Business Development Executive

Job Description

Job Description

About The Chicago Lighthouse Our Mission

The Chicago Lighthouse serves people who are blind, visually impaired, disabled, and Veterans, empowering each individual to reach their full personal potential. Our programs create enduring opportunities through employment, education, technology, and innovative services while supporting the continued growth of a mission-driven social enterprise.

Lighthouse Enterprises, the social enterprise division of The Chicago Lighthouse, provides contact center and business process outsourcing services to healthcare, insurance, government, and commercial organizations across the United States. Revenue generated through our business enterprises helps support the broader mission and programs of The Chicago Lighthouse.

About the Role

The Business Development Representative (BDR) is a junior-level business development position responsible for helping build and maintain a strong pipeline of prospective clients for Lighthouse Enterprises.

This individual will focus primarily on identifying potential clients, researching target organizations, conducting outbound prospecting, tracking leads, supporting sales campaigns, and scheduling qualified meetings for senior business development leadership.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, persistent, curious, comfortable reaching out to prospective clients, and motivated by creating new business opportunities. This role is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build a career in business development, sales, or account management while gaining exposure to healthcare, insurance, government contracting, and outsourced contact center services.

This position will work closely with senior Business Development leadership, who will lead discovery discussions, develop solutions, negotiate opportunities, and close new business.

Key Responsibilities Lead Generation & Prospecting

• Research and identify prospective clients within targeted industries, including healthcare, insurance, government, financial services, commercial organizations, and other organizations that utilize contact center or business process outsourcing services.
• Conduct outbound prospecting through phone calls, email, LinkedIn, social media, industry directories, and other lead-generation channels.
• Identify appropriate decision-makers and influencers within prospective organizations.
• Develop and maintain targeted prospect lists and outreach campaigns.
• Conduct preliminary research on prospective clients, including company size, services, potential contact center needs, current vendors, organizational initiatives, and potential business opportunities.
• Monitor industry news, contract announcements, procurement activity, organizational changes, and other events that may create potential sales opportunities.

Appointment Setting & Lead Qualification

• Engage prospective clients through professional and persistent outreach.
• Introduce Lighthouse Enterprises' capabilities, mission, services, and value proposition to prospective clients.
• Qualify leads by identifying potential needs, business challenges, timing, decision-makers, and potential opportunities.
• Schedule qualified introductory and discovery meetings for senior Business Development leadership.
• Coordinate calendars, meeting invitations, introductory materials, and follow-up communications.
• Conduct ongoing follow-up with prospects to maintain engagement and move opportunities forward.
• Re-engage inactive or previously contacted prospects when appropriate.

Pipeline & CRM Management

• Maintain accurate and timely records of prospects, contacts, outreach activities, meetings, and opportunities within the organization's CRM or sales tracking system.
• Track leads through each stage of the business development funnel.
• Maintain a well-organized pipeline of prospective clients and opportunities.
• Ensure follow-up activities, next steps, and target dates are clearly documented.
• Assist leadership with weekly and monthly pipeline reporting.
• Track prospecting activity and key business development metrics, including outreach volume, response rates, qualified leads, meetings scheduled, and pipeline development.
• Help identify opportunities that require additional follow-up or senior leadership involvement.

Business Development Support

• Support senior Business Development leadership with research prior to prospective client meetings.
• Prepare company profiles, prospect summaries, meeting briefs, talking points, and background information.
• Assist with the development and customization of presentations, capability statements, proposals, and other sales materials.
• Support follow-up activities after client meetings and business development discussions.
• Help maintain standardized sales collateral, presentations, case studies, client success stories, and other business development resources.
• Coordinate with Operations, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, IT, and other departments when information is needed to support new business opportunities.
• Assist with Requests for Information (RFIs), Requests for Proposals (RFPs), capability requests, and other business development opportunities as needed.

Market Research & Campaign Development

• Research target industries, organizations, market segments, and competitors.
• Identify emerging market opportunities and potential areas for expansion.
• Assist in developing targeted outreach campaigns for specific industries, services, geographic markets, or prospective client groups.
• Maintain databases and prospect lists for marketing and sales campaigns.
• Track campaign results and recommend adjustments based on prospect engagement and response.
• Research conferences, associations, networking organizations, procurement opportunities, and other potential lead-generation channels.

Conferences & Networking

• Assist with identifying relevant conferences, trade shows, networking events, webinars, and industry meetings.
• Support pre-event prospecting and outreach to potential attendees.
• Help coordinate meetings with prospective clients during conferences and industry events.
• Participate in selected networking events, conferences, and business development activities.
• Support post-event follow-up and lead tracking to maximize opportunities generated through events.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Sales, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience will also be considered.
• 0–3 years of experience in business development, sales, lead generation, marketing, recruiting, customer service, account management, or a related field.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Comfortable communicating with prospective clients through phone, email, LinkedIn, and virtual meetings.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple prospects and follow-up activities simultaneously.
• Ability to conduct online research and identify relevant organizations, contacts, and business opportunities.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to maintaining accurate records.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Self-motivated with the ability to work independently while collaborating as part of a team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience in outbound sales, lead generation, appointment setting, or business development.
• Experience with CRM or sales tracking platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar tools.
• Familiarity with LinkedIn Sales Navigator or other prospecting and lead-generation platforms.
• Experience or interest in contact centers, business process outsourcing (BPO), healthcare, insurance, government contracting, financial services, or consulting.
• Experience researching companies and identifying senior-level decision-makers.
• Familiarity with government procurement, RFPs, RFIs, or public-sector contracting is a plus.
• Experience supporting email campaigns, social selling, or other digital prospecting strategies.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Prospecting & Lead Generation: Ability to identify potential clients, decision-makers, and opportunities through research and proactive outreach.
• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the confidence to engage prospective clients professionally.
• Persistence & Resilience: Comfortable with outbound prospecting and able to remain motivated despite unanswered outreach or rejection.
• Organization & Follow-Through: Ability to manage multiple prospects, campaigns, meetings, and follow-up activities without losing track of next steps.
• Research & Curiosity: Strong ability to research organizations, industries, decision-makers, and potential business needs.
• CRM & Pipeline Discipline: Commitment to maintaining accurate prospect information, activity records, and pipeline updates.
• Relationship Building: Ability to establish professional connections and create positive first impressions with prospective clients.
• Collaboration: Willingness to work closely with senior Business Development leadership and cross-functional teams to advance opportunities.
• Business Acumen: Interest in learning how organizations evaluate outsourced services, contact center operations, strategic partnerships, and business solutions.

Measures of Success

Success in this role will be measured primarily through the individual's ability to consistently generate and advance new business opportunities, including:

• New prospective accounts identified and researched.
• Decision-makers and contacts added to the pipeline.
• Outbound prospecting activity completed.
• Qualified leads generated.
• Introductory and discovery meetings scheduled.
• Prospect response and engagement rates.
• Consistency and accuracy of CRM and pipeline management.
• Follow-up completion and pipeline progression.
• Contribution to new qualified sales opportunities.
• Support of business development campaigns, conferences, and strategic initiatives.

The primary objective of this role is to create a consistent flow of qualified opportunities and meetings for senior Business Development leadership to pursue, develop, and close.

Why Join The Chicago Lighthouse?

This position provides the opportunity to build a career in business development while contributing directly to an organization with a meaningful social mission. As Lighthouse Enterprises grows, new business relationships help create sustainable employment opportunities and provide financial support for programs serving people who are blind, visually impaired, disabled, and Veterans.

The successful candidate will gain exposure to senior business leaders, enterprise sales, healthcare, insurance, government contracting, contact center operations, proposal development, strategic partnerships, and the complete business development lifecycle.

Employee Benefits

BENEFIT PACKAGE UP TO AN ADDITIONAL 25% OF SALARY INCLUDING:

• 10 days paid vacation
• 12 paid holidays
• 6 sick days accrued over the year
• Insurance Eligibility the 1st of the month after 30 days of employment
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance offered
• Short/long term disability
• Life insurance 2x salary
• Employee recognition events
• Company matched 401(k) plan
• Reasonably priced delicious food options on site (except at Glenview location)

The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired is an Equal Opportunity Employer in full compliance with local, state, and federal Civil Rights & Affirmative Action laws. The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired maintains a strong policy of accommodation and a consistent practice of employing qualified individuals with disabilities. All applicants will be afforded equal employment opportunity without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability unrelated to ability, sexual orientation, military status, order of protection status or unfavorable discharge from military service.