Senior Business Development — Food & Beverage Applications

Spore.Bio • New York, NY

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

Spore.Bio is seeking a Senior Business Development professional to establish and grow its commercial presence within the US food and beverage manufacturing sector. This role is crucial for expanding the company's reach in the F&B market. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of the F&B Quality Control (QC) world, including the pressures faced by food safety teams regarding regulatory compliance, outbreak risks, shelf-life testing, and supplier qualification. This is a senior, quota-carrying position reporting directly to the CEO, responsible for driving commercial growth, building pipeline, closing deals, and positioning Spore.Bio as a key partner in food safety and QC.

Requirements

• 8–10+ years of B2B sales experience in food safety technology, food & beverage QC instrumentation, laboratory testing equipment, or related industries.
• Demonstrated track record selling into F&B manufacturing, ingredient supply, or co-packing environments - you know how food companies buy and who makes the decisions.
• Solid understanding of food safety and regulatory frameworks and how they drive purchasing decisions for testing and QC technology.
• Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles involving food safety, QC, operations, procurement, and executive teams.
• Comfortable engaging both technical stakeholders (food scientists, QC microbiologists, lab managers) and business decision-makers (VP Operations, VP Quality, C-suite).
• A proven hunter mentality: you've built pipeline in new markets, opened accounts cold, and know how to earn trust in a conservative, risk-averse industry.
• Strong consultative selling skills - you lead with the customer's food safety challenge, not a product pitch.
• Proficiency with CRM; disciplined about pipeline hygiene and forecasting.
• Based in or willing to relocate to New York City; comfortable with 35–45% US travel.

Nice To Haves

• Background selling rapid microbiology, pathogen detection, environmental monitoring, or ATP/hygiene testing solutions.
• Experience selling to large CPG companies (food manufacturers with complex, multi-site QC programs).
• Existing relationships at food safety and QC teams at major F&B accounts.
• Familiarity with contract lab or third-party testing business models and how they influence manufacturer purchasing.
• Experience as a founding or first commercial hire at an early-stage food tech or food safety company.

Responsibilities

• Own the full F&B sales cycle from prospecting through close, including pilot agreements, validation coordination, and commercial contracts.
• Build and develop pipeline across food manufacturers, beverage companies, ingredient suppliers, co-packers, and food safety contract labs across the US.
• Engage and build relationships with QC Directors, Food Safety Managers, Regulatory Affairs leads, VP Operations, and procurement teams at target accounts.
• Help customers understand how Spore.Bio fits into their workflows and compliance.
• Deliver technically credible demos and proposals tailored to F&B QC environments - from high-throughput production facilities to specialized ingredient labs.
• Lead pricing, negotiation, and contracting discussions.
• Develop relationships with food safety distributors, testing equipment vendors, and contract lab networks serving the F&B industry.
• Represent Spore.Bio at food and beverage industry events (e.g. IAFP Annual Meeting).
• Feed market intelligence - customer objections, competitive dynamics, regulatory trends - back to product and R&D teams.
• Maintain rigorous CRM hygiene, pipeline forecasting, and reporting.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance (employer-sponsored)
• Flexible remote/hybrid setup - you manage your territory
• Travel budget for customer visits, conferences, and roadshows
• Quarterly in-person gatherings with the global team, including visits to our Paris HQ
• Meaningful early-employee equity grant with standard 4-year vest / 1-year cliff
• Base Salary: $130,000 – $160,000
• On-Target Earnings (OTE): $200,000 – $250,000 (base + uncapped commission)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed