: New Business Development

Reports To: Manager/Director

Level: Individual Contributor (Mid-Level)

About the Role

We are hiring an Associate / Senior Business Development to help build new growth opportunities in pet care. This hybrid role spans opportunity discovery and feasibility through to hands-on, pre-launch execution. You will identify opportunities, validate them with data and field work, develop the business case, and drive execution readiness before handing over to commercial teams.

Key Responsibilities

§     Opportunity Discovery

o Lead market scans across pet treats/food: trends, claims, formats, price tiers, and channels (specialty, mass, e-commerce).

o Identify and assess partners (OEM/co-manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, packaging vendors).

§     Feasibility & Business Case

o Build bottom-up financial models (unit economics, COGS, retailer margins, trade spend, price-pack architecture, ROI/breakeven).

o Conduct competitive benchmarking and market sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM), velocity assumptions, and retailer requirements.

o Coordinate technical feasibility with R&D/Nutrition, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and QA.

§     Fieldwork & Validation

o Plan and synthesize customer insight work (concept tests, interviews, panels) into clear go/no-go criteria.

o Coordinate pilot or small-batch runs with co-manufacturers for cost, quality, and lead-time validation.

§     Execution Readiness (Pre-Launch)

o Build stage-gate plans and risk registers; run cross-functional stand-ups.

o Coordinate packaging briefs, claims substantiation, compliance, and artwork timelines.

o Prepare sell-in materials (value proposition, margin structures, price ladders), manage samples, and maintain launch readiness checklists.

o Orchestrate structured handover to Marketing/Sales with complete documentation (specs, forecasts, P&L, risks, SOPs).

§     Pipeline Development

o Develop shortlists for future opportunities with preliminary business cases.

o Track emerging trends (functional nutrition, natural/sustainable, dental/health, life-stage) and category whitespace.

Qualifications

§     Experience: 3–7 years in business development, product innovation, corporate strategy, or product operations in CPG or pet care. Experience with startups or co-man/OEM partners is a plus.

§     Hybrid Skill Set:

o Data & Financials: Advanced Excel/Sheets modeling; unit economics, PPA, margin waterfalls, ROI.

o Hands-On Execution: Comfortable coordinating trials, samples, site visits, and on-the-ground problem solving.

§     Category Knowledge: Understanding of pet food/treat dynamics, regulatory basics, retailer expectations, and e-commerce vs. brick-and-mortar nuances.

§     Project Leadership: Strong cross-functional coordination, timeline management, and decision-making under ambiguity.

§     Communication: Clear written and verbal communication; strong presentation and stakeholder alignment skills.

Nice-to-Haves

§     Experience with stage-gate/NPD, claims and labeling, and packaging development.

§     Familiarity with co-man contracts, MOQs, service levels, and quality audits.

§     Exposure to consumer research (concept tests, IHUTs, sensory/palatability).

Success Metrics

§     Approved business case within 60–90 days for assigned initiatives; on-time gate progression; complete launch readiness package for handover.

§     Achieve target gross margin and breakeven assumptions within agreed variance.

§     Deliver retailer-ready sell-in toolkit and validated price-pack architecture.

§     Provide 2–3 vetted pipeline opportunities with preliminary P&Ls within planning cycles.

Working Model

§     Reports to Manager/Director within New Business Development; works closely with R&D, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance.

§     Field-oriented with willingness to visit partners, attend trials, and conduct in-market research.