Business Development Lead

Job description

Business Development Lead Job Summary The Business Development Lead, Additives serves as a strategic growth leader responsible for advancing Fortiva’s feed additive pipeline, market expansion priorities, and key customer partnerships. This role partners with Fortiva leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to help shape business strategy, define growth priorities, and translate market, customer, and technical insights into actionable commercial plans. The position develops product charters and business cases, evaluates partnership and market opportunities, and provides leadership with commercial insights to support project prioritization, investment decisions, and long-term business growth. Working across Fortiva, Animal Nutrition, and the broader Land O’Lakes enterprise, this role builds and strengthens strategic customer, partner, and influencer relationships while managing high-value strategic accounts, with primary emphasis on U.S. swine accounts. Through disciplined business development, direct sales leadership, project charter ownership, and enterprise collaboration, this position helps accelerate innovation, expand market reach, and deliver sustained sales growth. Key Responsibilities Business Development and Strategy Leadership Influence and partner with Fortiva leadership in shaping business strategy, growth priorities, and market expansion opportunities for feed additive solutions. Own and grow a portfolio of B2B customers and influencers, including feed mills, premix partners, integrators, consulting nutritionists, and key opinion leaders. Develop business cases that demonstrate the commercial potential of new projects, partnerships, and market opportunities. Translate customer, market, competitive, regulatory, and technical insights into strategic recommendations, project charters, launch priorities, positioning, and execution plans. Lead commercial alignment across technical service, marketing, operations, supply chain, R&D, and sales teams to support strategic priorities and deliver on customer commitments. Establish and maintain relationships with academics, research organizations, industry partners, and other stakeholders to identify business, testing, insight, and innovation opportunities. Lead ideation, development, alignment, and initiation of project charters into the R&D pipeline workstream. Oversee project charters through the pipeline, ensuring resources, milestones, KPIs, and stakeholder alignment are in place to support successful execution. Strategic Account and Direct Sales Execution Identify, pursue, and close targeted direct-sales opportunities for priority swine feed additive products and programs. Lead customer discovery, needs assessment, solution design, and value quantification using performance and economic assumptions appropriate to the customer’s system. Prepare and deliver customer proposals, coordinate order execution, support onboarding, and identify renewal or expansion opportunities. Manage high-value strategic accounts and build trusted relationships with customers, influencers, and partners that support Fortiva’s long-term growth objectives. Mentoring, Capability Building, and Cross-Functional Influence Mentor and coach sales and account team members on feed additive value selling, technical-to-economic messaging, consultative selling, and disciplined opportunity management. Provide onboarding and ongoing training support related to product knowledge, competitive differentiation, objection handling, CRM discipline, and customer engagement. Conduct joint customer calls to model consultative selling behaviors and provide actionable feedback. Share best practices, playbooks, account planning tools, trial protocols, and ROI resources to strengthen team capability and improve overall commercial execution. Lead through influence across teams by connecting market needs, technical insights, and commercial priorities to improve decision making and accelerate growth. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, Dairy Science, Business, Agriculture, or a related field. 10+ years of experience in feed additives, animal health, livestock sales, strategic account management, business development, or a related commercial role. Demonstrated success working with large accounts, nutritionist-led sales environments, B2B customers, influencers, or integrated livestock production systems. Strong business acumen with experience developing business cases, shaping growth strategies, and translating customer or market insights into commercial action. Proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and lead work through collaboration without direct authority. Experience managing complex customer relationships, commercial opportunities, and strategic projects from concept through execution. Ability to travel 50 to 80%. Preferred Qualifications Advanced degree, including master’s degree or PhD, in Animal Science, Dairy Science, Nutrition, Business, Agriculture, or a related field. Direct experience with large-scale livestock operations, commercial feedyards, or large strategic swine accounts. Strong understanding of livestock production systems, feed additive value propositions, performance metrics, and economic drivers. Experience with ration formulation, additive inclusion strategies, product trials, launch planning, or technical-to-commercial value translation Compensation This is a sales role that is compensated with a target mix of base salary plus commission. Base salary is dependent upon experience/tenure and generally ranges between: $142,160 - $213,240 Target bonus is: Forty Thousand In most cases, candidates offered employment can expect to be hired at a pay rate near the middle of our salary ranges. About Land O'Lakes, Inc. Join us and be part of a Fortune 250, farmer- and member-owned cooperative that is reimagining the business of food. We have been named a Top Workplace by Indeed and LinkedIn, and to the TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list. Benefits for most full-time roles include medical, dental, vision, PTO, life & disability insurance, education assistance, a 401k and a variety of well-being resources. Most part-time employees are eligible for prorated PTO, holiday pay, employee development programs, prorated education assistance, and a 401(k). Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) M/F/Vets/Disabled. The company maintains a drug-free workforce, including post-employment substance abuse testing pursuant to a Drug and Alcohol Policy. Neither Land O’Lakes, nor its search firms, will ever contact you and ask for confidential information over the phone or in email. If you receive a call or email like this, please do not provide the information being requested. Land O'Lakes does not use Automated Decision-Making Technology, as defined by California law, to substantially replace human decision-making or make significant decisions about applications for employment or contracting opportunities.