Business Development Manager

Job description

## Hi! We're Forerunner. Stronger, more resilient communities are built by the people inside government and regulated industries who keep critical infrastructure running. But they're working against real headwinds: fragmented data, field crews without the right tools, and high-stakes decisions made without a complete picture. Forerunner exists to fix that. We build intelligent software that connects the systems these agencies and firms already rely on, fills the gaps those systems can't, and turns fragmented information into decisions and actions that reduce liability, surface revenue, and prevent small problems from becoming emergencies. ## About the Position We're looking for a Business Development Manager to build and lead our business development function out of our Portland, ME office. You'll manage and grow a team of Business Development Representatives while owning outbound strategy across both our public-sector pipeline (city, county, and state agencies) and our growing private-sector pipeline (construction, ports/terminals, and energy/renewable operators). This is a hands-on player-coach role. You'll spend real time in the details — refining messaging, listening to calls, working segments yourself — while also building the systems, hiring plan, and reporting rhythm that let the team scale. ## What You'll Do ### Lead the BDR Team - Manage, coach, and develop a team of Business Development Representatives, including day-to-day pipeline reviews, call coaching, and career development. - Hire and ramp new BDRs as the team grows, building repeatable onboarding and training. - Set clear individual and team targets, and hold the team accountable to SLAs, activity metrics, and pipeline goals. ### Drive Pipeline Across Both Segments - Own outbound strategy for identifying and engaging high-potential accounts across both government agencies and private-sector operators. - Build and refine segment-specific playbooks — messaging, sequences, and targeting differ meaningfully between a county floodplain office and a ports operator, and you'll make sure the team treats them that way. - Partner with Account Executives to hand off qualified opportunities and ensure smooth conversion through the funnel. ### Build the Systems Behind the Team - Own the BDR tech stack and process — CRM hygiene, sequencing tools, and reporting — so the team's pipeline data is clean and trustworthy. - Establish a weekly/monthly reporting rhythm for pipeline generation, conversion rates, and team performance that you can bring to Sales leadership. - Continuously test and iterate on outbound approach based on what's converting in each segment. ### Partner Cross-Functionally - Work closely with Sales leadership on account segmentation, territory design, and go-to-market priorities. - Share market feedback — what prospects are saying, objections that keep surfacing, competitive intel — with Marketing and Product. - Represent the voice of top-of-funnel prospects as Forerunner expands further into the private sector. ## About You You might be a good fit if you: - Have 5+ years of business development or sales experience, including at least 1-2 years directly managing an SDR/BDR or similar outbound team. - Have a track record of building or scaling an outbound motion — you know how to turn a rough target list into a repeatable, measurable pipeline engine. - Are comfortable operating across genuinely different buyer types. Experience selling into both government/public-sector accounts and private industry (construction, energy, infrastructure, or similar) is a strong plus. - Are an effective coach and communicator. You can give direct, specific feedback on calls and messaging, and you build trust quickly with the people you manage. - Are analytical and process-minded. You're comfortable in a CRM, you track the metrics that matter, and you create structure where there isn't any yet. - Are based in or willing to work from our Portland, ME office. We're a distributed company, but this role is anchored there given the team it leads. ## Our Team Has a Lot to Offer Forerunner is an early-stage company with an interdisciplinary team. We are motivated by seemingly intractable problems and work hard to support one another. - **We're mission-driven.** Our mission orients our business strategy and pushes us to work with a sense of urgency. We’re in the weeds -- our entire team spends time engaging with our partners in the field to better understand the real-world problems they face. - **We're a small team.** As a member of our growing team, you will quickly become an invaluable part of our organization and have a meaningful impact on our business and technical direction. We welcome unique perspectives and backgrounds. Your opinion matters and we hope you'll share it. - **We value in-person connection**, so we keep offices in NYC, San Francisco, and Portland, ME. Roles can be hybrid or fully remote, depending on the work. - **We want you to be happy and healthy.** Forerunner offers competitive compensation, health/vision/dental coverage, and commuter benefits. We also have a quarterly wellness reimbursement so that you can have flexibility in defining what "health" means to you. The base payfor this position is $100,000-$115,000 annually with an OTE of $150,000-$180,000. This posting may span more than one career level. Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including an individual’s skills, experience and qualifications. Forerunner is an equal opportunity employer committed to embracing diversity and the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds.