Business Development Director, Agile Solutions

Business Development Director, Agile Solutions
Function/Team: Business Development (Insights UK)
Location: London (Hybrid)
Reporting to: Head of Business Development
Role Type: Hunter (end-to-end selling; includes significant—but not all—conversion activities) (operating model described below)

Role Purpose (Why this role exists)

We’re looking for an Agile Solutions Business Development Director (Hunter) who is obsessed with clients, thrives on creating net-new opportunities, and consistently converts client tensions into pipeline and wins. You will open doors and win work across Agile Solutions and entry-level / productised offers (e.g., Innovation, Brand, Creative, CX and other adjacent solutions), with a clear focus on accelerating adoption and revenue through Kantar Marketplace.

This is a role for someone who brings pace, curiosity, and commercial energy—someone who loves being in front of clients and knows how to translate needs into crisp propositions, strong proposals, and closed deals (especially for smaller, faster-moving opportunities).

Scope & Operating Model (End-to-end, with smart handoffs)

You will own the sales cycle end-to-end for smaller/productised and agile opportunities, while partnering with specialist colleagues for complex conversion steps where needed. Practically, that means:

• You lead prospecting → discovery → qualification → shaping the proposition → pricing alignment → proposal story → close for agile/productised deals.
• You collaborate and “pull in” conversion/programme design/expert teams for larger, more complex, higher-risk opportunities—staying accountable for momentum, client experience, and outcome.
• You operate with a strong bias toward velocity, clarity, and CRM discipline, ensuring clean pipeline hygiene and accurate forecasting.

What Success Looks Like (12-month outcomes)

• Net-new growth: Consistent new-logo and cross-sell wins and meaningful pipeline creation, particularly through Kantar Marketplace and agile/entry-level solutions.
• Pipeline health: High-quality pipeline with clear stages, next steps, and close plans; strong discipline on qualification and prioritisation.
• Client time obsession: A meaningful proportion of working time spent with prospects/clients (in-person and online), pro-active networking at events, to create and progress opportunities.
• Cross-functional impact: Trusted partnerships with Marketing, Domains, and Thought Leadership that increase lead flow and improve conversion.

Key Responsibilities

1) New Business Hunting & Opportunity Creation

• Build and execute a focused hunting plan that targets priority sectors/accounts and unlocks new buying points.
• Identify, map, and engage senior decision-makers; create demand through proactive outreach, networking, and events.
• Reactivate dormant/lapsed accounts with strong potential, turning re-entry conversations into funded work.

2) Consultative Discovery & Deal Shaping (Agile + Productised)

• Lead discovery conversations that surface client tensions, decision criteria, and urgency—then translate into a clear, compelling proposals.
• Shape “right-sized” solutions across Innovation, Brand, Creative, CX and adjacent offers—optimised for agility, speed, and repeatability.
• Position Kantar Marketplace as the fast path to value for productised needs and agile test-and-learn programmes.

3) End-to-End Selling & (Selective) Conversion Ownership

• Own smaller deals end-to-end: qualification → proposal → close → handover, ensuring a friction-free buying journey.
• For larger/complex opportunities, coordinate with relevant experts (domains/programme design/conversion support) to strengthen solution credibility and win probability—without losing pace.
• Maintain tight control of next steps, stakeholder mapping using MEDDPICC, and mutual action plans to keep deals moving.

4) Marketing, Domains & Thought Leadership Partnership

• Work closely with Marketing and Thought Leadership to convert campaigns, content, events, and insights into qualified leads and active opportunities.
• Partner with domain teams to package relevant proof points, case stories, and POVs that accelerate client confidence and shorten cycles.

5) Commercial Excellence: CRM, Forecasting & Governance

• Run a disciplined pipeline rhythm: accurate staging, probabilities, close dates, and next actions.
• Maintain forecast accuracy and clear reporting of opportunities, risks, and mitigations.
• Confidently use core commercial tools and platforms (e.g., CRM, Maconomy, LinkedIn, Sales Navigator) to drive efficiency and data quality.  

Skills, Experience & Attributes (What you’ll bring)

Core Experience

• Proven track record in consultative/Saas hunting / new business sales (B2B services, insights, consulting, tech, media, or data-driven solutions).  
• Comfortable selling both agile/productised offers and shaping more tailored solutions with specialists.
• Strong commercial judgement: qualification, deal strategy, value articulation, and closing discipline.

Selling & Collaboration Skills

• Excellent discovery, storytelling, and proposal shaping—able to turn ambiguity into clarity and action.
• Strong internal collaboration skills; able to mobilise Marketing and domain experts without losing accountability.

Mindset & Behaviours

• Client-obsessed: prioritises client time, listens deeply, and is energised by client outcomes.
• Hungry & pacey: proactive, resilient, relentless about making progress.
• CRM disciplined: treats pipeline hygiene as part of professional excellence.

Key Performance Indicators

• New qualified opportunities created (volume + quality)
• Net-new revenue closed (especially agile/productised and Kantar Marketplace led)
• Pipeline coverage and stage health (accuracy, next steps, momentum)
• Conversion effectiveness on owned deals; effective partner-led conversion on complex deals
• CRM compliance and forecast accuracy

#LI-ED2 #LI-Hybrid

Location

Kantar Rewards Statement

At Kantar we have an integrated way of rewarding our people based around a simple, clear and consistent set of principles. Our approach helps to ensure we are market competitive and also to support a pay for performance culture, where your reward and career progression opportunities are linked to what you deliver. 

We go beyond the obvious, using intelligence, passion and creativity to inspire new thinking and shape the world we live in. Apply for a career that’s out of the ordinary and join us. 

We want to create an equality of opportunity in a fair and supportive working environment where people feel included, accepted and are allowed to flourish in a space where their mental health and well being is taken into consideration. 

We want to create a more diverse community to expand our talent pool, be locally representative, drive diversity of thinking and better commercial outcomes. 

Kantar is the world’s leading data, insights and consulting company. We understand more about how people think, feel, shop, share, vote and view than anyone else. Combining our expertise in human understanding with advanced technologies, Kantar’s 30,000 people help the world’s leading organisations succeed and grow.