Date
2026
Location
1300 Airport Road, North Brunswick NJ
Title
Specialist, Business Development
Department
Sales
Reports to
Senior Vice President, Business Development
FLSA (Exempt or Non-Exempt
Exempt
Role Overview
Specialist, Business Development is responsible for identifying, developing, and securing new business opportunities for the company's Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO/CMO) services and product solutions. This role focuses on generating new business within the nutraceutical, dietary supplement, vitamin, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, consumer health, and related industries.
The Specialist serves as a primary point of contact for prospective customers, building and maintaining a qualified sales pipeline, developing strong customer relationships, understanding client needs, and collaborating with internal technical, operations, quality, and commercial teams to convert opportunities into long-term business partnerships.
This position is ideal for a highly motivated, results-oriented individual who enjoys prospecting, networking, and driving business growth. The successful candidate will play a key role in expanding the company's customer base and support revenue growth through strategic business development initiatives.
Areas of Responsibility
Business Development
- Identify, target, and secure new business opportunities within the nutraceutical, dietary supplement, vitamin, wellness, and consumer health markets.
- Develop and execute strategic business development plans to expand market presence and generate revenue growth.
- Build and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective clients through networking, industry events, referrals, cold calling, and outbound prospecting.
- Establish relationships with key decision-makers, including founders, CEOs, brand owners, product development teams, procurement leaders, operations leaders, R&D teams and executive stakeholders.
- Analyze market trends, competitive activity, and customer needs to identify growth opportunities.
- Represent the company at trade shows, conferences, and industry networking events.
Sales & Account Acquisition
- Drive the full sales cycle from lead generation through contract negotiation and account onboarding.
- Present the company's CDMO manufacturing capabilities, technical expertise, and service offerings to prospective clients.
- Develop customized proposals and solutions that align with client objectives and manufacturing requirements.
- Coordinate with internal teams to prepare proposals, quotations, capability presentations, and customer responses.
- Support contract negotiations and commercial discussions with prospective customers. Consistently achieve or exceed assigned sales and business development targets.
- Maintain accurate sales forecasts and pipeline activity within the CRM system.
Market Intelligence
- Monitor market trends, competitive activity, emerging product categories, and customer needs within the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.
- Identify opportunities for new product categories, manufacturing capabilities, and strategic partnerships.
- Provide market intelligence and customer feedback to support product and service development initiatives.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with R&D, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Customer Success teams to ensure successful client onboarding and project execution.
- Support the transition of new business opportunities into long-term customer partnerships.
- Support customer site visits, audits, technical discussions, and project kick-off activities.
- Facilitate communication between prospective customers and internal subject matter experts.
Reporting and Administration
- Maintain complete and accurate customer and opportunity records.
- Prepare pipeline, forecast, and business development reports as requested.
- Participate in sales meetings, commercial reviews, and strategic planning activities.
Other Responsibilities Including Safety:
- Works in a safe and responsible manner in order to create an injury-free and incident-free workplace.
- Complies with all job-related safety and other training requirements.
- Keeps management informed of area activities and of any significant problems.
Requirements
Education & Qualification:
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related field preferred.
- 3 + years of business development and sales experience in nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, vitamins, consumer health products, pharmaceuticals, or CDMO/contract manufacturing.
- Proven track record of acquiring new clients and generating revenue through business development efforts.
- Experience selling contract manufacturing, private-label, or formulation services is highly preferred.
- Pharmaceutical industry experience is a plus, particularly with companies involved in consumer health, vitamins, supplements, or wellness products.
- Strong network within the nutraceutical, dietary supplement, or consumer packaged goods industry preferred.
- Excellent prospecting, negotiation, presentation, and relationship-management skills.
- Demonstrated hunter mentality with the ability to independently source and close new business opportunities.
- Proficiency in CRM systems and Microsoft Office Suite.
Certifications, Licenses, Credentials:
Travel Requirements
- Willingness to travel extensively (50–75%).
- Ability to visit prospective clients, attend trade shows, and participate in industry events.
- Comfortable with overnight and regional travel to generate new business opportunities.
Skills & Ability
- Client-obsessed with a strong aptitude in a structured sales approach.
- Self-motivated with exceptional talent in closing deals.
- Strong knowledge in the complete end-to-end sales cycle (from prospecting to closing).
- Exceptional prospecting/hunter skills and experience.
- Experience in pharmaceuticals and/or manufacturing environment is a plus.
- Good communication and Email writing skills.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Performance may be measured through the following metrics:
- New Business Revenue Generated
- Annual Quota Achievement
- Qualified Pipeline Generated
- Number of New Customer Opportunities Created
- Number of Customer Meetings Conducted
- Proposal-to-Win Ratio
- Customer Acquisition Rate
- CRM Data Accuracy and Forecast Reliability
- Strategic Account Development Activities
Physical Requirements (lifting, etc.):
- Ability to navigate office, lab, and/or plant floor working environments.
- Standard office environment without unpleasant or hazardous conditions. Physical demands involved in office work such as the ability to talk, hear, use hands to handle and feel; work on a computer up to 7 hours a day; close vision required for computer usage.
- Must have the ability to wear applicable personal protective equipment utilized at this site, including safety glasses/goggles, hairnets, lab coats and safety shoes.
Work Environment (Office, Warehouse, temperature extremes, etc.):
- Exposed to lab and/or plant floor working environments.
- Standard office environment without unpleasant or hazardous conditions.
- Temperature controlled for heat and air conditioning.
Success Profile
The ideal candidate is a highly motivated business developer with a hunter mentality who enjoys identifying opportunities, building relationships, and creating long-term partnerships. This individual is comfortable engaging with entrepreneurs, emerging brands, and established manufacturers, and possesses the persistence, curiosity, and commercial acumen necessary to drive sustainable growth within a highly regulated manufacturing environment.
For USPL specifically, I woul