Business Development Associate (Pet Care)

We are hiring an Associate Business Development to help build new growth opportunities in pet care. This hybrid role spans opportunity discovery and feasibility through to hands-on, pre-launch execution. You will identify opportunities, validate them with data and field work, develop the business case, and drive execution readiness before handing over to commercial teams.

Key Responsibilities

Opportunity Discovery

o Lead market scans across pet treats/food: trends, claims, formats, price tiers, and channels (specialty, mass, e-commerce).

o Identify and assess partners (OEM/co-manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, packaging vendors).

Feasibility & Business Case

o Build bottom-up financial models (unit economics, COGS, retailer margins, trade spend, price-pack architecture, ROI/breakeven).

o Conduct competitive benchmarking and market sizing (TAM/SAM/SOM), velocity assumptions, and retailer requirements.

o Coordinate technical feasibility with R&D/Nutrition, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and QA.

Fieldwork & Validation

o Plan and synthesize customer insight work (concept tests, interviews, panels) into clear go/no-go criteria.

o Coordinate pilot or small-batch runs with co-manufacturers for cost, quality, and lead-time validation.

Execution Readiness (Pre-Launch)

o Build stage-gate plans and risk registers; run cross-functional stand-ups.

o Coordinate packaging briefs, claims substantiation, compliance, and artwork timelines.

o Prepare sell-in materials (value proposition, margin structures, price ladders), manage samples, and maintain launch readiness checklists.

o Orchestrate structured handover to Marketing/Sales with complete documentation (specs, forecasts, P&L, risks, SOPs).

Pipeline Development

o Develop shortlists for future opportunities with preliminary business cases.

o Track emerging trends (functional nutrition, natural/sustainable, dental/health, life-stage) and category whitespace.

Qualifications

Experience: 35 years in business development, product innovation, corporate strategy, or product operations in CPG or pet care. Experience with startups or co-man/OEM partners is a plus.

Hybrid Skill Set:

o Data & Financials: Advanced Excel/Sheets modeling; unit economics, PPA, margin waterfalls, ROI.

o Hands-On Execution: Comfortable coordinating trials, samples, site visits, and on-the-ground problem solving.

Category Knowledge: Understanding of pet food/treat dynamics, regulatory basics, retailer expectations, and e-commerce vs. brick-and-mortar nuances.

Project Leadership: Strong cross-functional coordination, timeline management, and decision-making under ambiguity.

Communication: Clear written and verbal communication; strong presentation and stakeholder alignment skills.