Business Development Manager

The Business Development Manager at LEO Events drives company growth by identifying and qualifying new business opportunities. Reporting to the Director, Business Development, this role leads prospecting efforts, manages outreach through qualification, and maintains CRM systems, data integrity, and reporting.

What You’ll Do

• Identify and research prospective clients, key decision-makers, industries, and markets aligned with LEO’s growth strategy.
• Build and prioritize target account lists using company intelligence, industry news, events, conferences, associations, and LEO’s existing network.
• Develop and execute personalized outreach strategies to generate introductions, meetings, and qualified opportunities.
• Build relationships with prospects and maintain consistent, thoughtful follow-up during early-stage business development.
• Identify connections among prospects, clients, partners, and LEO team members that can create opportunities or open doors.
• Partner with the Director, Business Development to prioritize accounts, develop pursuit strategies, and determine next steps.
• Support conference and networking strategies, including prospect identification, meeting preparation, outreach, and post-event follow-up.
• Coordinate prospect meetings and ensure participating leaders have relevant background, research, materials, and next steps.
• Maintain accurate and timely prospect, contact, activity, and opportunity information in the CRM.
• Manage opportunity stages and pipeline data to keep business development activity and progress visible.
• Track prospecting activity and key performance indicators, including outreach, response rates, meetings generated, qualified opportunities, and pipeline progression.
• Build and maintain dashboards and prepare regular pipeline and activity reporting.
• Monitor CRM data quality and reinforce consistent CRM practices across business development activities.
• Track conference and business development ROI, then use results to identify trends, gaps, and improvement opportunities.
• Maintain business development resources, including capabilities presentations and sales collateral, in partnership with Marketing.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, hospitality, or a related field (preferred).
• 4+ years of experience in business development, sales, account development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated CRM experience used for prospecting, outreach, pipeline management, workflows, and follow-up. HubSpot experience strongly preferred.
• Strong research skills with the ability to translate information into actionable business development opportunities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to develop personalized outreach.
• High organization with attention to detail, capable of managing multiple prospects and priorities at the same time.
• Comfort initiating conversations, pursuing new relationships, and following up persistently and professionally.
• Ability to travel up to 15%, including occasional nights and weekends as business needs require.

Tools and Technologies

• CRM
• HubSpot

Core Competencies

• Business Development Mindset: Energized by prospecting, relationship development, and creating new opportunities.
• Curiosity & Strategic Thinking: Enjoys researching companies, industries, and people and connecting information to create opportunities.
• Initiative & Persistence: Takes action, follows through, and stays engaged when opportunities require multiple touches over time.
• Relationship Building: Builds credibility and rapport with prospects, clients, partners, and internal stakeholders.
• Organization & Execution: Balances relationship-building with discipline to maintain an accurate pipeline, strong follow-up, and reliable CRM data.
• Results Orientation: Focuses on meaningful outcomes, including conversations, qualified opportunities, pipeline growth, and revenue.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements

The physical demands and work environment vary based on office, travel, and program assignments. The role is primarily office-based and may require extended periods of sitting and computer work.

Occasional onsite program responsibilities may involve standing or walking for extended periods, navigating large venues, working extended or irregular hours, and lifting or carrying items weighing up to 25 pounds. Onsite conditions may include varying temperatures, noise levels, crowds, and indoor or outdoor environments. The employee must be able to perform essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

Company Overview

LEO Events is an award-winning, people-first experiential agency and part of the Hoffmann Family of Companies. Since its formation in 2012, the company has built a reputation for delivering bold ideas, exceptional quality, and measurable value, supporting some of the industry’s most successful experiences for major brands in business.

Role Details

• Location: Chattanooga, TN (onsite)
• Experience Level: 4+ years