As a business development executive, effectively showcasing your ability to drive revenue growth and build strategic relationships can often be a resume challenge. Our comprehensive guide is designed to help you articulate these complex achievements with clarity, ensuring your resume stands out to potential employers.
- Find different business development executive resume examples to serve as inspiration to your professional presentation.
- How to use the summary or objective to highlight your career achievements.
- How to create the experience section to tell your story.
- Must have certificates and what to include in the education section of your resume.
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The importance of format and layout in your business development executive resume
Consider you're an HR professional at company X, evaluating two business development executive candidate resumes. John Smith presents a simple, traditional, and easy-to-read resume. Edward Price, however, uses a non-conventional, often illegible format. Whose resume would you spend more time on to understand their experience? This scenario underscores the importance of your business development executive resume’s design. It should be simply formatted and clearly communicate why you are the ideal candidate for the role.
Achieve this balance by:
- Listing your experience, beginning with the most recent and relevant, in reverse chronological order;
- Ensuring your header contains essential information, such as contact details, a headline, and a portfolio link. Include a professional photo in the business development executive resume header if you have one;
- Including only the most important and relevant resume sections to showcase your expertise and stand out from other candidates;
- Editing your business development executive resume to be no longer than two pages if you have extensive relevant experience. Use your limited resume space judiciously.
Also, remember that your business development executive resume might initially be scanned by an Applicant Tracker System (ATS).
When it comes to ATS:
- Opt for simple and legible fonts like Raleway, Rubik, Lato, etc., making your experience easy for the ATS to scan;
- Use serif and sans-serif fonts, both of which are ATS-friendly;
- Avoid overused options like Arial and Times New Roman, which, while suitable, may lack personality.
Contrary to a common myth, our recent study shows that the ATS can effectively process both one-column and two-column resumes. Learn more about this in the ATS myths guide.
Finally, when submitting your business development executive resume, always export it as a PDF to ensure all information remains intact, making the document easier to print, read, and scan.
Keep in mind market-specific formats – for example, a Canadian resume might follow a different structure.
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PRO TIP
If the certificate you've obtained is especially vital for the industry or company, include it as part of your name within the resume headline.
Business development executive resume sections to answer recruiters' checklists:
- Header to help recruiters quickly allocate your contact details and have a glimpse over your most recent portfolio of work
- Summary or objective to provide an overview of your career highlights, dreams, and goals
- Experience to align with job requirements and showcase your measurable impact and accomplishments
- Skills section/-s to pinpoint your full breadth of expertise and talents as a candidate for the business development executive role
- Education and certifications sections to potentially fill in any gaps in your experience and show your commitment to the industry
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Proven track record of identifying and securing new business opportunities leading to revenue growth.
- Strong relationship-building skills evidencing the ability to establish and maintain partnerships with key stakeholders and clients.
- Demonstrated experience in developing and executing strategic plans to reach sales targets and expand the customer base.
- Expertise in conducting market analysis to identify industry trends and client needs for properly positioning the business offerings.
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with a knack for persuasively presenting products or services to executive decision-makers.
Adding your relevant experience to your business development executive resume
If you're looking for a way to show recruiters that your expertise is credible, look no further than the resume experience section.
Your business development executive resume experience can be best curated in a structured, bulleted list detailing the particulars of your career:
- Always integrate metrics of success - what did you actually achieve in the role?
- Scan the business development executive advert for your dream role in search of keywords in the job requirements - feature those all through your past/current experience;
- Dedicate a bullet (or two) to spotlight your technical capabilities and how you're able to use the particular software/technology in your day-to-day roles;
- Write simple by including your responsibility, a job advert keyword or skill, and a tangible outcome of your success;
- Use the experience section to also define the unique value of working with you in the form of soft skills, relevant feedback, and the company culture you best thrive in.
Industry leaders always ensure that their resume experience section offers an enticing glimpse at their expertise, while telling a career narrative. Explore these sample business development executive resumes on how to best create your resume experience section.
- Identified and captured new business opportunities in the pharmaceuticals sector, increasing client base by 35% over two years.
- Led cross-functional teams on project 'AlphaMax', which resulted in a 24% revenue increase for our biotech product line through strategic partnerships.
- Negotiated and closed deals with five Fortune 500 companies, introducing advanced analytics platforms that tailored business solutions and enhanced client satisfaction.
- Orchestrated the expansion into three new international markets, boosting company's global presence and increasing market share by 18%.
- Implemented a robust CRM system that improved lead generation processes by 40% and enhanced sales team productivity.
- Managed a portfolio of key accounts worth over $50M, consistently achieving top-ranked sales performance in the company.
- Spearheaded the entry into a new service line that contributed to a 22% increase in overall service revenues within the first year of launch.
- Designed and executed successful strategic business initiatives that resulted in a 25% growth in the company's major account portfolio.
- Managed a successful turnaround strategy for underperforming product categories, achieving a profit margin increase of 15% within 12 months.
- Instrumental in landing a landmark contract worth $30M with a key player in the mobile computing space, contributing directly to the company's 20% YOY growth.
- Executed market analysis to identify emerging technology trends, leading to the development of new product offerings that captured a 10% share of the niche market within a year.
- Developed and maintained strategic partnerships with software vendors, enhancing product integration and solutions package for end users.
- Executed a complete overhaul of sales strategy, focusing on high-growth industries which led to an increase in qualified leads by 50%.
- Established a new benchmark for project delivery timelines, reducing average project rollout from 6 to 4 months, positively impacting client satisfaction rates.
- Leveraged expertise in market analysis to forecast trends, guiding the executive team in making data-driven decisions for long-term business planning.
- Collaborated with marketing team to design and execute a lead generation campaign that exceeded target KPIs by 120%, directly contributing to the sales pipeline.
- Played a key role in developing client proposals that secured three high-value contracts, resulting in a revenue increase of $15M over two fiscal years.
- Supported senior sales executives by conducting competitive analysis reports that led to more informed and strategic business decisions.
- Pioneered a digital transformation initiative that expanded the company's online sales channels, realizing a revenue uptick of 28% from e-commerce platforms.
- Crafted and implemented digital marketing strategies that enhanced brand visibility and improved organic search results by 70%.
- Collaborated with IT to integrate AI-powered analytics tools into the sales process, enabling a more personalized customer journey and driving a customer retention rate of 85%.
- Engaged and negotiated strategic alliances with suppliers to diversify product lines, which added an estimated $5M in additional yearly revenue.
- Implemented a client referral program that saw a 30% increase in referred business, strengthening brand loyalty and community engagement.
- Optimized sales funnel management, which directly decreased customer acquisition costs by 20% while maintaining conversion rates.
The following content includes information from "O*NET OnLine" by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. The data represents the top responsibilities present on the task lists for business development executive professionals.
Top Responsibilities for Business Development Executive:
- Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.
- Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.
- Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.
- Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.
- Determine price schedules and discount rates.
- Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures.
- Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.
- Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs.
- Direct, coordinate, and review sales and service accounting and record-keeping, as well as receiving and shipping.
- Direct clerical staff to keep records of export correspondence, bid requests, and credit collections, and to maintain current information on tariffs, licenses, and restrictions.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Specify the percentage increase in sales revenue you achieved through new partnerships or initiatives.
- Quantify the number of new strategic partnerships you established and their financial impact on the business.
- Detail the exact figures in cost savings generated through process improvements or negotiations.
- State the growth in market share by providing concrete percentage increases within specific timeframes.
- Highlight the number of new market entries you led and the subsequent revenue contributions.
- Document the scale of projects outsourced by detailing the worth of contracts secured.
- Provide the number of leads generated through marketing campaigns and the conversion rate improvements.
- Indicate the size of client portfolios managed and the resulting up-sell or cross-sell numbers.
Action verbs for your business development executive resume
What to do if you don't have any experience
It's quite often that candidates without relevant work experience apply for a more entry-level role - and they end up getting hired.
Candidate resumes without experience have these four elements in common:
- Instead of listing their experience in reverse-chronological format (starting with the latest), they've selected a functional-skill-based format. In that way, business development executive resumes become more focused on strengths and skills
- Transferrable skills - or ones obtained thanks to work and life experience - have become the core of the resume
- Within the objective, you'd find career achievements, the reason behind the application, and the unique value the candidate brings about to the specific role
- Candidate skills are selected to cover basic requirements, but also show any niche expertise.
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PRO TIP
If you happen to have some basic certificates, don't invest too much of your business development executive resume real estate in them. Instead, list them within the skills section or as part of your relevant experience. This way you'd ensure you meet all job requirements while dedicating your certificates to only the most in-demand certification across the industry.
The heart and soul of your business development executive resume: hard skills and soft skills
If you read between the lines of the business development executive role you're applying for, you'll discover that all requirements are linked with candidates' hard skills and soft skills.
What do those skills have to do with your application?
Hard or technical skills are the ones that hint at your aptitude with particular technologies. They are easy to quantify via your professional experience or various certifications.
Meanwhile, your soft skills are more difficult to assess as they are personality traits, you've gained thanks to working in different environments/teams/organizations.
Your business development executive resume skills section is the perfect opportunity to shine a light on both types of skills by:
- Dedicating a technical skills section to list up to six technologies you're apt at.
- Focusing a strengths section on your achievements, thanks to using particular people skills or technologies.
- Including a healthy balance of hard and soft skills in the skills section to answer key job requirements.
- Creating a language skills section with your proficiency level - to hint at an abundance of soft skills you've obtained, thanks to your dedication to learning a particular language.
Within the next section of this guide, stay tuned for some of the most trending hard skills and soft skills across the industry.
Top skills for your business development executive resume:
CRM Software (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot)
Data Analysis Tools (e.g., Excel, Tableau)
Market Research Tools
Email Marketing Software (e.g., Mailchimp)
Proposal Management Software
Social Media Management Tools
Project Management Software (e.g., Trello, Asana)
Lead Generation Tools
Sales Automation Tools
Presentation Software (e.g., PowerPoint, Google Slides)
Communication
Negotiation
Networking
Problem Solving
Time Management
Adaptability
Team Collaboration
Critical Thinking
Persuasion
Emotional Intelligence
Next, you will find information on the top technologies for business development executive professonals from "O*NET OnLine" by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Top technologies for Business Development Executive’s resume:
- Oracle Eloqua
- Salesforce software
- Airtable
- Yardi software
- Microsoft Dynamics
- Oracle PeopleSoft
PRO TIP
If you happen to have some basic certificates, don't invest too much of your business development executive resume real estate in them. Instead, list them within the skills section or as part of your relevant experience. This way you'd ensure you meet all job requirements while dedicating your certificates to only the most in-demand certification across the industry.
Listing your education and certifications on your business development executive resume
Don't underestimate the importance of your resume education section . As it may hint at various skills (and experience) that are relevant to the job. When writing your education section:
- Include only higher education degrees with information about the institution and start/end dates
- If you're in the process of obtaining your degree, include your expected graduation date
- Consider leaving off degrees that aren't relevant to the job or industry
- Write a description of your education if it presents you with an opportunity to further showcase your achievements in a more research-focused environment
When describing your certifications on your resume, always consider their relevancy to the role. Use the same format to describe them as you would for your education. If you're wondering what the best certificates out there are for business development executive roles, check out the list below.
The top 5 certifications for your business development executive resume:
- Project Management Professional (PMP) - Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Certified Business Development Professional (CBDE) - Business Development Institute International (BDII)
- Certified Sales Professional (CSP) - National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP)
- Chartered Business Development Professional (CBDP) - Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
- Certified International Trade Professional (CITP) - Forum for International Trade Training (FITT)
The content below includes information from "O*NET OnLine" by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. The data represents the top associations for business development executive professionals.
Top US associations for a Business Development Executive professional
- SMEI
- Association for Talent Development
- Association of Sales and Marketing Companies
- Gift Sales Manager Association
- News Media Alliance
PRO TIP
If you happen to have plenty of certificates, select the ones that are most applicable and sought-after across the industry. Organize them by relevance to the role you're applying for.
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Writing the business development executive resume summary or objective: achievements, keywords, dreams, and more
Deciding on whether to include a resume summary or resume objective should entirely depend on your career situation.
If you have:
- Plenty of relevant achievements you'd like to bring recruiters' focus to, make use of the resume summary. Ensure each of your achievements is quantified with concrete proof (e.g. % of cases solved).
- Less applicable experience, utilize the resume objective. Within the objective include a few noteworthy, past successes, followed up by your professional dreams.
As a bonus, you could define in either your business development executive resume summary or objective what makes you the perfect candidate for the role.
Think about your unique hard and soft skills that would make your expertise even more important to the job.
These business development executive professionals have completely covered the formula for the ideal resume introduction:
Resume summaries for a business development executive job
- Dynamic business development executive with a robust 10-year track record of driving revenue growth in the competitive SaaS sector through strategic partnerships and market penetration. Expert in leveraging data analytics to identify profitable opportunities and skilled in deploying CRM solutions. Spearheaded a cross-border expansion project that resulted in a 60% increase in market share.
- Strategist and leader with 8 years of expertise in the FMCG sector. Adept at crafting and executing business expansion plans, managing key account relationships, and delivering multimillion-dollar revenue increases. Instrumental in launching a new product line that captured a 25% market share within the first year of introduction.
- Accomplished Finance Manager transitioning into Business Development, offering a comprehensive 15-year background in portfolio management and capital investment strategies. Eager to apply financial acumen to drive business growth objectives and excel in a new marketplace. Notable achievement includes a 200% ROI on strategic foreign investments.
- Seasoned Professional in Healthcare Administration aiming to leverage a 12-year tenure into a business development trajectory. Exceptional at relationship building, operational management, and fostering collaborative team environments. Successfully implemented cost-reduction initiatives saving the organization over $1 million annually.
- Eager to embark on a career in Business Development with a specialty in fostering strategic partnerships and nurturing client relationships. With a strong foundation in economics and a passion for market research, I aim to contribute fresh perspectives and enthusiasm to a forward-thinking team while developing practical skills in deal negotiation and business growth strategy.
- Dedicated entry-level candidate with a strong academic background in global commerce and a keen interest in market dynamics seeking to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical setting. Committed to learning the ropes of business development, discovering opportunities for innovation, and contributing to successful initiatives that influence organizational expansion and client satisfaction.
Average salary info by state in the US for business development executive professionals
Local salary info for Business Development Executive.” Source: My Next Move, National Center for O*NET Development. Accessed 10/15/2024
| State | Average Salary (in USD) |
|---|---|
| US National Average | $135,160 |
| California (CA) | $131,740 |
| Texas (TX) | $127,560 |
| Florida (FL) | $128,810 |
| New York (NY) | $214,010 |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | $130,600 |
| Illinois (IL) | $135,680 |
| Ohio (OH) | $134,440 |
| Georgia (GA) | $141,720 |
| North Carolina (NC) | $125,270 |
| Michigan (MI) | $141,620 |
Bonus sections for your business development executive resume
Looking to show more personality on your business development executive resume? Then consider including a couple of extra sections.
They'd benefit your application by highlighting your most prominent:
Key takeaways
- Impactful business development executive resumes have an easy-to-read format that tells your career narrative with highlights;
- Select a resume summary or objective, depending on what sort of impression you'd like to leave and if your accomplishments are relevant to the job;
- If you don't happen to have much industry expertise, curate additional gigs you've had, like contracts and internships, to answer how your experience aligns with the business development executive job;
- Be specific about the hard and soft skills you list on your resume to define your niche expertise and outcomes of using those particular skills;
- Always tailor your resume for each business development executive application to ensure you meet all job requirements.
