Business Development Manager – Bristol

Responsibilities

Account Management & Customer Engagement

• Manage and support key customer accounts, maintaining a strong understanding of their objectives, challenges, and success metrics.
• Build and nurture positive relationships with stakeholders through regular communication, both remotely and face-to-face.
• Deliver appropriate demonstrations and product updates (including AIVR and other OBC products where applicable) and respond to customer queries and issues in a timely, professional manner.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records within the OBC management systems of all customer interactions and account activity.
• Gather and communicate customer feedback to support continuous product and service improvement.

Commercial & Strategic Development

• Develop a strong understanding of commercial agreements and costing frameworks helping to secure recurring and new contracts.
• Collaborate with the Head of Business Development and BD colleagues to shape and deliver business strategy, including budget forecasting for key accounts.
• Work with colleagues to identify and develop new opportunities across the UK and internationally.
• Help continue to build OBC market presence by identifying key stakeholders and positioning the business effectively for upcoming opportunities

Product & Market Development

• Maintain a strong working knowledge of AIVR systems and their application across different customer needs.
• Support the development and commercialisation of new products, including DepotMATE.
• Collaborate with the Product Team to assess technical feasibility based on client interest and align commercial opportunities with product roadmaps.
• Contribute insights from customers and the market to influence product development and innovation.

Bids, Proposals & Marketing Support

• Help prepare high-quality tender submissions, proposals, and costings in collaboration with the Commercial Team.
• Work with Business Development leadership and OBC Marketing to ensure effective collateral is available for client engagement, bids, and events.

Market Expansion & Events

• Help research and evaluate opportunities in targeted international markets, including competitor analysis, key contacts, and upcoming opportunities.
• Attend and represent OBC at a range of rail industry events both at regional and national level, and at occasional international events.

Personal Qualities and Experience

• Minimum requirement of 2 years experience within the rail industry.
• Demonstrate strong communication skills, including confident verbal delivery, professional presentations, and clear, concise written communication.
• Collaborate effectively within a team environment, contributing positively to shared objectives and outcomes and office culture.
• Use initiative and a proactive approach to identify, develop, and follow up on business leads and new opportunities.
• Maintain proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) alongside modern collaboration tools such as Google Drive and Notion to support efficient working practices.
• Apply strong organisational skills to accurately manage and maintain customers and lead information within internal systems.
• Produce high-quality, accurate proposal documents and presentations using OBC templates and collateral, demonstrating a strong attention to detail.
• Bring relevant experience from a similar role, demonstrating the ability to operate effectively in a commercial or client-focused environment.