Business Development Associate, Corporate Entry Level & Early in Career, Full-time Position
Location:
DC Area (DC, Virginia, Maryland) Office located in Arlington, Virginia On-Site T-TH
Launch a Career in Sales at Hanover Research Hanover Research is seeking ambitious early-career professionals to join our Business Development team. In this role, you’ll partner closely with Sales Directors to identify and engage senior-level decision makers, generate new opportunities, and help organizations solve critical business challenges through data-driven research.
Located in the Washington D.C. area, Hanover Research has been recognized as a Top 50 Research Firm by the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Insights Association. This is a great opportunity for individuals who are looking for their fastest path to a career as a sales executive and a six-figure income. Through structured training, mentorship, and hands-on experience, you’ll build a foundation for a long-term career in business development, account management, consulting, or marketing.
If you like working in a fun, collaborative, high performing, entrepreneurial environment with fast + unlimited career advancement opportunities, Hanover is the place for you.
Why is being a Business Development Associate (BDA) a great way to start your career? What’s in it for you? Glad you asked.
- Earning Potential – Opportunity to make $75k+ annually plus this position provides uncapped variable compensation potential.
- Growth Advancements – Advancement based on skills and performance, not tenure or politics. Top performers often experience an accelerated promotion track within and beyond the Business Development Associate role to higher earning positions within the first 12-18 months. Many associates see their first promotion to Senior, Business Development Associate between 9-12 months and join the SDA academy – Hanover’s spin on an MBA crash course.
- Training and Mentorship Program & Develop Sales Skills – Award-winning formalized training program that starts with comprehensive onboarding and continues throughout all levels of your career that is coupled with mentorship by experienced sales directors, peers, and top executives.
- Buildable Business Skills for All Industries – Learn fundamental business and sales skills very quickly. From day one, you will have exposure to the challenge’s businesses and C-Level executives face and interact with them daily, building your professional network and business acumen faster than peers at other organizations. Example clients: Wayfair, Sylvan Learning, and Princess Cruises (just to name a few).
- Culture - On our team, every voice is valued, everyone is included, and everyone can succeed. We host many fun programs, company-wide events, and professional networks to create an enjoyable workplace. Hanover believes that time off and community is important, and we give 6 weeks paid time off including paid holidays, and community service opportunities.
- Office Perks – Our team is friendly and collaborative and when in the office, we provide free lunch, snacks, and fun incentives (including D.C. sporting events, happy hours, raffle giveaways, days off, etc.).
Primary Responsibilities:
In This Role, You Will:
- Serve as the first point of contact to engage with potential new clients including CEOs, Presidents, other executives, and leaders.
- Use cold-calling, emailing, and social-messaging to secure new business conversations with for-profit companies.
- Leverage research on prospective accounts, executive stakeholders, industry trends, and competitor positioning to craft tailored outreach that convert into qualified meetings.
- Help your Sales Director manage the sales pipeline and achieve annual revenue goals by engaging prospects throughout the steps of the sales cycle.
- Participate in sales onboarding, 1:1 training sessions, team meetings, skill building, and professional development
- Leverage relationships with other associates to identify and assume best practices.
- Build organizational skills as you maintain ongoing outreach, a territory, and your assigned Sales Director’s calendar.
Our Business Development Experience (What Sets Us Apart) BDAs at Hanover Research participate in a structured development path, but with a modern, hands-on approach:
- Comprehensive onboarding + ongoing training in prospecting, messaging, objection handling, and value selling
- Weekly and monthly peer-led coaching sessions and skill development pods
- Direct exposure to live sales cycles through partnership with Sales Directors. Learn how strategic selling happens in real time.
- Continuous feedback loops with leadership to accelerate growth
- Clear, merit-based path to promotion. Join a collaborative team that values development, performance, and continuous improvement.
- Build foundational sales skills that will support long-term career growth
How We Use AI & Modern Sales Tech We equip our BDAs with a modern sales toolkit designed to help them work smarter, personalize at scale, and focus time where it matters most. You’ll gain experience with:
- AI-powered tools for prospect research, messaging, call coaching, and personalization
- Data-driven targeting and intent signals to prioritize outreach (6sense)
- Sales Engagement platforms (Outreach.io) to automate and streamline tasks so that you are more efficient and effective in driving results.
Qualifications
What are the requirements?
- A Bachelor’s degree preferred; all majors are accepted.
- 0 - 2 years of work experience; previous leadership, sales, professional, or internship experience.
- Strong interest in sales, business development, or client-facing work
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to be persistent when contacting potential clients which includes being comfortable with rejection.
- Goal oriented and demonstrated ability to work well under pressure
- Must be articulate, organized, detail-oriented, and can multi-task in a dynamic, fast-changing environment
- Readiness for a professional environment and a strong desire to grow a career in sales
- Digital acumen is a plus- particularly in using AI, social media, and email campaigns
Benefits
- A base salary + monthly commissions + individual and team performance bonuses
- Award-winning training program on markets, research methodologies and sales skills
- Starting at 18+ days Paid Time Off
- 14 observed holidays, including Juneteenth, Indigenous People Day and personal floating days
- 401(K) employer matching programs
- Comprehensive health and dental benefits package
- Health and wellness packages with discounts to local gym
- Community service opportunities
- Unlimited snacks and beverages in office
Compensation
Hanover Research strives to create compensation and benefits programs that are competitive, equitable and fair. The On Target Earning (OTE) range for this role is $68,000 per year, which is comprised of a base salary of $50,000 and a variable uncapped commission structure of $18,000 when goal is 100% obtained for this role. Please note that the base salary offered is contingent on the candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Our base pay range is determined by the role and the market.
Hanover believes in supporting our team’s overall well-being now and in the future. We provide retirement benefits and 401K matching to help you plan ahead, wellness benefits to keep you healthy, medical coverage to lift you up if you or your dependents get sick, and paid time away to rejuvenate. You can learn more about our benefits on our Hanover Research Careers page or please talk to your Recruiter to learn more.
What is Hanover Research? Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Hanover Research is a brain trust designed to level the information playing field. Our research teams support thousands of organizational decisions every year by delivering affordable, tailored research. Hanover operates on an annual, fixed-fee model, and partnership provides our clients with access to a team of high-caliber researchers, survey experts, analysts, and statisticians with a diverse set of skills in market research, information services, and analytics. Hanover serves over 1,000 organizations worldwide from established global organizations to emerging companies and educational institutions. From CEOs and CMOs to Superintendents, Provosts and Chief Academic Officers, to VPs of Finance and Heads of Advancement, our research informs decisions at all levels and across departments capitalizing on our exposure to myriad industries and challenges.
What are previous Associates saying? “I chose to begin my career as a Business Development Associate at Hanover for many reasons. Ultimately, I was seeking to start a foundation in a fast-paced, high-growth environment that would challenge me to think critically each day and reward me for doing so. Hanover has matched these expectations and has delivered even more. During my time as a Business Development Associate, I have had the great opportunity to gain more exposure to top executives, develop more successful business acumen, and capitalize on my growth mindset attitude. That said, this role really allows you to define your level of success. Hard work and an appetite for knowledge are reciprocated by more success, larger commission payouts, and accelerated career development. Aside from the role, the people within Hanover and the BDA team are some of the most supportive, fun-spirited individuals I have met and have made working at Hanover that much more exciting!” -Elena Preston
How to Apply If you are interested in the prospect of working for a dynamic, fast-growing company, we encourage you to submit your resume and any other supporting materials.
Hanover strives to be accessible to all users and job seekers. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance in accessing our website or completing a job application, please contact Hanover Research at 202-559-0050 or via email recruiting@hanoverresearch.com All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodation.
Hanover Research provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to their race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, familial status, genetic information, or status with regard to public assistance, or membership or activity in a local human rights commission, any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. You can learn more on our Equal Employment Page.