BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE – SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE

Location: Gauteng – Kempton Park, Johannesburg & Pretoria Region
Salary: R23,000 per month + petrol + commission
Contract: Initial 6-month contract with opportunity to become permanent based on performance

About the Role

An established modular building and infrastructure solutions company is expanding its presence within the Gauteng education sector and is seeking a driven, professional and highly proactive Business Development Representative.

The primary focus of this position is to identify schools requiring new, additional or upgraded infrastructure and introduce decision-makers to high-quality modular building solutions.

This is a field-based business development, lead-generation and relationship-building role. The successful candidate will actively prospect for opportunities, visit schools, arrange meetings with key decision-makers, understand their infrastructure requirements and develop properly qualified opportunities.

The company's sales and contracts team will manage the technical proposals, quotations and final contract negotiations.

The modular building solutions available to clients include individual facilities through to complete school campuses, with solutions that can be expanded in phases as enrolment, budgets and infrastructure requirements grow.

Key Responsibilities

• Research and identify suitable private, independent and fee-paying public schools across Gauteng.
• Develop a strong prospect database within the education sector.
• Cold call and proactively approach prospective schools.
• Establish contact with principals, school owners, bursars, facilities managers and School Governing Body members.
• Arrange and attend face-to-face meetings, school visits and presentations.
• Build professional relationships with key education-sector decision-makers.
• Identify current and future infrastructure requirements.
• Identify opportunities for:
  • Classrooms
  • Laboratories and specialist learning spaces
  • Administration offices
  • Staff facilities
  • Ablutions and change rooms
  • Kitchens and dining halls
  • Libraries and multipurpose facilities
  • Guardhouses and other supporting infrastructure
• Understand the school's current facilities, learner capacity and future expansion requirements.
• Gather accurate information regarding the proposed project, including requirements, budgets, available funding, timelines and decision-making processes.
• Identify the individuals and committees involved in purchasing and project approval.
• Take photographs and record preliminary site information during visits where required.
• Properly qualify potential projects before submitting opportunities to the sales team.
• Provide comprehensive lead information to enable the sales/contracts team to progress technical proposals and quotations.
• Conduct consistent follow-ups with prospective clients.
• Maintain accurate records of prospecting activities, meetings, opportunities and follow-ups.
• Keep CRM information accurate and up to date.
• Develop a sustainable pipeline of qualified education-sector opportunities.
• Build long-term relationships within the Gauteng education sector.
• Achieve agreed monthly appointment, qualified-lead and pipeline targets.
• Represent the company professionally while travelling and meeting clients throughout the Gauteng region.

Minimum Requirements

• Minimum 4+ years' Business Development experience.
• Proven experience in external sales, field sales or new business development.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect independently and generate new business opportunities.
• Comfortable with cold calling, door opening, prospecting and persistent follow-up.
• Proven ability to secure meetings with business owners, senior managers or other decision-makers.
• Confident conducting face-to-face client meetings and presentations.
• Strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to identify and qualify genuine commercial opportunities rather than simply generate unqualified leads.
• Good understanding of the sales/business development process.
• Strong communication and presentation skills in English.
• Afrikaans would be advantageous.
• Professional appearance and approach.
• Highly self-motivated and comfortable working independently in a field-based environment.
• Strong planning, organisational and time-management skills.
• Computer literate.
• Able to maintain accurate CRM and activity records.
• Valid driver's licence – essential.
• Own reliable vehicle – essential.
• Must be comfortable travelling extensively throughout the Kempton Park, Johannesburg and Pretoria regions.

Highly Advantageous Experience

Candidates with previous experience in any of the following environments will have a strong advantage:

• Education or school-sector business development
• Selling products or services directly to schools
• School infrastructure
• Construction
• Modular or prefabricated buildings
• Building materials
• Infrastructure solutions
• Property or facilities-related solutions
• Commercial construction products or services

Experience engaging with principals, school owners, bursars, facilities managers, School Governing Bodies, developers, contractors, architects or other infrastructure decision-makers would be particularly valuable.

Ideal Candidate Profile

This opportunity will suit a confident and energetic business developer who genuinely enjoys opening doors and creating opportunities from scratch.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable spending a significant amount of time in the field, researching prospective schools, making initial contact, securing appointments and meeting decision-makers face to face.

They should be commercially aware and inquisitive enough to determine not only what infrastructure a school requires, but also whether there is a realistic project behind the requirement — including the likely budget, funding source, decision-making structure and anticipated timeframe.

This is not primarily an account-management position. The successful candidate must enjoy new business development, prospecting and building a pipeline.

The Solutions

The business provides purpose-built modular infrastructure solutions manufactured in a controlled factory environment and delivered for rapid installation.

Within the education sector, solutions can range from a single classroom or campus extension through to a complete school campus. Facilities can include classrooms, laboratories, administration and staff facilities, ablutions, change rooms, kitchens, dining halls, libraries and multipurpose spaces. Buildings can also be expanded in phases as learner numbers, budgets and operational requirements change.

The broader modular system is designed around rapid delivery, controlled quality, scalability and reduced disruption on site. The company's building system has also held Agrément certification since 2016, supported by CIDB and NHBRC registrations.

Package

• R23,000 per month
• Petrol for approved business travel
• Commission on qualifying business generated
• Initial 6-month contract
• Opportunity for permanent employment based on performance

This is an excellent opportunity for a proactive field-based business developer who enjoys identifying genuine needs, meeting decision-makers, developing relationships and turning cold prospects into qualified commercial opportunities.