Business Development Associate - Chicago

STEAMe is a new technology company focused on enhancing workforce collaboration for meaningful employment. The Business Development Associate will manage prospect pipelines, optimize CRM processes, and contribute to sales materials while engaging with potential leads.

Responsibilities

• Manage prospect pipelines and outreach
• Own research, list building, and outbound outreach to prospective STEAMe leads across target sectors and organizations
• Manage and optimize the CRM system (HubSpot), including data integrity, outreach automations, lead routing, lifecycle stage tracking
• Create and monitor dashboards and reports on lead performance, pipeline health, and sales activities; provide insights and recommendations to improve results
• Own business development logistics, including scheduling, note-taking, meeting prep, CRM updates, and action-item tracking
• Support outreach efforts by preparing collateral, coordinating discovery calls, and maintaining consistent prospect engagement
• Co-develop sales enablement tools and contribute to the creation of go-to-market content, pitch decks, and brand collateral
• Prepare sales decks, demo narratives, presentations, and meeting materials to support conversations across all sales funnel stages
• Convey brand narrative and live demo products to prospects on calls and at conferences
• Stay up to date on market research and competitive analysis to identify trends, pricing strategies, and go-to-market opportunities
• Collaborate with Marketing and Product to translate field insights into refined messaging, campaigns, and targeting strategies as well as product needs

Skills

• Bachelor's Degree
• 1–2 years in sales, business development, operations, or equivalent demonstrated experience
• Time Management and Project Execution: Ability to prioritize tasks, manage multiple workstreams, and deliver on deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Proactive Problem Solving: Comfortable identifying issues, proposing solutions, and making decisions independently while seeking input when needed
• Strong Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to present ideas clearly and professionally to internal and external stakeholders
• Analytical Thinking: Ability to interpret data, identify trends and insights, and translate findings into actionable business development strategies
• AI Proficiency: Demonstrated curiosity and ability to learn AI-powered tools quickly (e.g., ChatGPT, HubSpot AI, LinkedIn Sales Navigator); able to apply them to streamline outreach, improve content, and make smarter, faster business development decisions
• CRM & Technical Proficiency: Comfortable using tools such as HubSpot, Google Workspace, and Excel to manage data, create reports, and support outreach activities
• Detail Orientation: High attention to detail in documentation, data entry, and execution of sales activities to ensure quality and consistency
• Customer Orientation: Demonstrated ability to handle inquiries and manage relationships with professionalism, empathy, and responsiveness
• Collaboration & Initiative: Able to work both independently and as part of a cross-functional team, showing initiative and follow-through
• Demonstrated passion, experience or internships in social impact, entrepreneurial venture or start-ups

Company Overview