Business Development Lead

PONDA

Ponda creates the world's first biomaterial designed from plants grown on regenerated wetlands. BioPuff , our plant-based insulation, is a material used to power outerwear and quilted garments. It is crafted from reeds grown on wetlands - powerful, carbon sequestering ecosystems that enable biodiversity to thrive.

If you are passionate about:

• Innovative, regenerative products
• Defining the next-generation of fashion and materials
• Working with a wide range of industry players: farmers, fashion designers, textiles operators, global brands
• Fast-paced, agile startup work environments

Then Ponda is the company for you.

THE ROLE

Ponda is taking BioPuff from limited capsules into scaled commercial production. This role sits at the centre of that shift. You will work directly with the founders to turn a breakthrough regenerative material into repeatable revenue with some of the world's most influential fashion and outdoor brands - shaping how a new category is sold, specified, and adopted.

This is an opportunity to work with some of the world's leading brands to create truly regenerative supply chains. We have both a direct-to-brand and merchandising model, meaning you will have to create, adapt and manage multiple sales funnels.

The ideal candidate is someone who is happy building and defining their role as they deliver on key overarching targets. This is an opportunity to not just enable a regenerative transformation, but to also define what sales is at Ponda. You will be working directly with the CEO and other founders to ensure Ponda becomes the defacto go-to for regenerative materials and garment solutions.

You should be someone who both delivers excellent service to customers and understands how to prioritise accounts that have the highest potential for impact. You will be able to manage complex timelines across multiple different business units including manufacturing, product and marketing to ensure customer expectations are met whilst working within the resources available at Ponda.

This is a consultative, trust-led role, working with retail, materials, innovation, brand, sustainability and sourcing teams at global brands. You will sit between customers and internal teams, shaping how BioPuff is positioned, tested, and ultimately adopted. The role is central to how Ponda learns from the market and turns insight into strategy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Build & Convert Customer Relationships into Revenue

• Manage end-to-end pilot-to-commercial customer journeys, from early engagement through validation, internal buy-in, and scale-up
• Build and maintain long-term relationships with brands, manufacturers, and strategic partners across fashion, outdoor, and adjacent sectors
• Act as a primary commercial point of contact for selected accounts, balancing credibility, responsiveness, and realism
• Support and lead commercial negotiations
• Represent Ponda clearly and credibly in meetings, workshops, and industry contexts

Orchestrate Internal Delivery & Customer Success

• Be able to build and manage CRMs, understanding how to effectively categorise leads and select the best
• Coordinate closely with product, R&D, and operations teams to align customer needs with technical capability and delivery timelines
• Work closely with product teams to ensure customer success, connecting sales to production and delivery of orders

Build the Commercial System & Future Capability

• Own and maintain a clear, structured commercial pipeline, working closely with marketing to optimise a productive funnel
• Feed structured market insight back into product development, pricing, positioning, and go-to-market strategy
• The potential to build a department at Ponda which is at a key turning point of growth

WHAT SUCCESS WILL LOOK LIKE

• Successfully take BioPuff from pilot to production-ready garments, such as gilets or outerwear, for key brand clients
• Ensure all merchandising timelines are met, from concept and material selection through sampling, approval, and delivery for seasonal ranges
• Build strong relationships with clients' merchandising and buying teams to secure internal buy-in and adoption across multiple SKUs
• Translate client feedback into actionable improvements for material performance, garment design, and cost optimization
• Coordinate internal teams - R&D, production, and operations - to deliver garments that meet quality, margin, and sustainability targets

WHO ARE YOU

This role is for someone who is target-driven and comfortable operating in an agile environment. You will have to manage and juggle multiple timelines across novel material production, apparel production times and customer expectations. You are curious about how materials, systems, and supply chains work, and motivated by the idea of building something genuinely new and impactful.

You will be joining Ponda at a pivotal moment of our journey as we transition from capsules to scaled production. With growth there will be ongoing opportunities for career development and for constructing a growing sales and business development team.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

7+ years in a relevant sales position including materials, manufacturing, apparel, outdoor (will consider wider supply chain sales but needs to be a physical product).

A strong track record of growing sales at previous roles, with a particular focus on

• Experience working with insulated products in apparel, interiors or soft goods is highly valuable
• Experience selling or managing partnerships around biomaterials, ingredient materials, or fabrics/textiles is highly valuable

Merchandising & Range Experience (Highly Valued)

• We are particularly interested in candidates who have worked closely with merchandising teams or held merchandising roles themselves. This includes experience with range planning, seasonal calendars, margin structures, and buy-in processes - and an understanding of how materials decisions translate into commercial product lines at scale

You do not need deep technical expertise on day one, that can be learned, but you must be comfortable engaging with technical conversations and translating them into commercial outcomes. A genuine interest in sustainability and regenerative systems is essential.

WHAT YOU GET

• £50,000 salary plus commission on sales
• Equity Plan
  Be part of an innovative endeavour towards truly regenerative materials
• Contribute to company research direction
• Flexible working around core hours
• Cycle to work scheme
• Scale with a rapidly growing organisation, working with experienced and motivated individuals
• Birthday day off
• Dog friendly office
• Fun! We work hard, but we make sure we enjoy the process