Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager – Manchester

Field based 4-5 days a week

About the opportunity

Manchester is one of the UK's most exciting dining scenes, and First Table is looking for a driven, food-loving BDM to help grow its presence across both cities. You'll spend your time meeting restaurant owners and hospitality leaders, opening doors and winning new business. Backed by an established brand and a collaborative team across the UK, Australia and NZ, you'll have freedom to own your territory with strong support behind you.

About First Table

Our vision is to be the first place diners go to book a table. Established in Queenstown, New Zealand over a decade ago, we're a dining discovery platform operating across NZ, Australia and the UK, connecting diners to restaurants through clever tech — helping venues fill early tables and giving diners a reason to try somewhere new. Our values: Grow Together, Win-Win-Win, and Own It.

About the role

You'll grow First Table's restaurant network across Manchester and Liverpool, approaching prospective partners, understanding their needs, and communicating how First Table can support their business. Your primary focus is winning new restaurant partners, owning opportunities from first conversation through to onboarding, before passing them over to our partner success team.

This is a field based role, spending 4-5 days a week speaking to partners in person.

You'll work autonomously, meeting restaurant owners and operators in person, and use market insight, data and local knowledge to manage a healthy pipeline, all while backed by an experienced team, clear systems, and regular coaching.

What you'll be doing

• Sign up new restaurants within your assigned territory
• Track them in the CRM
• Build relationships with key decision-makers and influencers
• Research prospects to assess sales value and profitability
• Win new business against agreed targets, running a call cycle to maintain a healthy pipeline
• Track market trends and competitors to spot new opportunities
• Attend trade shows and industry events relevant to your region as needed
• Respond to and close warm incoming enquiries
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for a seamless partner experience

What you'll bring

• Experience in business development, sales, field sales — ideally hospitality, food tech or SaaS
• A track record of meeting or exceeding targets
• Confidence building rapport quickly and turning opportunities into long-term partnerships
• Hospitality industry familiarity is a big plus — existing contacts will push you to the top of the queue
• No need for exact prior experience — just the spark to get people excited and the follow-through to make it happen
• Self-starter with a commercial mindset, comfortable working independently
• Tech-savvy, confident with CRMs, video conferencing and sales platform
• Appetite to use AI to drive efficiency and innovate

Why you'll love it here

• Full-time with flexible hours and autonomy over your schedule
• Remote-first but well-supported with regular coaching
• Competitive OTE (base + commission) plus travel allowance, laptop and phone Ownership of your patch with tools and team support to grow it
• Free First Table bookings
• Team recognition and referral incentives
• A purpose-led, award-winning brand

How to apply

Submit your CV and a brief cover letter via the Apply Now link, telling us what excites you about the role. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so don't wait to apply.

Note: applicants must be based in Manchester, this role will be field based, 4-5 days out in the field.