Business Development Manager at Synnefa

Job Summary

The Business Development Manager is responsible for driving business growth and strategic partnerships for Synnefa’s Smart Solar Dryers, smart greenhouses, and FarmCloud solutions. The role focuses on identifying and converting new business opportunities, managing institutional and enterprise relationships, and supporting revenue growth across the company’s product portfolio.

Working closely with leadership, operations, finance, and technical teams, the Business Development Manager will lead commercial engagements, develop client proposals, support partnership negotiations, and ensure opportunities are aligned with Synnefa’s operational capabilities and long-term growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Own enterprise revenue end-to-end: be accountable for pipeline, proposal, contract, and collections for enterprise, cooperative, and institutional deals.
• Structure and close high-value deals: lead commercial negotiations (pricing, financing, payment schedules, margin guarantees) and sign delivery-ready contracts with gating on operational readiness.
• Design and run the enterprise GTM: prioritise segments, map buyer journeys, and build repeatable playbooks and sales processes for consultative, long-cycle deals.
• Coordinate cross-functional handoffs: ensure Tech, Hardware Production, Field Ops, and Finance sign off on feasibility, BOQ/costing, and collection readiness before the deal is signed.
• Build commercial systems and metrics: establish pipeline hygiene, conversion KPIs, sales cycle stages, and dashboards; drive weekly and monthly commercial cadence.
• Anchor financing and partner commercialisation: negotiate with banks, MFIs, and financiers for end-user financing and manage strategic commercial relationships that enable scale.
• Be the primary commercial voice of the customer: provide structured market feedback into product, pricing, and delivery decisions, and protect margin and go-to-market fit.

Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum Education Level: Degree (Business, Agribusiness, Engineering, Economics, or similar). MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification preferred but not required.
• Years of Relevant Experience: 5+ years, with progressive enterprise or commercial leadership experience.
• Sector Experience: Exposure to agritech, energy infrastructure, hardware-plus-software sales, or other long-cycle enterprise product sales preferred. Experience in East Africa is highly desirable.
• Proven track record of closing complex, high-value B2B and B2B2C deals.
• Strong negotiation and commercial structuring skills, including pricing, financing, and contracts.
• Ability to operate with high decisiveness under ambiguity and make trade-offs quickly.
• Experience working closely with technical and operations teams to ensure delivery readiness.
• Strong systems and metrics orientation, with experience building sales processes and dashboards.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• High integrity; does not overpromise and enforces delivery gates.

What we offer

• Monthly gross pay of between KES 80,000 and KES 120,000, depending on experience and seniority.
• Performance-based commission linked to enterprise revenue outcomes, with tiered incentives aligned to revenue scale and collections.
• Meal benefit in accordance with company policy.
• Health cover is provided as part of the company benefits package.