Business Development Manager
Business
Builds the relationships and pursuit strategy behind a contractor's biggest wins, the senior counterpart to Construction Sales focused on major, long-cycle pursuits rather than direct selling.
What is a Business Development Manager?
A Business Development Manager builds and maintains the relationships that win a contractor major work, developers, owners, architects, and repeat clients, and leads the strategy behind pursuing large projects long before a bid is ever due. It overlaps with Construction Sales, but where sales is often about closing individual deals, business development is usually a longer game: staying visible with the right people for years so that when a major project comes up, the firm gets invited to pursue it at all.
What they do
- Build and maintain relationships with developers, owners, architects, and repeat clients
- Identify and track upcoming project opportunities well before they go out to bid
- Lead go/no-go decisions on which pursuits are worth the firm's time and resources
- Develop proposal strategy and messaging for major pursuits, working with marketing and estimating
- Represent the company at industry events, associations, and client meetings
- Track win/loss data and refine pursuit strategy over time
A typical day
- 8:30 AMReview the pipeline of upcoming project opportunities and update pursuit priorities
- 10:00 AMMeet with a developer client to discuss an upcoming project still in early planning
- 12:00 PMHave lunch with a developer the firm has cultivated for years, ahead of a major project still a year or two from breaking ground
- 2:00 PMLead a go/no-go meeting on whether to pursue a major upcoming project
- 3:30 PMWork with the marketing team on proposal strategy for a pursuit due next month
Skills
Software
Pay expectations
Pay by experience, nationally
as of May 2025
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Sales Managers (SOC 11-2022), national data — the senior, strategic counterpart to Construction Sales is classified under this managerial sales occupation rather than a direct sales-rep code, matching this career's focus on pursuit strategy and go/no-go decisions over individual deal-closing
Reviewed May 2025. Pay reflects the national wage distribution for this occupation, not a promise for any one job: entry level is the lower part of that range, 5 years in sits around the national median, and 10 years in is the upper part, since pay isn't actually tracked by years on the job. Real pay varies a lot by state, metro area, union status, and employer — scale these up or down for your market. These figures are base pay only: overtime, shift differentials, and per-project bonuses are standard across most construction trades and routinely push real earnings above what's shown here.
Education
- Required:
- High school diploma or equivalent, plus significant industry relationship-building experience; no license is legally required for this role
- Preferred:
- Bachelor's degree in construction management, business, marketing, or a related field
- Helpful:
- The Society for Marketing Professional Services' Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) credential, which requires four or more years of relevant marketing/business development experience (with a bachelor's degree) and passing a 150-question exam
- Not necessary:
- A construction-specific degree; many business development managers come from sales, marketing, or account management backgrounds in other industries
Career progression
- 1.Business Development Coordinator
- 2.Business Development Manager
- 3.Director of Business Development
- 4.Vice President of Business Development or Chief Growth Officer