Alex Knapp
Business Development and Operations Manager
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About
Business Development and Operations Manager with nine years at D&AD, including two years of hands-on operations experience in HubSpot, carried out alongside my business development duties. I manage workflow automation, data quality, segmentation, deal stages and reporting for an awards pipeline covering 11 territories across the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, and report on performance to senior leadership each week. I’m looking for a full-time CRM and revenue operations role where I can use data and CRM insight to improve pipeline visibility, processes and revenue outcomes.
Experience
Business Development and Operations Manager at D&AD (2022-11 – Present)
- Lead the administration of awards sales activity in HubSpot following the 2025 migration from Salesforce, introducing multi-step outreach sequences and a consistent approach to segmentation and follow-up.
- Set up HubSpot workflows that identify bounced email addresses, trace them to associated deals and move those deals back to the right stage, so the pipeline and forecast reflect where each opportunity really stands.
- Defined the awards deal stages in HubSpot, including the forecast weightings, so the sales team moves deals through the pipeline consistently.
- Handle the importing and exporting of data in HubSpot. Write process documentation and user guides, and record Loom videos, to train team members on the CRM and wider processes.
- Build weekly dashboards covering more than £4.5m in pipeline, and report to the CEO and CCO on pipeline, conversion, revenue and deal progression.
- Developed the outreach and segmentation strategy for a pipeline of over 3,000 companies across the UK, the US and Europe.
- Analysed buyer journeys to identify customer types and planned nurture sequences for each, with content aimed at what that group needs. Recently launched, with the aim of improving conversion.
- Run A/B tests on email subject lines. Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for lead generation, and HubSpot’s AI tools, including smart properties, the Breeze agent and the prospecting agent, to identify customer trends and new leads.
- Check who we can lawfully contact one-to-one before outreach, keeping our marketing and sales contact GDPR-compliant.
- Developed the 2026 Call for Entry strategy across 11 territories, grouping markets by growth potential and commercial risk.
- Analysed trophy sales from FY2018–FY2026 by award level, buyer behaviour and holding company, and recommended tiered pricing that raised average revenue per trophy by around 20% while margins improved.
Business Development Executive at D&AD (2018-09 – 2022-11)
- Managed D&AD’s £1.7m North American portfolio, its largest market, including Google, Apple, WPP, Publicis, Ogilvy and Wieden+Kennedy, across the full commercial cycle from prospecting to regional forecasting and performance analysis.
Business Development Assistant at D&AD (2017-11 – 2018-09)
- Cleaned and validated regional contact data in Salesforce to improve record accuracy, and built prospect lists for Awards, Festival and Membership.
Account Executive at TPO Mobile (2015-04 – 2017-04)
- Managed client accounts and analysed CRM and Google Analytics data on customer behaviour and satisfaction, presenting trends to senior management to inform retention discussions.
Education
BA in Photography – Middlesex University, London (2012 – 2015)
