Position: Senior Business Development Manager
Industry: Marketing, PR, Advertising & Communications
Location: Mumbai
Experience: 8+ years
Employment Type: Full-time
Reporting To: Founder & Creative Director
Team: Lead Generator, Business Development Executive & Brand Manager
About Sorta Famous
Sorta Famous is a PR and communications agency helping brands, businesses and personalities be seen, heard and remembered for the right reasons.
We work across public relations, brand positioning, media strategy, reputation management, crisis communications, social media and storytelling. Our approach combines strategic thinking, strong narratives and consistent execution to build meaningful visibility and long-term brand reputation.
About the Role
We are looking for an experienced Senior Business Development Manager to lead new business and revenue growth at Sorta Famous.
This is a senior, revenue-focused role for someone who has worked in the marketing, advertising, PR, digital, creative or integrated agency ecosystem and understands how to sell agency services.
The successful candidate will own the complete new-business cycle, from building and qualifying the pipeline to leading pitches, negotiating commercials and closing retainer and project-based mandates.
The role will also lead a team consisting of a Lead Generator, Business Development Executive and Brand Manager .
We are looking for someone who can lead the function while remaining hands-on with high-value prospects, pitches, negotiations and closures.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and deliver against monthly and quarterly new-business and revenue targets.
- Build and manage a strong, consistent pipeline of qualified prospects.
- Develop and execute the agency's business development and client acquisition strategy.
- Identify and build relationships with founders, CXOs, CMOs, marketing heads, brand heads and communications leaders.
- Personally develop high-value prospects and strategic accounts.
- Lead discovery meetings to understand business objectives, marketing requirements, budgets and decision-making processes.
- Lead pitches, commercial discussions, negotiations and closures.
- Convert opportunities into long-term retainers and project-based mandates.
- Develop customised proposals, scopes and commercial recommendations in collaboration with the Founder and internal teams.
- Identify cross-functional opportunities across PR, social media, communications, brand collaborations and other agency services.
- Manage the complete sales cycle from prospecting and qualification to proposal, negotiation, closure and handover.
- Build referral networks, partnerships and other channels for generating new business.
- Represent Sorta Famous at relevant industry events, networking forums and business meetings.
Team Leadership
- Lead and manage the Lead Generator, Business Development Executive and Brand Manager.
- Set clear weekly and monthly targets across prospecting, meetings, proposals, pipeline and closures.
- Conduct regular pipeline and performance reviews.
- Guide the team on lead qualification, outreach, discovery calls, follow-ups, pitching, objection handling and closing.
- Ensure the Lead Generator is building a relevant database of brands and decision-makers rather than focusing only on lead volume.
- Ensure the BD Executive consistently progresses qualified opportunities through the funnel.
- Work with the Brand Manager on prospect research, proposals, pitch strategy and presentations.
- Maintain accountability across the team for both activity and commercial outcomes.
- Identify performance gaps and take corrective action where required.
Pipeline & Revenue Management
- Maintain complete visibility across leads, qualified opportunities, meetings, proposals, negotiations and expected closures.
- Track pipeline value, conversion rates, average deal value and revenue forecasts.
- Ensure every active opportunity has a defined next action and follow-up.
- Identify bottlenecks in the sales funnel and improve conversion.
- Maintain accurate and updated CRM/BD trackers.
- Provide structured weekly business development and revenue reports to the Founder.
- Analyse lost opportunities and identify patterns that can improve future conversion.
What We Are Looking For
- 8+ years of experience in Business Development, Sales, Growth or Client Acquisition.
- Relevant experience within a marketing, advertising, digital, creative, PR, communications, influencer marketing or integrated agency is mandatory.
- Candidates without relevant agency experience will not be considered.
- Proven track record of winning new agency business and achieving revenue targets .
- Demonstrable experience personally handling pitches, negotiations and closures.
- Strong understanding of the agency sales cycle, including prospecting, qualification, discovery, proposal development, pitching, pricing, negotiation and closure.
- Experience selling retainer-based and project-based agency services .
- Experience leading or managing a Business Development, Sales or Growth team.
- Strong network across brands, founders, CXOs, CMOs, marketing leaders and other relevant decision-makers is highly desirable.
- Strong commercial understanding and confidence discussing budgets, retainers, scopes and contracts.
- Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to sell strategic and creative services based on business requirements rather than simply selling predefined packages.
- Strong pipeline management, forecasting and reporting discipline.
- Ability to operate independently and take ownership of both individual and team revenue targets.
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications or a related field.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role means creating a consistent and predictable new-business pipeline , converting the right prospects into clients, meeting revenue targets and building a high-performing Business Development function.
The Senior Business Development Manager will be expected to lead from the front: opening doors, building senior-level relationships, leading pitches, negotiating commercials and closing business , while ensuring the wider team consistently performs against its targets.
Please Note
- This role specifically requires prior experience in the marketing/advertising/PR/communications agency ecosystem . Candidates whose experience is primarily in unrelated B2B sales sectors without relevant agency exposure may not be suitable for this position.