Business Development Manager, Food & Beverage Ingredients

UnSugar is a next-generation, plant-based sugar-reduction ingredient, built on sweet proteins, for food, beverages and nutraceuticals. Brands use it to take 60 to 80% of the sugar out of a product and keep the taste. This is a new-business role with a hunter mandate: you call on food and beverage manufacturers across the Central and Eastern US, build and own your pipeline, and commercialize UnSugar end to end. You get the full backing of our applications team, samples, collateral and the founders, and you are measured on one thing: revenue.

What you’ll do

• Identify, develop and sign new business with food and beverage manufacturers in your territory, with a focus on beverage and better-for-you brands.
• Bring an established network of relationships and activate it for UnSugar in your first 90 days.
• Prospect continuously: targeted outreach, trade shows (IFT, SupplySide, regional events) and referrals to grow your account base.
• Own each opportunity end to end: discovery, sample kit, bench trial, pricing and supply agreement.
• Partner with our applications team to translate customer formulation needs into successful trials and specifications.
• Position UnSugar as the next generation of sweetness, helping customers reduce sugar, meet evolving label expectations and deliver great taste.
• Run fast, iterative commercial cycles and keep an accurate pipeline and forecast in the CRM.

What success looks like

What you bring

• 5+ years selling ingredients to food and beverage companies
• An established network of R&D, procurement and brand contacts at beverage and better-for-you companies that you can activate immediately
• A record of opening new accounts and closing deals yourself, not just managing accounts someone handed you
• Experience selling sweeteners, flavors or functional ingredients
• Self-motivated and hands-on: you run your own prospecting, calls, campaigns and sample follow-up

Even better

• You have sold a sugar-reduction platform, stevia, monk fruit or other sweeteners
• Background at an ingredient manufacturer, distributor or flavor house (for example Layn, PureCircle, SweeGen, Tate & Lyle, ADM, Cargill, Givaudan, Batory Foods or IMCD)
• You have sold into mid-sized and emerging beverage brands

Why join

• Be one of the key people who builds the US customer base for a sweetener category that is only just getting started.
• A direct line from your work to revenue, with incentives that reflect it.
• High ownership, high visibility, and the founders one message away.
• Room to grow into a regional or national commercial leadership role as the team expands.

What this role is not

This is not a global key-accounts job, not strategy or corporate work, and not a management role yet, though it can become one. It is a selling job for someone who likes to build from the ground up.

Compensation, location & travel

Competitive base salary plus performance-linked incentives tied to revenue growth and market development.

Remote, anywhere in US Central or Eastern time zones. Regular travel to customers and trade shows. Being near a major food and beverage hub (New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Dallas or Atlanta) is a plus. You must be authorized to work in the United States.

How we hire

Apply with your LinkedIn profile or resume. A person reads every application. If we see a fit, expect three to four rounds: a first call with the founders, a conversation about your network, a working session on an account you opened and closed yourself, and a final discussion on targets and terms. We move quickly and aim to decide within four weeks of the first call.

UnSugar is an equal opportunity employer. We make hiring decisions on experience and ability, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic.