Key Responsibilities:

1. National Business Development & Growth Strategy:

- Develop and execute the national business development strategy for education campuses and institutional catering.

- Identify and pursue high-value business opportunities across private universities, government institutions, colleges, IITs, IIMs, and other educational establishments.

- Build a strong national pipeline of prospective institutional clients and strategic partnerships.

- Identify new markets, business segments, and geographical expansion opportunities.

- Establish annual business acquisition, revenue, and profitability targets in alignment with the CEO.

- Lead strategic initiatives to strengthen Blue Dove's market presence and competitive positioning.

2. Strategic Tender Management & Institutional Bidding:

- Lead and oversee the complete tender acquisition lifecycle, from opportunity identification to contract award.

- Monitor major tenders and RFPs through GeM, CPPP, state government portals, and direct institutional invitations.

- Drive the preparation and submission of technical bids, commercial proposals, pre-qualification documents, and compliance requirements.

- Oversee EMD, bank guarantees, presentations, technical evaluations, and client tasting rounds.

- Develop tender strategies to maximise conversion rates and secure high-value institutional contracts.

- Ensure all submissions meet commercial, technical, legal, and regulatory requirements.

3. Commercial Strategy & Financial Management:

- Lead commercial assessment and feasibility studies for prospective institutional contracts.

- Oversee campus site visits and evaluate student strength, meal requirements, kitchen infrastructure, manpower, and facility management scope.

- Work closely with Finance and Operations teams to develop detailed costing, pricing, and profitability models.

- Evaluate per-meal, per-head, and overall contract economics.

- Lead high-value commercial negotiations with institutional decision-makers.

- Ensure all new contracts meet approved gross margin and profitability benchmarks.

4. Strategic Client Relationships & Stakeholder Management:

- Build and maintain long-term relationships with university leadership, trustees, registrars, vice-chancellors, procurement heads, deans, and other senior decision-makers.

- Represent the organisation in strategic meetings, presentations, negotiations, and institutional discussions.

- Develop partnerships with leading educational groups and institutional networks.

- Act as the senior relationship owner for key strategic accounts.

- Drive contract renewals, account expansion, cross-selling, and referral opportunities.

5. Contract Acquisition, Closure & Mobilisation:

- Lead strategic opportunities from initial engagement through commercial negotiations and final contract execution.

- Ensure successful closure of large-scale institutional catering and facility management agreements.

- Coordinate with Operations, Finance, HR, and Procurement teams for smooth contract mobilisation.

- Ensure clear alignment on commercial terms, SLAs, operational deliverables, and mobilisation timelines.

- Monitor newly acquired accounts during the transition phase to ensure successful implementation.

6. National Market Intelligence & Competitive Strategy:

- Monitor industry developments, competitor activities, pricing structures, and emerging business opportunities.

- Track institutional contract cycles, renewal dates, and upcoming tender opportunities.

- Develop market intelligence reports to support strategic business decisions.

- Identify opportunities to improve win rates, strengthen pricing strategies, and increase market share.

7. Leadership, Performance Management & Reporting:

- Lead and guide the business development and tendering function at the national level.

- Establish structured business development processes, reporting systems, and performance metrics.

- Monitor pipeline value, tender conversion, contract acquisition, revenue growth, and profitability.

- Present regular business development performance reviews and strategic growth plans to the CEO.

- Build a high-performance, target-driven business development culture.

Candidate Profile:

Mandatory Requirements:

- Professional experience, with substantial experience in business development and institutional sales.

- Proven track record of winning large university, college, or institutional catering and facility management contracts.

- Strong experience with leading contract catering or facility management organisations such as Compass Group, Sodexo, or their established Indian competitors.

- Demonstrated experience in handling large-scale institutional tenders and end-to-end bidding processes.

- Strong understanding of technical, commercial, financial, and compliance aspects of institutional tenders.

- Proven expertise in commercial negotiations, costing, pricing strategy, and contract profitability.

- Experience managing strategic relationships with senior institutional stakeholders.

- Demonstrated ability to independently drive business acquisition and achieve revenue targets.

- Graduate degree in a relevant discipline.

- Willingness to travel extensively across India.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Existing relationships with university trustees, vice-chancellors, registrars, procurement heads, and institutional leadership.

- Experience managing GeM, CPPP, PSU, central government, and state government tenders.

- Exposure to large private universities, IITs, IIMs, and other prestigious educational institutions.

- Background in Hotel Management, Hospitality, Institutional Food Services, or Facility Management.

- MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification.

- Experience leading national or regional business development teams.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

- National Business Growth: Annual contract value of newly acquired institutional clients

- Revenue Generation: Achievement of annual business development targets

- Tender Win Rate: Percentage of successfully converted tenders

- Pipeline Development: Value and quality of qualified national business opportunities

- Contract Profitability: Gross margins achieved against approved costing

- Strategic Partnerships: Number and value of key institutional partnerships secured

- Client Retention: Renewal rate of acquired institutional accounts

- Business Expansion: Additional revenue generated through existing accounts

- Team Performance: Achievement of business development and tendering targets