Director, Business Development

📋 Description

• Take ownership of and enhance a warm, established portfolio of clients, which includes previous customers, ongoing discussions, referrals, and incoming opportunities.

• Facilitate senior-level discussions regarding RFPs, scoping, pricing, and margins, both within the organization and with clients.

• Drive the strategic approach from the initial conversation to closure, ensuring that pursuits are well-qualified, thoughtfully positioned, and commercially viable.

• Comprehend and strategize around experiential purchasing cycles, extended lead times, and seasonal or significant moments.

• Act as the primary lead for RFP submissions and intricate deal pursuits, collaborating with Strategy, Creative, Production, and Account leaders.

• Guide pricing and scope choices to strike a balance between competitiveness and profitability.

• Clearly convey value, trade-offs, and investment levels to clients with confidence.

• Document insights from both successes and failures to continuously enhance strategies.

• Create and uphold a structured approach to new business, including playbooks, follow-up systems, task allocations, and forecasting.

• Manage pipeline reporting, ensuring that leadership has transparent visibility into opportunities and potential risks.

• Enhance consistency and discipline in the tracking, prioritization, and advancement of opportunities.

• Proactively reconnect with past clients and dormant relationships through thoughtful and timely outreach.

• Recognize and respond to reactivation triggers such as leadership changes, launches, agency reviews, or significant moments.

• Establish long-lasting relationships based on trust, credibility, and a profound understanding of client needs.

• Collaborate with leadership to shape the broader structure of the new business team, including the deployment of hunters, associates, PMs, or SDR-style support.

• Work alongside freelance or junior support in managing appointment scheduling, follow-ups, CRM maintenance, and minor deal assistance.

⛳️ Requirements

• 8–10+ years of experience in business development or growth leadership within experiential, creative, or integrated agencies.

• In-depth knowledge of experiential buying cycles, long lead times, and seasonal or significant planning.

• Demonstrated success in leading complex RFPs, scoping, pricing, and margin discussions.

• Strong commercial instincts with the ability to navigate nuanced, high-value transactions comfortably.

• Experience in managing and expanding a warm book of business, rather than starting from scratch.

• Capability to think strategically regarding pipeline design, forecasting, and systems.

• A collaborative and credible partner to Creative, Production, Account, and Leadership teams.

• A calm and confident communicator who can lead discussions with senior clients.

• Excels in entrepreneurial settings where structures are being developed rather than inherited.

🏝️ Benefits

• Fully remote work environment, with a co-working stipend offered.

• Wellness stipend to support both physical and mental health.

• Opportunity for significant growth with meaningful ownership and impact.

• Comprehensive insurance and benefits package, along with a 401(k) plan that includes company matching after one year of employment.