Principal Business Development Manager

Job description

About Crunchbase

Crunchbase is a predictive solution that provides intelligence on private companies, powered by the unique combination of live private company data, AI, and market activity from over 80 million users. We predict private market movements that matter to help investors, dealmakers, and analysts make the right decisions.

We are committed to fostering a positive, diverse, and inclusive culture by hiring for potential and embracing individuals with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and skill sets. We value transparency and openness, believing that an inclusive environment strengthens our teams and enhances our products.

Crunchbase has a remote-first approach, and is open to hiring in residents of these states: California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Maine.

Our inclusive remote-first culture, generous PTO policies, competitive pay, and employee wellness benefits set us apart!

As a Principal Business Development Manager at Crunchbase, you will serve as a high-level individual contributor responsible for identifying, pursuing, and closing complex, high-value strategic deals. You are a dealmaker and growth catalyst, proactively identifying new business opportunities with strategic accounts and architecting deals that significantly impact company revenue. You thrive on building from scratch, navigating ambiguity, and driving results in competitive markets. Your success will be measured by your ability to create and close new revenue opportunities, expand our customer base, and establish Crunchbase as a must-have solution in the B2B data.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Strategic Prospecting & Pipeline Generation: Proactively identify and target net-new strategic business opportunities through research, outbound outreach, and relationship building. Develop and manage a robust pipeline of potential deals with top-tier prospects.
• Deal Ownership & Execution: Lead the full partnership cycle for high-impact opportunities, including stakeholder alignment, solution design, commercial negotiation, and deal closure.
• Contracting & Commercial Structuring: Negotiate complex agreements, leveraging creativity and sound commercial judgment to deliver favorable outcomes.
• Strategic Partner Reviews: Independently conduct quarterly (or more frequently, as determined by your manager) business reviews with partners and offer a strategic and analytical perspective of the partnership, identifying areas for improvement and growth.
• Performance Transparency: Maintain accurate reporting on pipeline, forecasts, and deal progress. Share learnings and blockers with leadership regularly.
• Continuous Optimization: Test and iterate go-to-market strategies and messaging to improve deal velocity, close rates, and average deal size.
• Industry Research and Analysis: Conduct market research to stay informed about industry trends, competitor activities, and potential opportunities for growth.
• Collaboration: Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align efforts with the overall company objectives; including mentoring and coaching developing team members for professional growth and continuous learning. This includes maintaining open lines of communication and ensuring your initiatives are in sync with the company’s broader goals.
• Experimentation and Continuous Improvement: Embrace a culture of experimentation, testing innovative ways to enhance current partnerships and programs. Be willing to iterate on strategies based on results and feedback, aiming for continuous improvement in all partnerships.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• None

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Proven success in independently initiating and closing high-impact deals with new enterprise and strategic accounts.
• Track record of exceeding six-figure quotas with strategic/enterprise accounts.
• Exceptional ability to identify whitespace opportunities and navigate complex buying groups.
• Highly self-directed and comfortable working autonomously in a fast-paced environment.
• Expert negotiator with fluency in deal structuring and legal/commercial frameworks.
• Skilled communicator able to influence and inspire both internal stakeholders and external executives.
• Proven sales and organizational abilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Effective time management and attention to detail.
• Comfortable working cross-functionally and adapting to shifting priorities.
• Proficient in interpreting legal documents and collaborating with attorneys.
• Proficient with Google Suite or related software.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field preferred or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of business development experience in B2B technology.
• Experience in SaaS, startup environments, and API/Developer Platforms.

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

You may also be entitled to receive equity and benefits.

Salary Range

$231,498—$272,350 USD

What Crunchbase Offers:

• Competitive salary and equity in the form of stock options
• Remote first policy
• Generous Reimbursement policy for learning and development activities
• Monthly Wellness stipend
• 14 weeks of fully-paid time off for various life situations (like welcoming a new born or caring for family)
• Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO)
• 22 Holidays in 2025
• Volunteering Paid Time Off
• Incredible medical, vision and dental benefits for employees and their families (including PPO, HDHP, and INO plans)
• 401(k) and Roth plans, and free annual financial adviser check-in
• Monthly internet stipend
• Work from home allowance to purchase furniture for your work from home space
• Matching charity contributions for our Townhall awards
• A team of creative, transparent entrepreneurs driven to accomplish our mission

At Crunchbase, we value team members who are passionate and enthusiastic about what we’re building here. We believe there is no “perfect” candidate, and want to encourage applying even if all the requirements listed aren’t met. If you’re passionate about Crunchbase and looking to learn and grow, then we look forward to reviewing your application!

Crunchbase does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, veteran status, military obligations, or marital status. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Every day our team is honored to work with entrepreneurs and innovators from every corner of the globe, and we aim to build a team that reflects the diversity of our customers. Each individual at Crunchbase brings their own perspectives, work experiences, lifestyles, and cultures with them, and we believe that a more diverse team creates more innovative products, provides a better service to its customers, and helps us all grow and learn as individuals.