Commercial and Industrial Business Development Lead / Manager

Prowess Outsourcing Limited - Commercial and Industrial Business Development Lead / Manager

Prowess Outsourcing Limited, a recruitment and consulting company, is recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Commercial and Industrial Business Development Lead / Manager

Location: Lagos

Employment Type: Full-time

Reports To: Head, Trade Operations & Business Development

Direct Reports: Business Development Executives, Account Executives

Relationships:

• Internal: C&I Sales Market Activation Manager, Depot Sales team, Retail Operations team, Trade Operations, Logistics, Finance & Credit Control, Legal & Compliance, HR & Admin team.
• External: Industrial and commercial clients, existing and potential customers (Manufacturing, Construction & Infrastructure, Telecom tower operators, Logistics & Haulage fleets, Mining & Quarrying, Agro-processing, Hospitality, Hospitals, Facility managers, etc.)

Major Responsibilities

• In this role, you will lead MEA's new-business drive in the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) segment, with a primary focus on identifying, winning and onboarding industrial clients for refined petroleum products (AGO/gasoil and PMS).
• The role focuses on business development, industrial account acquisition, commercial negotiation, onboarding and the early growth of new accounts across manufacturing, construction, telecom, logistics, mining and other large fuel-consuming sectors.
• You will build and lead a small, high-performing business development team, working closely with the C&I Sales Market Activation Manager, to deliver ambitious volume targets while maintaining profitable, credit-sound customer relationships in Nigeria's competitive B2B landscape.

Your key responsibilities include but are not limited to the below activities;

Business Development & Industrial Client Acquisition:

• Develop and execute a business development plan targeting industrial clients and high-volume fuel consumers.
• Map target industrial clusters (e.g., Ikeja, Agbara, Ota, Apapa, Lekki Free Zone, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Kano) and build a prospect database by sector, location and estimated monthly consumption.
• Identify and engage decision-makers (procurement, plant/facility managers, finance heads, energy managers) through direct outreach, referrals, site visits and industry associations (e.g., MAN, NACCIMA).
• Personally lead the pursuit and closing of anchor and high-volume industrial accounts.
• Identify upcoming industrial projects, plant expansions and tenders, and position MEA early as preferred supplier.

Commercial Negotiation & Onboarding:

• Prepare tailored commercial proposals and supply solutions based on each client's consumption pattern, storage, delivery frequency and budget cycle.
• Negotiate supply contracts, pricing mechanisms, credit terms and service-level agreements in line with company policies and approved authority limits.
• Ensure full KYC and customer due diligence and credit approval are completed before first supply, in line with Legal & Compliance and Finance requirements.
• Coordinate with Trade Operations, Depot and Logistics teams to ensure first and recurring deliveries are on time, in specification and properly documented.
• Convert trial or pilot supplies into long-term, recurring supply agreements.

Pipeline & Sales Management:

• Oversee the new-business pipeline using CRM tools, ensuring every opportunity has an accurate stage, volume, close date and next action.
• Ensure accurate sales forecasting of new-account volumes and revenue.
• Drive cross-sell and multi-site supply opportunities within newly acquired accounts.
• Manage new accounts through their first 90 days before handover to account management, monitoring order frequency, satisfaction and payment behaviour.

Market Intelligence & Strategy:

• Conduct market analysis and competitor benchmarking on pricing, supply reliability and customer switching to inform strategy and pricing decisions.
• Identify priority industrial sectors and emerging segments for MEA to target.
• Share leads on potential retail station sites and partnership opportunities with management.
• Provide weekly pipeline reports and monthly and quarterly reports on new business performance.

Collaboration & Leadership:

• Work closely with the C&I Sales Market Activation Manager to align acquisition efforts with market activation campaigns and brand positioning.
• Work closely with supply, finance and logistics teams to ensure product availability and seamless delivery for new accounts.
• Contribute to the development of annual sales and business development plans.
• Uphold MEA's anti-bribery, conflict of interest and fair-dealing standards in all client interactions.

Financial Management:

• Prepare and manage the business development budget.
• Monitor profitability and contribution margin of newly acquired accounts.
• Ensure timely collections and credit control on accounts onboarded by the team.

Team Management:

• Recruit, train and mentor the business development team (BD Executives, Account Executives).
• Set individual prospecting and acquisition targets, and conduct weekly pipeline reviews and coaching sessions.
• Implement incentive programs linked to new customer acquisition and new volume.

Performance Metrics

Financial/ Revenue Growth:

• Generate minimum monthly sales volume of 1million litres of gasoil and 500,000 litres of PMS from new accounts acquired by the BD team.

New Customer Acquisition:

• Acquire at least 3 new industrial customers monthly.
• Secure at least 1 anchor industrial account (100,000 litres/month and above) every quarter.

Pipeline Coverage:

• Maintain a qualified pipeline of at least 3 times the monthly volume target, updated weekly in the CRM.

Customer Retention:

• Retain at least 85% of onboarded customers actively buying MEA's products 6 months after first supply.

Sales Process Efficiency- measured by Sales Le