Business Development Manager

About the job

About The Opportunity

We’re looking for a driven, food-loving Business Development Manager to lead the growth of First Table’s presence across the ACT, Tasmania, and Darwin regions known for their passionate hospitality communities and distinctive dining scenes. From Canberra’s award-winning restaurants to Tasmania’s acclaimed farm-to-table dining and Darwin’s vibrant tropical food scene, this is an exciting opportunity to grow partnerships across some of Australia’s most unique culinary landscapes. This is a relationship-focused role where your ability to connect, pitch, and follow through will make a real impact.

You’ll join a collaborative team of BDMs across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. With a small but growing portfolio of restaurant partners already on board, you’ll play a key role in expanding our footprint across ACT/Tasmania and the surrounding areas, building strong relationships and helping more venues get their night off to a great start. This is a remote-first role with regular in-person meetings with restaurant partners.

About Us

At First Table, our vision is simple: to be the first place diners go to book a table.

Proudly established in Queenstown, New Zealand - where our head office is based - we've been leading the charge in the hospitality tech industry for over a decade, with operations spanning New Zealand, Australia, and the UK.

First Table is a dining discovery platform that connects diners to restaurants through their love of food. Through our clever tech, we help restaurants get their night off to a great start and give diners a compelling reason to try somewhere new. It’s a win-win situation. From early bird offers to last table reservations, we make discovering and booking great dining experiences fast, easy, and rewarding.

At the heart of everything we do are our values: Grow Together, Win-Win-Win, and Own It. These guide how we show up for each other, our restaurant partners, and our diners and they’re a big part of what makes First Table a great place to work.

About The Role

Join us at a truly exciting time of growth as we expand First Table’s presence in early-stage markets: ACT, Tasmania and Darwin. With a small but growing group of restaurant partners already on board, this is a hands-on, high-impact role where you’ll shape our presence from the ground up.

As the face of First Table in your assigned patch, you’ll be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with restaurant partners, uncovering new opportunities, and bringing our platform to more diners. You’ll work autonomously in the field, backed by an established team, proven playbook, and the tools and coaching you need to succeed.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives on networking, enjoys the challenge of opening up new markets, and values collaboration, ownership, and long-term partnerships.

What you’ll be doing

• Own and grow your local market.
• Build long-lasting, win-win relationships with restaurants in your assigned patch.
• Maintain an in-depth understanding of market trends and competitors, using this knowledge to identify new opportunities.
• Drive user acquisition and retention strategies.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience in a similar role such as business development, sales, partnerships or account management.
• Excellent relationship-building, communication, negotiation, and presentation skills.
• Familiarity with the hospitality industry is a massive plus, and your ability to hit the ground running with existing contacts will push you to the top of the queue for this position.
• You don’t need to have done this exact role before, but you’ve got a spark to get someone excited about trying something new and the follow-through to make it happen.
• Be a self-starter with a commercial mindset - someone who thrives in an autonomous environment and knows how to spot opportunities (then go after them).
• A “can do attitude” and the drive to grow with us.

Why you’ll love working with us

• A full-time role with flexible working hours and the autonomy to manage your own schedule
• Remote-first, but never remote-feeling, with regular coaching and support from your manager and opportunities to connect with the wider team
• Competitive OTE (base salary + commissions), plus travel allowance, laptop and phone
• You’ll take ownership of a developing market, with the tools, coaching, and team support to grow it into something great.
• Free First Table bookings as a team perk - perfect for fellow food lovers.
• We recognise great work, with team-wide recognition shoutouts, referral incentives, and regular opportunities to celebrate wins.
• Being part of a purpose-led, award-winning brand that champions exceptional dining experiences and values creativity, collaboration and growth.

What’s next?

Ready to make your mark on this unique dining scene? We’d love to hear from you.

Please submit your application, including your CV and a brief cover letter, via the Apply Now link. In your cover letter, let us know what excites you about this opportunity and how your experience sets you up for success. We’ll be reviewing and progressing applications as they come in, so don’t wait to submit your application.

Things To Keep In Mind

• Applicants must already be based in or near Hobart or Canberra to be considered for this role
• Applicants for this position must have pre-existing rights to work in Australia