Sales and Business Development Intern

Why this role exists

C-DISC needs an early-career person who can help create, qualify and move commercial opportunities rather than simply maintain a list of leads. The role gives direct exposure to B2B sales, customer discovery, field visits, market mapping, CRM discipline and business development experiments while building the habits required to grow into a full-time commercial role.

Load-bearing contribution

You create market intelligence and pipeline momentum. Intern-level work still carries the C-DISC name, but the role is larger than clean follow-up alone. Good research, a thoughtful outreach angle, a useful customer insight or a well-documented experiment can change where the team spends its time and how the sales playbook evolves.

What you will own

• Research and qualify developers, prefab companies, architects, contractors, eco-resort and farmstay operators, institutional buyers and other relevant segments.

• Maintain CRM hygiene: log conversations, update stages, record next actions and flag stalled or unclear opportunities early.

• Support outbound prospecting through calls, LinkedIn, email, referrals, events and other routes, testing different approaches rather than relying on one script.

• Assist in preparing client-facing pitch decks, proposals, account briefs and follow-up material under the Sales Head or Business Development lead.

• Coordinate site visits, demos and customer meetings with technical and site teams.

• Shadow client meetings and pitches, capture objections and turn repeated learning into better outreach and qualification playbooks.

• Track competitor activity, market pricing, segment behaviour and customer feedback to support sales strategy.

• Experiment with at least one non-obvious route to reach customers, such as architect networks, reference sites, ecosystem partners, communities or referral loops.

• Never commit a delivery timeline, technical capability or commercial term without the appropriate sign-off. Escalate rather than improvise.

What we need

• Strong communication skills and comfort speaking with customers on the phone and in person.

• Curiosity and first-principles thinking. You should want to understand why a customer buys, not only whether they replied.

• Willingness to travel for site visits, meetings and field learning.

• Ability to research properly and organise findings so another person can act on them.

• Comfort with CRM tools, spreadsheets and basic sales reporting.

• High adaptability. You may move between desk research, calls, site visits, proposals and market experiments in the same week.

• Resilience and learning speed. Rejection should produce better questions and better playbooks, not just more activity.

Good to have

• Prior internship or college project in sales, business development, customer research or B2B client-facing work.

• Interest in construction, infrastructure, sustainability, real estate, industrial products or startups.

• Existing exposure to architects, contractors, developers, student entrepreneurship networks or business communities.

• Experience running an event, club, campaign or project where you had to persuade people and create momentum.

What success looks like in the first 90 days

• CRM entries are complete, current and useful without repeated checking by the Sales Head.

• At least one qualified opportunity is independently moved from first contact to proposal or serious commercial discussion.

• A reusable prospecting or qualification playbook is documented from real conversations.

• At least one new outreach or market-development experiment is run with a clear hypothesis and learning review.

• Client-facing material and conversations remain accurate against approved company facts.

• You can explain PEN Foundation's value proposition clearly to a new prospect and adapt the explanation to different buyer types.

Non-negotiables in this role

• No fake research, invented contact details or copied account notes presented as original work.

• No commitment on price, delivery, technical suitability or performance without the appropriate approval.

• No active opportunity left stale in CRM without a next action or clear reason.

• No unverified claim used to make a pitch sound stronger.

• No repeating the same outreach method indefinitely when evidence says it is not working.

Culture signals we will look for

• You ask 'Who else should we speak to?' and 'What else could work?' rather than waiting for another lead list.

• You are comfortable shifting between research, calls, meetings, field visits and documentation.

• You learn from rejection instead of hiding it.

• You turn repeated objections or successful approaches into a reusable playbook.

• You care about the long-term customer relationship, not only getting a meeting.

Growth path

Sales and Business Development Intern to Business Development Associate, Sales Executive, Strategic Partnerships Associate or Growth role depending on performance and demonstrated strengths.