Senior Business Development Manager

AnaVation LLC; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - GBP 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm in Manchester is seeking a Senior Business Development Manager to drive growth across regional retailers. This hybrid role focuses on acquiring mid-market retailers for POS/Retail Finance, emphasizing building relationships and advanced go-to-market strategies. You are expected to close substantial deals while managing a pipeline of opportunities. The position offers flexibility with 2-3 days a week in the Manchester office, promoting a balanced work-life environment.

Benefits

Hybrid working model

Work from abroad for up to 120 days

Qualifications

• Proven ability to build a self-generated pipeline and convert outbound opportunities.
• Experience in selling financial services to mid-market retailers.
• Ability to manage diverse sales cycles effectively.

Responsibilities

• Own acquisition for mid-market verticals in POS/Retail Finance.
• Manage a pipeline of outbound-sourced opportunities.
• Develop go-to-market tactics for targeted verticals.
• Collaborate closely with Strategic BDMs.
• Close high-impact deals and educate merchants.
• Maintain accurate forecasting and reporting.

Skills

Building self-generated pipeline

Selling POS/Retail Finance

Engaging senior decision-makers

Commercially minded

Managing long and short sales cycles

Persistent and outcomes-focused

Job description

Our Story

Hello there. We’re Zopa.

We started our journey back in 2005, building the first ever peer-to-peer lending company. Fast forward to 2020 and we launched Zopa Bank. A bank that listens to what our customers don’t like about finance and does the opposite. We’re redefining what it feels like to work in finance. Our vision for a new era of banking puts people front and centre — we’ve built a business that empowers everyone to aim high, every day, to move finance forward. Find out more about our fantastic offerings at Zopa.com!

We’re incredibly proud of our achievements and none of it would be possible without the amazing team here. It’s not just industry awards we’re winning, we’ve also been named in the top three UK’s Most Loved Workplaces.

If you embrace unconventional challenges, are unafraid to think differently and are driven to make an outsized impact, you’ll thrive here at Zopa, so join us, and make it count. Want to see us in action? Follow us on Instagram @zopalife

We’re looking for a Senior Business Development Manager to drive our next phase of growth across regional and national retailers. This role will be central to our 2026/2027 expansion: owning the mid-market tier, helping open new verticals, and delivering high-impact POS/Retail Finance partnerships. You’ll spend time in the market building relationships, creating opportunities, shaping go-to-market ideas, and identifying new ways to reach merchants who match our ideal customer profile.

The Role

You will own a portfolio of verticals, shaped by your experience and the sectors we open in 2026, and be responsible for acquiring retailers with strong revenue potential and high consumer engagement. These merchants may not yet offer finance or may be underserved by legacy providers, creating a significant opportunity to add value.

While the Strategic BDMs focus on the highest-value national brands, you will own the tier immediately below, including regional chains, smaller national groups, and emerging brands. You’ll work closely with our payments team to unlock cross-sell and shared pipeline opportunities, but POS/Retail Finance is your domain to grow.

This is an outbound-led, proactive business development role for someone who brings market curiosity, sound commercial judgement, and a structured approach to building pipeline.

A day in the life:

• Own mid-market vertical acquisition for POS/Retail Finance.
• Build and manage a pipeline of outbound-sourced opportunities.
• Develop GTM tactics for your verticals: events, marketing proposals, campaigns, prospecting ideas, and market tests.
• Collaborate closely with Strategic BDMs during the first 12 months to develop shared market and product knowledge.
• Work with the payments sales team to identify and execute cross-sell opportunities.
• Close high-impact deals (average £5m+ GMV, growing toward £10m+ in 2026/27).
• Educate merchants on the value of integrated retail finance and support them through the decision process.
• Maintain accurate forecasting, reporting, and a well-managed pipeline.
• Build deep knowledge of your verticals and contribute insights to product and go-to-market planning.

About you:

• Track record of building self-generated pipeline and converting outbound opportunities.
• Experience selling POS/Retail Finance, payments, or financial services into mid-market retailers.
• Comfortable engaging senior commercial and operational decision-makers.
• Commercially minded and curious, with an interest in testing new GTM ideas.
• Able to manage a mix of long and short sales cycles and prioritise effectively.
• Persistent and outcomes-focused, with a track record of delivering against growth targets.

Please note this is a field based role with occasional visits to both our London and Manchester offices.

At Zopa we value flexible ways of working.

We value face-to-face collaboration and a good work-life balance. This hybrid role requires you to come to our Manchester office 2-3 days a week. (WeWork, Dalton Place, 29 John Dalton Street, M2 6WF.)

You’ll also have the option of working from abroad for up to 120 days a year!* But no matter where you are, we’ll make sure you’ve got everything you need to thrive, both in your work and home life, from day one.

*Subject to having the right to work in the country of choice

Diversity Statement

Zopa is proud to offer a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds leads to better products for our customers and a unique company culture for our people. We are made up of nearly 50 nationalities, have a DE&I forum made up of Zopians wanting to make a difference and we are proud of our culture where everyone can bring their full self to work. Our approach to DE&I is reflected in our hiring process so please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.