What the role really costs to employ, what the market is paying, and which licences actually gate it. Written for the employer doing the hiring.
This page is about taking a business development manager onto your payroll, not about booking one for a job. A business development manager on the award floor of $29.55 an hour costs about $67,504.19 a year once superannuation, leave loading and workers compensation are counted, against a wage of $58,390.80. That is roughly 15.6 per cent on top.
Award floor
$29.55
Commercial Sales Award (MA000083), effective 1 July 2026
Market band
$105,000 to $125,000
National advertised range, SEEK, refreshed 1 July 2026
Real annual cost
$67,504.19
At the award floor, full time, South Australian on-costs
The wage is the smallest honest answer. Worked at the award floor, full time, 38 hours a week:
| Line | How it is worked out | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Wages | $29.55 x 38 hours x 52 weeks | $58,390.80 |
| Annual leave loading | 17.5% of four weeks' wages | $786.03 |
| Superannuation | 12% of wages plus loading | $7,101.22 |
| Workers compensation | 1.85% of wages, loading and super | $1,226.14 |
| Real annual cost | Against a $58,390.80 wage | $67,504.19 |
Award floor from the Fair Work P.A.C.T summary for the Commercial Sales Award (MA000083), effective 1 July 2026. Superannuation 12 per cent for 2026-27, ATO. Leave loading 17.5 per cent of four weeks, Fair Work Ombudsman. Workers compensation 1.85 per cent, ReturnToWorkSA scheme average, which varies by state and industry so use your own insurer's rate. Payroll tax is excluded because most employers sit below the threshold. Checked 5 August 2026. Full method on what an employee really costs.
That is the floor, not the offer. The market band above is what the role is actually advertised at, and an offer pitched near the legal minimum is the one experienced people scroll past. The full rate detail for this role has the classification ladder.
None. A driver licence is a practical requirement for most field sales roles rather than a legal one attached to the occupation.
This is one of the shortest ladders in the award system: four adult classifications and nothing above them. Commercial traveller is the classification a business development manager usually sits in. A vehicle allowance is paid on top, at a rate per kilometre set by the award.
| Classification | Hourly floor | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Probationary traveller | $26.59 | Base rate |
| Merchandiser | $27.47 | Base rate |
| Commercial traveller | $29.55 | Base rate |
| Advertising sales representative | $29.55 | Base rate |
Commercial Sales Award (MA000083), adult full-time minimums effective 1 July 2026, from the Fair Work Ombudsman pay guides. Casual loading of 25 per cent sits on top. Which classification applies is decided by the work actually performed, not by the job title.
Widening or narrowing the brief by one role often does more for a stalled vacancy than raising the rate. The nearest neighbours:
Commission structures make this market unusually opaque. Two roles with the same base can pay very differently once the plan is applied, so base salary comparisons alone are close to meaningless here.
On the Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 Occupation Shortage List this role appears as 131112 Sales and Marketing Manager, not in shortage nationally or in any state, on the 2025 list. The newer OSCA classification splits out business development manager separately and rates it not in shortage as well. That is the national picture, not a claim about your town, and it is the reason an advertisement alone often does not produce a shortlist.
Advertising on-target earnings without the base, which reads as a warning sign to anyone experienced. The second is not describing the territory or the lead source, because a business development manager expected to self-generate every lead is doing a different job from one working inbound. The third is classifying the role under the wrong award: a salesperson working in a shop or an office is unlikely to be a commercial traveller.
Four checks before a name reaches you: licences verified, screened against your brief, history checked, rate locked. If one step fails, the name never reaches you. The whole process is written out here, including where reference checks actually sit.
You pay nothing until your hire starts, and if they leave inside the first 90 days we replace them free.
At the award floor of $29.55 an hour, about $67,504.19 a year once superannuation, leave loading and workers compensation are added, against a wage of $58,390.80. That is roughly 15.6 per cent on top of the wage. Payroll tax is excluded because most employers sit below the threshold.
The national advertised band is $105,000 to $125,000. The award floor of $29.55 is the legal minimum, not the market. An offer pitched near the floor is the most common reason a vacancy in this trade stays open.
The Commercial Sales Award usually applies to sales representatives who sell away from the employer's premises. A salesperson based in a shop or an office is likely covered by a different award.
No. The award sets a minimum rate for the classification. Commission sits on top and is a matter for the contract.
The award sets a rate per kilometre for a car and for a motorcycle, paid on top of the classification rate.