Business Development Manager – Specialty Coffee

This is a performance-driven business development role with significant commission opportunities tied directly to new business generation. Commission earnings are uncapped once OTE (On Target Earnings) are achieved.

If you love the hunt, know how to open doors, and want to sell a product with a real story behind it, this is an opportunity to build meaningful customer relationships and make a difference in the market.

You must have prior success generating new B2B business, building relationships from scratch, and converting prospects into paying customers in a competitive market. You are comfortable making cold calls, sending outreach emails, asking for referrals, working trade events, and creating opportunities where none existed before.

This a a pure new-customer-acquisition role. The position is approximately 90% sales generation and closing deals generation and relationship building and 10% internal coordination, with logistics and operations handled by the appropriate team members. If you want a role centered on account service, order management, or internal administration, this is not the right fit.

The challenge in this position is the discipline and consistency. You will be expected to maintain a weekly prospecting cadence of approximately 100 qualified contacts and 10–20 meaningful prospect interactions per day while building pipeline, coordinating samples, advancing opportunities, and closing new business. You must be self-directed, resilient, organized, and comfortable being held accountable to activity, pipeline, and revenue goals.

Who You Must Be

• A proven hunter who enjoys opening new doors and building relationships from the ground up.
• Comfortable hearing no, following up professionally, and remaining persistent.
• Motivated by measurable goals, accountability, and commission-based earnings.
• Strong with phone, email, LinkedIn, and in-person networking.
• Able to travel throughout the US.
• Able to manage a disciplined sales process and keep CRM activity current and accurate.
• Curious, coachable, competitive, and energized by winning new business.
• Located in, and legally eligible, to work in the United States.

What You Will Do

• Generate new business opportunities through outbound prospecting, referrals, LinkedIn outreach, trade events, direct engagement, and follow-up.
• Identify and engage qualified specialty coffee roasters and green coffee buyers.
• Build and manage a healthy pipeline in Salesforce.
• Schedule and conduct introductory meetings with prospective customers.
• Coordinate sample requests and follow-up activities that move opportunities toward purchase.
• Present JNP Coffee’s offerings, value proposition, available inventory, and sourcing story to prospective customers.
• Convert prospects into purchasing customers and develop repeat buying relationships.
• Meet or exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual new revenue targets.
• Maintain accurate CRM records, activity tracking, pipeline forecasts, and account notes.
• Report regularly on prospecting activity, conversion rates, pipeline health, and sales results.
• Represent JNP Coffee at trade shows, industry events, cuppings, tastings, webinars, and networking opportunities.
• Conduct cuppings, tastings, webinars, and events to promote JNP Coffee’s coffees, values, and sourcing partnerships.
• Continuously monitor market trends, competitor activity, and emerging opportunities within the specialty coffee sector.

Experience That Will Help You Succeed

• 3-5 years of successful business development, account acquisition, sales, or green coffee sales experience.
• Demonstrated success prospecting and generating new business through cold outreach, networking, referrals, cuppings, trade shows, or similar channels.
• Proven ability to build pipeline and convert prospects into paying customers.
• Experience selling specialty coffee, green coffee, food ingredients, agricultural commodities, or another relationship-driven B2B product is helpful.
• Pre-existing relationships within the specialty coffee roasting community, green coffee buyers, importers, or roasting companies. These valuable connections can significantly accelerate success in this role.
• Familiarity with East African coffees, coffee quality evaluation, and coffee supply chains is a plus.
• Experience using Salesforce or a similar CRM platform.
• Strong organizational and communication skills with the ability to manage multiple opportunities simultaneously.
• Q Grader certification or demonstrated coffee cupping and sensory evaluation experience is a plus.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is:

• Relentless in prospecting and business development.
• Comfortable hearing “no” and continuing to pursue opportunities professionally.
• Motivated by measurable goals, accountability, and commission-based earnings.
• Experienced and confident in moving opportunities to closed sales.  
• Competitive, disciplined, and results-oriented.
• Passionate about specialty coffee and energized by building lasting customer relationships.
• Committed to representing JNP Coffee’s mission and values in the marketplace.

Performance Expectations

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Number of qualified prospect contacts completed each week.
• New customer meetings scheduled and conducted.
• Samples distributed and followed up on.
• Sales opportunities created and advanced through the pipeline.
• New customer accounts acquired.
• New revenue generated.
• CRM activity, pipeline management, and forecast accuracy.
• Achievement of monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets.

Why JNP Coffee?

JNP Coffee is not just another coffee supplier. The company brings exceptional coffees from Burundi and East Africa to market while helping create greater opportunity for coffee-growing communities at origin.

This is a chance to represent coffees with a real story—quality, transparency, sustainability, and meaningful economic impact for growers. You will be selling more than inventory. You will be building relationships around coffees that connect roasters and buyers to origin in a deeper way while helping expand a business that cares about both excellence and impact.

Founded in 2012, JNP Coffee connects global coffee buyers with high-quality coffees sourced from farming communities across East Africa. Our mission is to transform lives through coffee by creating economic opportunity, rewarding quality, advancing women's leadership, and preparing young people for meaningful careers throughout the coffee value chain.

By combining market access, education, and workforce development, JNP Coffee is helping build a stronger and more sustainable future for coffee-producing communities.

We are guided by the belief that coffee is more than a product—it is a pathway to opportunity and lasting impact.

Compensation & Benefits

• Successful candiate should be able to make between $100K-$200K in total compensation annually.
• Opportunity to participate in origin visits and client engagement activities.
• Autonomy, accountability, and the opportunity to build a meaningful book of business within a growing mission-driven company.
• PTO, sick time, and holidays provided.