Enterprise Business Development Manager
About the opportunity
We’re looking for a driven, commercially sharp Enterprise Business Development Manager to open head office doors with the UK’s multi-site restaurant groups and bring them onto First Table at scale.
This is a newly created, national new-business role. Until now we have signed restaurants one site at a time through our regional BDMs. You’ll change that for groups: selling at head office level under group master agreements covering current and future sites, rather than site by site.
The UK & Ireland is one of our biggest growth bets, with a plan to multiply supply across 22 target cities over the next two years. You’ll have a defined named-account list built from our proprietary market data, the backing of our field sales and Partner Success teams, and the freedom to build a group portfolio from zero.
This is a full-time, permanent role reporting to our GM, UK & Ireland.
About us
At First Table, our vision is simple: to be the first place diners go to book a table.
First Table now offers our great dining experiences at amazing restaurants across the UK. Following the recent city launches in Bournemouth, Leicester, Norwich, and Southampton, we are doubling down on building a strong presence and connected team across the UK.
First Table is a dining discovery platform that connects diners to restaurants through their love of food. Through our clever tech, we help restaurants get their night off to a great start and give diners a compelling reason to try somewhere new. It’s a win-win situation. From early bird offers to last table reservations, we make discovering and booking great dining experiences fast, easy, and rewarding.
At the heart of everything we do are our values: Grow Together, Win-Win-Win, and Own It. These guide how we show up for each other, our restaurant partners, and our diners and they’re a big part of what makes First Table a great place to work.
Learn more about our story here: www.firsttable.co.nz/our-story
About the role
You’ll own new-business sales to the UK’s multi-site restaurant groups. Your named-account list is made up of bookable, premium-casual groups where our model demonstrably works, including brands already live on First Table whose sites outperform the typical independent. Your job is to turn that list into master agreements, and master agreements into live sites, on rollout schedules you negotiate and drive.
This is a hunting role. Once a group’s sites are live, they move to our Partner Success team for account management and you move on to the next deal, re-engaging an existing group only to extend the agreement or sell new sites into it.
If you’re looking for a book to manage, this isn’t that job. If you want to open head office doors and build a group portfolio from zero, it is.
What you’ll be doing
- Own the named-account list: prospect, qualify and prioritise the UK’s dining groups, starting with brands already live on the platform whose numbers make the case for us.
- Sell at head office level, reaching operations directors, commercial directors and founders, and running multi-stakeholder sales cycles of 3 to 6 months.
- Close group master agreements covering current and future sites.
- Negotiate rollout schedules into every agreement and drive them, working with Partner Success on onboarding and local BDMs on launch support, so contracted sites actually go live.
- Build the group proposition: group-level performance reporting, a single point of contact during rollout, and expansion cases built on live site data.
- Run a clean pipeline in HubSpot on group parent records, with honest stage data, so forecasts are trusted.
- Prioritise brands on our live reservation-system integrations, highlight stalled pipeline by reservation partner, and feed head office insights back into our product and partnerships plans.
- Build relationships with key third parties to open doors with target groups, and represent First Table at industry and networking events
What you’ll bring
- A proven track record in new-business sales with head office or multi-site deals behind you, whether in hospitality groups, retail chains, FMCG into multiples, or B2B platforms sold to estates.
- Experience opening doors cold and closing multi-stakeholder deals with long sales cycles.
- A commercial mindset: you build the business case in the client’s numbers (covers, revenue per site, off-peak utilisation), not in adjectives.
- The drive to finish: you know a signed agreement earns nothing until sites go live, and you manage rollouts with the same energy as the pitch.
- An understanding of how restaurant groups run, or the ability to learn fast. Familiarity with reservation systems is a plus.
- A self-starter who thrives with national scope as a team of one, setting your own plan, running your own diary, and asking for help early when a deal needs it.
Why you’ll love working with us
- Flexible working hours and the autonomy to manage your own schedule
- Remote-first, but never remote-feeling
- Competitive OTE (base salary + commissions), plus paid travel
- A newly created role with an opportunity to make your mark
- The backing of our field sales and Partner Success teams, so your deals turn into live sites
- Free First Table bookings as a team perk - perfect for fellow food lovers.
- We recognise great work, with team-wide recognition shoutouts, referral incentives, and regular opportunities to celebrate wins.
- Being part of a purpose-led, award-winning brand that champions exceptional dining experiences and values creativity, collaboration and growth.
What’s next?
Ready to bring the UK’s best restaurant groups onto First Table? We’d love to hear from you.
Please submit your application, including your CV and a brief cover letter, via the Apply Now link. In your cover letter, let us know what excites you about this opportunity and how your experience sets you up for success.
Applications close Friday 23 October 2026.
Things to keep in mind:
- Applicants must already be based in the UK to be considered for this role
- Applicants for this position must have pre-existing rights to work in United Kingdom
Required Skills
Required Languages
🇬🇧 English