Business Development Executive – Africa at GeoPoll

Role Overview


The Business Development Executive is a driven, self-led business development professional focused on growing GeoPoll's commercial research revenue across Africa.
Working closely with the VP, Client Development - Africa and the Research and Technical teams, this person identifies and pursues new business, supports proposal development, manages a growing portfolio of accounts, and applies AI tools across the sales workflow to strengthen revenue and retention.
Exposure to social and development sector clients is an advantage; internal and external consultants are available to support development sector opportunities.


Key Responsibilities
New Business Development


Identify, qualify, and pursue new business opportunities across primarily commercial research clients in Africa, with support on social and development sector opportunities as directed.
Build and manage a robust pipeline in the CRM (Salesforce), keeping records and forecasts current.
Support proposals, expressions of interest (EOIs), and capability statements, working with Research and Technical teams on methodology, fieldwork, and budget inputs.
Attend client briefing meetings and translate discussions into clear, structured internal briefs for proposal development.
Represent GeoPoll at client meetings, industry events, and conferences to build visibility and generate leads.


Client Relationship Management


Build and grow a client network across the region, with support from the VP's existing relationships, acting as a trusted point of contact for a portfolio of active clients.
Identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities within existing accounts and translate these into new project scopes.
Coordinate closely with Research and Technical teams to keep client expectations aligned with delivery.
Apply AI-supported approaches, faster proposals, more responsive account management , to strengthen retention.


Business Development & Team Operations Support


Maintain the business development pipeline tracker and coordinate follow-ups on proposals, EOIs, and client commitments.
Support coordination of proposal inputs across Research and Technical teams, keeping contributors aligned on deadlines.
Prepare briefing notes ahead of client meetings and structured notes and action logs afterwards.


Sales Strategy & Reporting


Contribute ideas and market intelligence to the VP, Client Development - Africa on pipeline priorities and account planning.
Own individual revenue and new-business targets, reporting pipeline, forecasts, and account performance to the VP.
Flag risks to revenue or client relationships early, with recommended mitigations.
Bring forward ideas on where AI and automation can improve revenue and retention across the wider function.


Technology & AI Fluency


This role requires practical, demonstrated knowledge of applying AI tools across the sales workflow; prospecting, proposal drafting, CRM management (Salesforce), and client communications , to drive revenue and improve client retention. The Business Development Executive actively champions these approaches and shares them with the wider client development team.


Qualifications


Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field.
Solid experience (4+ years) in business development, sales, or account management, with a track record of meeting or exceeding revenue targets.
Experience selling into commercial market research clients; exposure to social and development sector clients an advantage.
Strong client relationship management skills; comfortable owning a portfolio of accounts end to end.
Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
Experience with CRM tools (Salesforce or similar), and practical, demonstrated knowledge of embedding AI into sales workflows for revenue and retention results.
Comfortable working cross-functionally with Research and Technical teams; familiarity with quantitative or qualitative research methods a plus.