Business Development Manager

Nuru is at an inflection point. We have validated product-market fit, a growing institutional pipeline, and proven model accuracy across multiple countries. Commercial activity to date has been founder-led. This is Nuru’s first dedicated commercial hire. The mandate is to take a validated product with demonstrated results and build a repeatable revenue engine around it — converting the existing institutional pipeline, systematically mapping the addressable market of lenders and insurers across our four countries, and establishing the qualification discipline, CRM foundation, and sales process the next stage of growth will be built on. This person will be responsible for transforming Nuru’s commercial function from a founder-led, relationship-driven effort into a structured, forecastable, and scalable sales operation. You will not be handed a playbook. You will write it.

Responsibilities

Systematically map the addressable market of financial institutions across Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Somalia.; Build and maintain a qualified pipeline through structured outbound.; Prioritise ruthlessly.; Own the full sales cycle from origination through discovery, demonstration, technical validation, pilot design, commercial negotiation and close.; Deliver credible product demonstrations to sophisticated institutional buyers.; Navigate complex, multi-stakeholder decision-making processes.; Structure and negotiate pilots and commercial agreements that convert into recurring revenue.; Own and operate Nuru’s CRM as a working system.; Apply a consistent qualification framework across all opportunities.; Produce clear commercial reporting.; Build the assets the function will run on.; Act as the company’s ear in the market.; Represent Nuru’s methodology and results accurately to institutional partners.; Represent Nuru at industry events, partner forums and investor-facing engagements alongside the CEO.

Requirements

5+ years of B2B business development or enterprise sales experience, with a demonstrated track record of carrying and hitting a number.; Experience selling to financial services clients — banks, MFIs, insurers, or fintechs.; Proven experience demonstrating a product to clients and leading technical or solution-led sales conversations with credibility.; Demonstrated experience in market mapping and territory construction — building a target universe from first principles rather than working an inherited list.; Track record managing complex sales cycles and complex decision-making processes: long timelines, multiple stakeholders, procurement, phased commitments.; Fluent, disciplined use of a CRM as an operating tool, not an administrative afterthought.; Entrepreneurial, mature, and proactive.; Strong upward management.; Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to hold a technical conversation and a commercial one in the same meeting.

Nice to have

Working knowledge of the MEDDIC qualification framework (or equivalent — MEDDPICC, Command of the Message) and a habit of applying it rigorously.; Exposure to agriculture, agri-data, geospatial or climate risk.; Experience in early-stage or scale-up environments where you built the systems rather than inherited them.; Familiarity with credit risk, insurance, or financial product design in agricultural or development contexts.; Existing network across East, Southern, or West African financial services.; Willingness to travel across our four markets.

Benefits

You are the first commercial hire into a fast-growing business with a validated product.; Direct access to the founder.; A clear growth pathway.; Regional scope over time.; A genuinely engaged advisory board.; External validation recognised as one of the 30 most promising African startups, with 25,000 farmers served through our platform to date.