Business Development Manager - Asia

We are seeking an experienced commercial leader with an established network across the nutraceutical and functional ingredients industry to drive business development and regional growth across Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea.

This position will focus on expanding an established ingredients portfolio through direct customer engagement, strategic account development and distributor partnerships.

The successful candidate will bring extensive experience selling nutritional and functional ingredients to dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers and food and beverage companies. An existing network of decision-makers across the region, combined with a strong understanding of ingredient applications, market dynamics and customer purchasing requirements, will be essential.

We are particularly interested in individuals who have developed their careers within the nutraceutical ingredients sector and can demonstrate a track record of generating new business, developing distributor relationships and delivering sustained commercial growth across multiple Asian markets.

This is a hands-on regional commercial position suited to an experienced industry specialist who enjoys developing new opportunities, building long-term customer relationships and taking ownership of regional sales performance.

Key Responsibilities

Regional Business Development

• Develop and execute regional sales strategies across Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, with a focus on revenue growth, new business acquisition and market expansion.

• Leverage an established industry network to identify and develop opportunities with dietary supplement brands, contract manufacturers, ingredient distributors and food and beverage companies.

• Build direct relationships with key commercial, purchasing, technical and product development decision-makers.

• Identify opportunities to introduce existing and new ingredient solutions into customers' product portfolios.

• Develop new customer accounts while increasing business with established regional and multinational customers.

• Take ownership of regional sales targets, commercial negotiations and business development activities.

Strategic Account Management

• Develop and manage relationships with key regional and multinational customers.

• Identify opportunities to expand existing accounts through new applications, product development initiatives and portfolio penetration.

• Lead customer negotiations, pricing discussions and commercial agreements.

• Work closely with customer procurement, R&D, formulation and commercial teams to understand their ingredient requirements and identify suitable solutions.

• Maintain strong relationships with key decision-makers and ensure consistent engagement across the customer base.

Distributor & Channel Development

• Manage and develop established distributor relationships across assigned markets.

• Identify and appoint new distribution partners where additional market coverage is required.

• Work closely with distributors to identify end-user opportunities and accelerate ingredient adoption.

• Establish clear commercial objectives and monitor distributor performance.

• Support joint customer visits, technical presentations and market development activities.

Market Development & Commercial Strategy

• Identify market opportunities across dietary supplements, functional foods and beverages, and other relevant nutritional applications.

• Maintain a detailed understanding of the regional nutraceutical ingredients market, including competitor activity, emerging applications and customer requirements.

• Develop country-level sales plans and identify opportunities for further market penetration.

• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline visibility and commercial reporting.

• Provide market intelligence and customer feedback to support product positioning and future portfolio development.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with technical, regulatory, marketing and supply chain teams to support customer development projects.

• Coordinate ingredient presentations, technical discussions and product development initiatives with customers and distributors.

• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to ensure effective management of commercial opportunities and customer requirements.

Experience & Qualifications

Industry experience

• Minimum 10 years of commercial experience within the nutraceutical, dietary supplement or functional ingredients industry.

• Strong knowledge of nutritional ingredients, their applications and the commercial dynamics of the dietary supplement and functional food sectors.

• An established network of customers, contract manufacturers, ingredient distributors and industry decision-makers across Southeast Asia.

• Demonstrated success in developing new business and managing strategic accounts within the ingredients industry.

• Experience selling specialist nutritional ingredients rather than finished consumer products.

• Proven ability to manage distributor relationships and develop business across multiple international markets.

• Commercial experience across Japan and Korea would be advantageous.

Commercial capabilities

• Strong track record of delivering sales growth through new customer acquisition, account development and regional market expansion.

• Ability to identify commercial opportunities and translate customer requirements into ingredient sales.

• Experience managing complex customer relationships, commercial negotiations and regional sales pipelines.

• Comfortable operating independently and taking direct responsibility for commercial results.

• Ability to engage confidently with commercial, procurement, technical and senior management stakeholders.

Location & travel

• Willingness to travel internationally across Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea to meet customers, distributors and commercial partners.

• Strong English communication skills. Additional regional languages would be advantageous.

A degree in Food Science, Nutrition, Food Technology, Business or a related discipline would be advantageous.

What We Are Looking For

We are particularly interested in speaking with established sales and business development professionals who have built their careers within the Asian nutraceutical ingredients market.

The ideal candidate will already have strong relationships with supplement manufacturers, regional distributors and key commercial decision-makers, alongside the technical and commercial understanding required to develop ingredient opportunities from initial customer discussions through to commercial supply.

Experience managing an established regional portfolio is valuable, but this position requires someone who is equally comfortable generating new business, opening customer accounts and developing markets independently.