Business Development Manager

#ComeJoinTheFun with us as our Business Development Manager - Contract Manufacturing & Confectionery Coatings and be part of #MakingCandyFun!

At R.M. Palmer Company, our mission is clear: driving innovation that celebrates life's special moments by focusing on value and integrity while making candy fun in everything we do. We take pride in blending creativity and tradition to deliver products that spark joy, bring smiles, and create lasting memories, one candy at a time.

Since 1948, R.M. Palmer Company, LLC has grown from just four employees and four products into a leading manufacturer of imaginative chocolate novelties with more than 500 unique products and over 600 full-time employees. Today, we operate two manufacturing facilities and a distribution center the size of 11 football fields, producing more than 50 million pounds of chocolate products each year.

Our continued success is built on the people and values that drive us every day. We believe in Getting It Done with urgency, ownership, and accountability. We challenge ourselves to Break It Better through innovation, curiosity, and continuous improvement. We Own the Outcome by taking responsibility and acting in the best interest of our team, customers, and company. We Play to Win by focusing on results and striving for excellence. Most importantly, we aim to Leave Them Smiling by bringing positivity, teamwork, passion, and energy to every interaction.

R.M. Palmer Company is seeking an experienced Business Development Manager to drive strategic growth within our Business-to-Business (B2B) Contract Manufacturing (Co-Man) and Confectionery Coatings business segments.

This is a highly visible commercial leadership role responsible for identifying, developing, and securing new customer partnerships with confectionery brands, retailers, private label organizations, and strategic partners. You'll lead the entire customer acquisition lifecycle-from prospecting and contract negotiations through onboarding, implementation, and successful launch-before transitioning established accounts to our Account Management team.

If you have a passion for building relationships, developing new business, and helping confectionery brands bring innovative products to market, we'd love to hear from you.

Drive New Business Growth

• Develop and execute strategies to achieve annual revenue, gross margin, and pipeline objectives.
• Identify and secure new B2B contract manufacturing and confectionery coatings opportunities.
• Build relationships with confectionery manufacturers, private label organizations, retailers, brokers, and strategic partners.
• Prospect through networking, referrals, industry events, trade shows, and market research.
• Lead customer discovery meetings to understand manufacturing, product, and commercial requirements.
• Evaluate customer opportunities against manufacturing capabilities to ensure profitable, long-term partnerships.
• Present company capabilities, conduct facility tours, and lead commercial discussions.
• Prepare proposals, pricing recommendations, business cases, and commercial agreements.
• Support contract negotiations and strategic customer discussions.
• Analyze industry trends, competitive activity, and emerging opportunities.

Lead Customer Onboarding & Commercialization

• Serve as the primary commercial contact throughout implementation.
• Coordinate customer onboarding with Operations, Quality, R&D, Planning, Purchasing, Finance, Scheduling, and Customer Service.
• Manage project timelines, documentation, system setup, product transfers, and milestone tracking.
• Ensure successful launches through proactive communication and issue resolution.

Develop Long-Term Customer Partnerships

• Support customers throughout startup and stabilization.
• Conduct business reviews focused on production performance, service levels, forecasting, inventory, and customer satisfaction.
• Identify opportunities for program expansion and additional manufacturing partnerships.
• Successfully transition established accounts to the Account Management team.

Collaborate Across the Business

• Maintain CRM and ERP data including forecasts, pricing, opportunities, and customer records.
• Generate pipeline, forecasting, and sales performance reports.
• Partner with internal teams to align customer expectations with operational capabilities.
• Present business development updates and growth opportunities to executive leadership.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives across customer acquisition and onboarding processes.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Direct experience within the confectionery industry is required.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Business Development, Strategic Sales, Contract Manufacturing, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), or related commercial roles.
• Proven success identifying, developing, and closing new B2B business opportunities.
• Experience selling contract manufacturing (co-manufacturing) and/or private label manufacturing solutions.
• Strong understanding of confectionery manufacturing, seasonal business cycles, retailer expectations, packaging requirements, and commercialization.
• Exceptional relationship-building, negotiation, presentation, and networking skills.
• Ability to manage complex sales cycles involving multiple stakeholders.
• Strong financial, analytical, organizational, and project management skills.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% for customer meetings, trade shows, and industry events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations, Sales, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Established network within the confectionery, food manufacturing, retail, private label, or CPG industries.
• Experience leading customer onboarding, commercialization, or implementation projects.
• Experience utilizing CRM and ERP systems, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.