Hiring in Fintech: Sales Manager vs Business Development Manager. Who Do You Actually Need?

This season, many of the searches we run at Evotym start with the same request: an experienced Sales or Business Development Manager who will stay with the company for years.

But before the search starts, a company has to decide who exactly to hire, and this is where it gets difficult. Some companies come to us and ask: what's the difference between a Sales Manager and a Business Development Manager (BDM), and which one do we need?

So in this article, we look at how these roles differ in fintech today, how to define the role before you start the search, and how to understand who you actually need.

Why it's hard to define the Sales role

We see this most often in small companies, under 50 people, that are making their first Sales hire. There is no sales function yet, so the new hire is expected to cover everything at once: find new clients, look after existing ones and open new client segments.

Each of these tasks calls for a different experience. Winning new clients needs a hunter with outbound experience and a network in your segment. Growing existing accounts needs an account manager who builds long-term relationships. Opening a new segment needs someone who can research it and bring in the first clients from it. When one job description asks for all 3, the search takes longer, and candidates are hard to compare, because each of them is strong in a different part of the job.

As our recruitment partner Mariam Mamulia says:

‍"Many companies struggle to define what they need from a commercial hire because they haven't assessed where they stand in the market today or where they want to be in 3, 6 or 12 months."

Sales Manager vs Business Development Manager: what's the difference

Indeed's employer guide explains the difference through the stages of the sales process. BDM works at the start: it researches markets, qualifies leads and builds strategic partnerships. Sales takes the opportunity to a closed deal, and its results are usually measured against a sales quota.

In fintech, the 2 roles often overlap. To see how companies use these titles in practice, we looked at all open roles in the Sales and Business Development section on Evotym Careers in November 2026: 22 unique vacancies at PSPs, EMIs, acquirers, crypto payment companies and payment technology providers. Here's what we found:

• Most roles are full-cycle Sales. The candidate builds their own pipeline and takes a merchant from first contact to a signed agreement.
• A Business Development title often describes the same work. Only a few BD roles focus on entering new segments and markets and acquiring customers there.
• Sales roles often include BDM tasks too, such as tracking the market and competitors.

So in practice, the line between the 2 roles is blurry. As Mariam explains, everything a Sales Manager does is also part of BD work: a Sales Manager is usually hired to grow revenue from a defined market or customer segment. A Business Development Manager may have the same Sales target but is also often responsible for figuring out where future Sales will come from and how to reach those customers.

Here's how it looks in practice. Imagine a fintech company that already works with restaurants and retail businesses in the UK. It can hire a Sales Manager to keep bringing in new clients from these segments. Or it can hire a BDM to add, for example, hospitality or any other new segment: map the market, run product and competitor research, and win the first clients from this new segment within 6 months.

Scale matters too. A BD Manager can open a new segment or a smaller market, such as a region or a country. Entering a large new geographic market needs more seniority, and that's usually a job for a commercial director.

So when you're hiring, start with the tasks: what this person will do every day and what results you expect from them. Choose the title once the tasks are clear.

Here is a comparison of the 2 roles. Keep in mind that the line between them is blurry: a BD Manager does all the Sales work in the left column, and the right column shows what they add on top.

A combined Sales and BD role can also work, as long as it's clear which tasks come first and whether candidates with this mix of experience exist in your market. This is exactly what market mapping helps you check.

Not sure who you need? Start with market mapping

If you're still not sure whether you need a Sales or a Business Development Manager, market mapping can help. This is research and consolidated market data on the role, organised around the questions that matter to your business. At Evotym, we often start with it when the profile isn't settled yet: a first Sales hire in a new segment or market, a combined role or a function you've never hired for.

With market mapping, you can:

• Benchmark salaries for the role in your target markets
• See who works at your competitors, and in which roles
• Compare candidates' backgrounds and career paths to understand which expertise the role needs most
• Set realistic expectations based on what the market offers
• Build focused search hypotheses
• Understand what your company needs to offer to attract the right people

This saves time and budget. You know who you're looking for before the first interview, and the search goes straight to the right profile.

How to define the role so the right person stays

From our side, the Sales hires who stay longest join with 3 things in place: a network in the company's segment, a role that matches what they heard at the interview, and a clear plan for the first 90 days. All 3 depend on how well the role is defined before the search starts. Before you open it, decide on these points:

1. The main focus. Is it winning new clients in your current segments, growing existing accounts or opening a new segment? Once you know this, it's clear which network to look for. In B2B fintech, deals often come through relationships and referrals. A lot of our current vacancies ask for an active network in the segment, and some list it as a firm requirement.
2. The scope. Which markets, products and clients will this person work with? High-risk or low-risk merchants, merchants or banks, 1 region or several – each of these needs different experience. When the scope is clear, the job the candidate gets matches what you discussed at the interview.
3. What success looks like. What should be in place after 3, 6 and 12 months? Turn the first months into a 90-day plan: time to learn the product, a few weeks selling alongside a senior colleague, then their own pipeline. We've described how to structure the first 90 days of a fintech Sales hire in more detail.

Once the role is defined, you can prepare for the interviews. We've put together a guide to hiring B2B fintech Sales talent based on our recruitment partners' experience of interviewing Sales candidates. It includes the criteria we use to assess Sales professionals in our own searches and a list of interview questions you can use right away.

One more important thing to cover is timing. We often get requests to find a Sales Manager before a big industry conference or right after it, so they can meet potential clients at the event or follow up on the leads. If you're already planning your conference presence for next year, it's worth thinking about hiring now. For senior fintech roles, it usually takes 4 to 8 weeks from brief to signed offer, plus the candidate's notice period. So if you'd like your new hire in place for Q1 events, the search should start now. This way, they'll have time to learn the product before the first conference.

Final thoughts

When you're hiring a Sales or Business Development Manager, keep these points in mind:

• Start with the tasks. In fintech, job titles are often mixed, so first decide what this person will do and what results you expect.
• Remember that the roles overlap. A Sales Manager wins new clients in your current segments. A Business Development Manager does the same work and also opens new client segments and markets.
• Use market mapping when the profile isn't clear. It shows what the market offers and which expertise the role needs most.
• Define the focus, scope and success criteria. These 3 decisions help you find someone with the right network, offer a role that matches the interview and set a clear 90-day plan.
• Plan around events. If you're hiring for Q1 conferences, start the search now.

At Evotym, we hire Sales and Business Development Managers for fintech companies across Europe and beyond. We help you understand who you need, define the right profile and, when the profile isn't settled yet, map the market so your expectations match what it can offer. Then we find candidates who fit the role and are ready to stay with you for the long term.

We know fintech, payments and crypto hiring inside out, and we assess Sales candidates with the same approach we've shared in this article and in our guide: clear tasks, a defined scope and success criteria from the start.

If you're planning a Sales hire and want to get it right the first time, let's talk. Fill out the form, and we'll get back to you shortly.