Business Development Specialist

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Identifies new business opportunities and clients for a company, identifies new products, services and lines of business, and develops marketing and sales strategies to help grow a company’s business. Collects and manages data on sales and business processes, does market research, and stays informed of industry trends and dynamics. Builds customer relationships and partnerships. Reports to a Business Development Manager or Director.

Job Outlook

There were 1741 Business Development Specialist job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 59389 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Sales Representative industry, which includes the Business Development Specialist career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:

Salary

Many new Business Development Specialist jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $60,811.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $59,474.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Business Development Specialist postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $50,862.

Education and Experience

Posted Business Development Specialist jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentageAssociate’s Degree4%Bachelor’s Degree63%Master’s Degree4%Doctoral Degree0%Other29%

Posted Business Development Specialist jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage0 to 2 years60%3 to 5 years34%6 to 8 years4%9+ years3%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Business Development Specialist positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication Skills (55%)
Teamwork / Collaboration (25%)
Research (22%)
Building Effective Relationships (22%)
Time Management (18%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Sales (81%)
Business Development (46%)
Lead Generation (32%)
Sales Development (30%)
Customer Service (30%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Customer Contact (14%)
Appointment Setting (13%)
Social Media (10%)
Product Sales (10%)
Scheduling (8%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Sales Training (6%)
Sales Cycle (6%)
Articulating Value Propositions (6%)
Sales Strategy (5%)
Upselling Products and Services (5%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Business Development Specialist skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Business Development Representative
Sales Representative
Sales Development Representative
Business Development

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Business Development Specialist jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Altitude Development Group (994)
Marriott International Incorporated (817)
Commscope (596)
Lincare (481)
Best Version Media (443)

North Carolina

Altitude Development Group (47)
Charter Communications (21)
AT&T (21)
Commscope (20)
Lincare (17)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!