Business Development Executive

Job Title: New Business Development Executive, ODI

Function: Commercial, Ornua Dairy Ingredients (ODI)

Reports to: Commercial Manager Cheese

Location: Dublin, Ireland (significant travel & mobility required)

Ornua is a leading dairy co-operative which sells premium dairy products globally on behalf of its Member Co-operatives, Ireland's dairy processors and, in turn, Irish dairy farmers.

Ornua has revenues of €3.4 billion and is supported by a global team of approximately 2,800 employees. The Group operates as a commercial organisation across 10 business units, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.

The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua's consumer brands including Ireland's most successful food export: Kerrygold. Consumer markets are served by production facilities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and by in-market Sales & Marketing Teams in Asia, Germany, Ireland, MEA, Poland, Spain, rest of Europe and North and Latin America.

It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility. These activities are supported by production facilities and in-market teams in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.

The Role

We are seeking a New Business Development Executive, ODI to identify and develop new commercial opportunities across Ornua's ODI Cheese and Butter categories. The role combines desk-based market research with a significant focus on direct customer engagement and will play a key part in expanding Ornua's customer base and cross-selling its Cheese, Butter (and Protein) portfolio.

Key Areas of Responsibility

• Develop a target list of new and prospective ODI end-user customers across the Cheese and Butter categories.
• Work closely and support the Commercial Manager Cheese in all customer business development activities.
• Undertake a combination of desk-based market research and significant direct customer engagement to identify new business opportunities.
• Develop specific customer and category growth plans based on research findings, for example:
  • Pastry butter opportunities in the EU.
  • New business development for bulk ingredient cheese in the EU (e.g. Carbery mozzarella, value-add cheddar variants, etc.).
• Main customer focus is on the end-user customer and food-service categories
• Leverage Ornua's product cross-selling capability across the Cheese, Butter and Protein categories to maximise customer value.
• Build and maintain a structured pipeline of prospects via CRM tool, tracking status and next steps.
• Manage the formal handover of won accounts to the relevant category Commercial Manager once onboarded.
• Represent Ornua at relevant industry events and trade shows to source and develop leads.
• Map competitor activity and identify gaps in Ornua's customer footprint by geography and segment.
• Report on pipeline conversion metrics and win rates to the reporting manager.

Key Skills / Attributes

• 3-5 years of experience in a similar sales development role.
• Strong commercial acumen with an entrepreneurial, hunter mindset for identifying and converting new business opportunities.
• Excellent market research and analytical skills, with the ability to translate research into actionable customer and category growth plans.
• Confident communicator and relationship-builder, comfortable initiating and leading direct engagement with prospective customers.
• Ability to work collaboratively across categories (Cheese, Butter, Protein) to identify cross-selling opportunities.
• Self-starter, able to manage a pipeline of prospects independently and prioritise effectively.
• Willingness and flexibility to travel extensively.
• Foreign language skills beneficial.

Ornua Core Competencies

• Customer Focus: Advocates for the customer, balances customer and business needs, and spots opportunities for growth.
• Forward-Looking: Helps others to accept change, implements change, and looks ahead to anticipate change.
• Curious: Open to asking questions and willing to learn and continuously improve.
• Collaboration: Encourages co-operation in own team and supports cross-functional working.

Closing date: 30 July 2026