Business Development Manager – NYC Shelter Services

Whitsons Culinary Group | New York City

$50,000–$75,000 Base Salary + Significant Commission Opportunity

Know the NYC nonprofit, temporary and shelter services community and want to Earn Big? Whitsons Culinary Group is hiring several Business Development Managers to expand our prepared food and food service partnerships across New York City shelter services. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives on connecting with people, identifying new business opportunities, and building meaningful partnerships.

What You’ll Do

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities within NYC shelter services.
• Build a strong pipeline through networking, outreach, referrals, and community engagement.
• Meet with prospective clients, understand their needs, and develop tailored food service solutions.
• Partner with internal teams on proposals and RFPs to secure new business.
• Represent Whitsons Culinary Group at client meetings, industry events, and networking opportunities.

What We’re Looking For

• Familiarity with NYC shelter services, nonprofit, human services, community-based organizations, or prepared food/food service markets. Existing relationships within these communities are strongly desired.
• 1–3 years of business development, sales, account management, community relations, or related experience is a plus.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial relationship builder who is comfortable opening doors and asking for business.
• Strong communication, organization, and follow-through.
• Ability to regularly travel throughout New York City.
• Must reside in one of NYC’s five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, or Staten Island.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, hospitality, or a related field is a plus; relevant experience and relationships will also be heavily considered.

Why Whitsons?

At Whitsons Culinary Group, food is more than a service. It’s an opportunity to support organizations that make a difference in their communities. This role gives you the chance to combine relationship building, entrepreneurship, community impact, and significant earnings opportunity while helping Whitsons grow an important segment of our business.

Know NYC? Know the community? Ready to build something big?

If you're connected to New York City's nonprofit, shelter, or human services community and you're motivated by the opportunity to build relationships, win business, and be rewarded for your success, we'd like to hear from you.

Apply today and help us grow Whitsons' impact across New York City

This role offers a salary range of $50,000 – $75,000 annually, based on skills, experience, and location. Employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, and time off. In addition to a competitive base salary, this position offers a highly rewarding sales incentive program with substantial commission earning potential. Top performance can create the opportunity for total earnings well beyond base salary.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

• A bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, hospitality, food service management, or a related field.

Experience

• 1–3 years of experience in business development, sales, account management, customer relations, or a related client-facing role preferred.
• Candidates with strong nonprofit shelter sector experience, market knowledge, and established stakeholder relationships will also be considered.
• Experience within food service, hospitality, emergency food and shelter services, human services, nonprofit organizations, or government-related business.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect for new business, conduct outreach, develop relationships, and consistently follow up on opportunities.
• Comfortable conducting in-person prospecting, customer meetings, networking, and site visits throughout New York City.

Core Competencies

• Sales Drive & Initiative: Motivated to identify opportunities, make connections and develop new business rather than waiting for leads.
• Relationship Building: Builds credibility and rapport with prospective customers, community organizations, and internal partners.
• Prospecting & Persistence: Comfortable with cold outreach and persistent, professional follow-up over potentially long sales cycles.
• Customer Discovery: Asks effective questions and listens carefully to understand operational needs, challenges, and decision criteria.
• Communication & Presence: Communicates confidently and professionally in person, by phone and in writing.
• Organization & Follow-Through: Effectively manages multiple prospects, activities, deadlines, and follow-up commitments.
• Collaboration: Works effectively with Sales, Operations, Culinary, Finance and other internal partners to advance opportunities.
• Resilience: Maintains persistence and professionalism when faced with rejection, delayed decisions, or lengthy sales cycles.
• Integrity & Professionalism: Represents Whitsons appropriately when working with government agencies, community organizations, and vulnerable-population service providers.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Familiarity with CRM platforms for pipeline management and reporting preferred

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OTHER DETAILS

Expected Hours of Work:
This is a full-time exempt position. Standard work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., with flexibility required to meet the demands of a sales and customer relationship role. Extended hours, evenings, or weekends will be necessary during business cycles.

Travel Requirements:
Significant travel is required to support regional operations, primarily in NYC, customer engagement, trade events, and leadership meetings.

Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the team member is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, talk, and hear; use hands and fingers to feel, handle, or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:
The work is performed primarily out in the field, at client locations and events, as well as in a home-office setting. The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work and duties that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duty does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, or a logical assignment to the position, and the Company reserves the right to add additional duties or modify existing duties.