Business Development Lead

Position: Business Development Lead

Location: South San Francisco, CA

Type: Full-time

The Opportunity:

Ohalo is seeking a Business Development Lead to source, structure, and close the partnerships that bring our agriculture products to market worldwide. This is a deal-driving role at its core. You will build and own relationships across the supply chain — growers, packers and shippers, processors, distributors, and retail/QSR buyers — and convert them into revenue-generating commercial agreements. You will be the commercial face of Ohalo in the field, moving partnerships from first conversation to signed deal to scaled execution, in close collaboration with breeding, commercial, and regulatory teams.

As Ohalo expands into new regions, you will also help shape where and how we enter — identifying the right partners, mapping the value chain, and building the strategic roadmap for markets where we don't yet have a playbook.

This is a high-impact role for a self-starting operator who thrives on ownership and execution. You will succeed if you are relationship-driven and persuasive, relentless about moving deals forward, and equally at home in a grower's field, a processor's boardroom, and an internal cross-functional huddle.

Areas of Key Responsibilities:

Business Development & Supply Chain Partnerships

• Source, negotiate, and close strategic, revenue-generating partnerships across the supply chain — growers, packers and shippers, processors, distributors, and retail/QSR buyers.
• Build and own durable relationships with commercial partners, serving as Ohalo's primary commercial point of contact from first outreach through signed agreement.
• Drive deals end to end: structure terms, align internal stakeholders, and steward agreements through to execution and scale.
• Serve as a key commercial face of Ohalo in global markets, representing our product vision directly to external stakeholders, growers, and customers.
• Build the commercial alliances that secure demand and route Ohalo's portfolio through the value chain to end customers.

Strategic Roadmap & Partner Identification — New Expansion Regions

• Build the analytical backbone for commercial decisions — run market sizing and pricing analysis that informs priority markets, which partners to pursue, how to structure terms, and where Ohalo's portfolio commands premium value.
• For new and emerging markets, identify and prioritize the partners, segments, and value-chain entry points that unlock commercial traction.
• Build the strategic roadmap for regions where Ohalo lacks an established playbook, mapping grower economics, processor demand, and downstream value-chain incentives well enough to enter with conviction.
• Develop focused business cases and entry plans for new product introductions, sizing the opportunity and sequencing the partner approach.
• Where a region is new, shape the volume and adoption assumptions and coordinate launch readiness enough to align supply availability and partner enablement, drawing on field trial data and partner pipeline intelligence.

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in business development, commercial strategy, or sales in the agricultural industry, with a track record of personally closing deals.
• Proven success forging and closing new strategic partnerships across multiple geographies — you have carried a number and hit it.
• A true self-starter who sets their own pace and consistently delivers high-quality work without needing to be managed to it.
• High drive and high output: you move fast, run multiple deals in parallel, and are relentless about pushing partnerships forward to close.
• An exceptional communicator — clear, concise, and compelling both in writing and in person, able to command the room with growers, executives, and internal teams alike.
• Strong understanding of crop production systems, grower decision-making, and value chain economics.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex agronomic or technical attributes into clear commercial value propositions.
• Skilled in cross-functional collaboration, working closely with R&D, operations, marketing, and regulatory teams.
• Comfortable with frequent travel across regions to engage directly with growers and partners.

The anticipated base pay range for this role is $140,000 - $200,000 per year for our South San Francisco location. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, budget availability, internal equity, geographic location and external market pay for comparable jobs. This role is also eligible for variable compensation in addition to base pay.

About Ohalo: 

Ohalo aims to accelerate evolution to unlock nature's potential. Founded in 2019, Ohalo develops novel breeding systems and improved plant varieties that help farmers grow more food with fewer natural resources, increasing the yield, resiliency, and genetic diversity of crops to sustainably feed our population. Ohalo's breakthrough technology, Boosted Breeding, will usher in a new era of improved productivity to radically transform global agriculture. For more information, visit www.ohalo.com.

Notes: If you previously applied for a job at Ohalo Genetics, we encourage you to restate your interest in the position by submitting your application.

No visa sponsorship is available for this position at this time. 

This organization participates in E-Verify. Posters linked here.

No recruiters, please.