Job Title: Business Development Manager

Position Type: Contract

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Reports to: CEO

Salary: KES 80,000-120,000

Synnefa 🌱 is an innovative ag-tech startup dedicated to transforming agriculture through smart, climate-resilient solutions. We provide end-to-end solutions that integrate Smart Solar Dryers, smart greenhouses, FarmShield IoT sensors, and FarmCloud record-keeping software to enhance farming efficiency, sustainability, and profitability. Our mission is to empower farmers with technology that simplifies farming and increases incomes.

As Synnefa continues to scale its market presence and partnerships, we are seeking a Business Development Manager to drive strategic business growth for our Smart Solar Dryers, smart greenhouses, and FarmCloud solutions. This role sits within our Business Growth and Enablement Department and will focus on building and managing relationships with institutional, corporate, and strategic partners while driving enterprise sales opportunities and commercial growth.

Job Summary

The Business Development Manager is responsible for driving business growth and strategic partnerships for Synnefa’s Smart Solar Dryers, smart greenhouses, and FarmCloud solutions. The role focuses on identifying and converting new business opportunities, managing institutional and enterprise relationships, and supporting revenue growth across the company’s product portfolio.

Working closely with leadership, operations, finance, and technical teams, the Business Development Manager will lead commercial engagements, develop client proposals, support partnership negotiations, and ensure opportunities are aligned with Synnefa’s operational capabilities and long-term growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Own enterprise revenue end-to-end: be accountable for pipeline, proposal, contract, and collections for enterprise, cooperative, and institutional deals.
• Structure and close high-value deals: lead commercial negotiations (pricing, financing, payment schedules, margin guarantees) and sign delivery-ready contracts with gating on operational readiness.
• Design and run the enterprise GTM: prioritise segments, map buyer journeys, and build repeatable playbooks and sales processes for consultative, long-cycle deals.
• Coordinate cross-functional handoffs: ensure Tech, Hardware Production, Field Ops, and Finance sign off on feasibility, BOQ/costing, and collection readiness before the deal is signed.
• Build commercial systems and metrics: establish pipeline hygiene, conversion KPIs, sales cycle stages, and dashboards; drive weekly and monthly commercial cadence.
• Anchor financing and partner commercialisation: negotiate with banks, MFIs, and financiers for end-user financing and manage strategic commercial relationships that enable scale.
• Be the primary commercial voice of the customer: provide structured market feedback into product, pricing, and delivery decisions, and protect margin and go-to-market fit.

Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum Education Level: Degree (Business, Agribusiness, Engineering, Economics, or similar). MBA or relevant postgraduate qualification preferred but not required.
• Years of Relevant Experience: 5+ years, with progressive enterprise or commercial leadership experience.
• Sector Experience: Exposure to agritech, energy infrastructure, hardware-plus-software sales, or other long-cycle enterprise product sales preferred. Experience in East Africa is highly desirable.

• Proven track record of closing complex, high-value B2B and B2B2C deals.
• Strong negotiation and commercial structuring skills, including pricing, financing, and contracts.
• Ability to operate with high decisiveness under ambiguity and make trade-offs quickly.
• Experience working closely with technical and operations teams to ensure delivery readiness.
• Strong systems and metrics orientation, with experience building sales processes and dashboards.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• High integrity; does not overpromise and enforces delivery gates.

What we offer

• Monthly gross pay of between KES 80,000 and KES 120,000, depending on experience and seniority.
• Performance-based commission linked to enterprise revenue outcomes, with tiered incentives aligned to revenue scale and collections.
• Meal benefit in accordance with company policy.
• Health cover is provided as part of the company benefits package.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

Synnefa🌱 is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply, and we strive to make all employment decisions based on merit, potential, and company needs.

Disclaimer:

We want to give everyone a fair shot at joining us, so we encourage all applicants to use our synnefa.breezy.hr applicant tracking system-ATS to apply for any openings at Synnefa and avoid contacting Synnefa employees or management about the opening.

Any attempt to contact us or any Synnefa team member, especially management, through unofficial means, including whatsapp chats, direct emails, phone calls, or social media messages, will result in automatic disqualification from the application process.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in maintaining a fair and orderly recruitment process.

How to Apply: Interested candidates are invited to apply with their resume and a cover letter outlining their qualifications and experience at Synnefa’s job site, found at https://synnefa.breezy.hr