Dublin – hybrid, 2 days in the office
Four-day working week

My client is an established Dublin-based design consultancy helping ambitious organisations strengthen their brands, customer experiences and physical and digital environments.

Working across strategy, brand, experience and design, the business partners with organisations in sectors including retail, healthcare, hospitality, workplace and professional services.

They are now seeking an experienced Director of Business Development to join the senior leadership team and take ownership of commercial growth across the business.

This is a senior, highly visible role for someone who can combine hands-on new-business development with strategic thinking, strong client relationships and a clear understanding of how a creative consultancy grows.

About the Role

The Director of Business Development will be responsible for driving new revenue, building a strong and sustainable pipeline and helping shape the consultancy’s broader growth strategy.

Working closely with the Managing Partner, senior leadership team and creative and design teams, you will identify the organisations and sectors the business should be targeting, develop relationships with senior decision-makers and lead opportunities through from initial engagement to proposal, pitch, negotiation and conversion.

This is not a role for someone who simply manages inbound enquiries.

You will be expected to proactively create opportunities through networking, targeted outreach, referrals, partnerships and industry engagement while also identifying opportunities to deepen and expand relationships with existing clients.

You will also play an important role in how the consultancy positions itself in the market, ensuring marketing, thought leadership and business-development activity are working together to generate meaningful commercial opportunities.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and execute a clear new-business strategy aligned with the consultancy’s growth objectives.
  • Identify, research and pursue new opportunities across agreed sectors and target organisations.
  • Build relationships with senior decision-makers and prospective clients.
  • Own new-business opportunities from initial engagement through proposal, pitch, negotiation and close.
  • Create and maintain a healthy pipeline capable of supporting agreed quarterly and annual revenue targets.
  • Develop opportunities through networking, referrals, industry relationships, strategic partnerships and targeted introductions.
  • Lead proactive sales and outreach campaigns aimed at priority sectors and organisations.
  • Manage and coordinate relationships with external sales or business-development partners where required.
  • Identify opportunities to grow revenue within existing client relationships.
  • Work closely with senior client and design teams to shape commercially viable opportunities that meet client needs.
  • Ensure proposed work aligns with the consultancy’s capabilities, positioning and commercial objectives.
  • Partner with the senior leadership team to identify new markets, sectors, services and revenue opportunities.
  • Maintain accurate opportunity and client information within HubSpot.
  • Monitor pipeline value, conversion rates and revenue forecasts.
  • Provide regular reporting to senior leadership on activity, pipeline development, conversion and performance against target.
  • Take direct accountability for agreed new-business and revenue targets.
  • Help shape the consultancy’s market positioning and broader growth strategy.
  • Work with the wider team to ensure marketing and content activity supports lead generation and commercial objectives.
  • Identify opportunities to raise the consultancy’s profile through events, partnerships, awards, PR, networking and thought leadership.
  • Support the development of strong case studies, credentials and sales materials.
  • Monitor market trends, competitor activity and changing client needs to identify new opportunities.

Requirements

  • Significant experience in senior business development, commercial growth or new-business roles.
  • A strong track record of generating and converting new business.
  • Experience selling complex, consultative or creative services to senior decision-makers.
  • Evidence of personally building and managing a substantial new-business pipeline.
  • Strong experience taking opportunities through proposal, pitch, negotiation and close.
  • Excellent networking and relationship-building skills.
  • Commercial confidence and the ability to engage credibly with senior client stakeholders.
  • Strong understanding of pipeline management, forecasting and sales performance metrics.
  • Experience using CRM systems such as HubSpot or similar.
  • Ability to work effectively with creative, design, strategy or professional-services teams.
  • Strong presentation, pitching and negotiation skills.
  • Ability to combine strategic thinking with hands-on business development activity.
  • A proactive and self-directed approach, with strong personal accountability for results.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to contribute effectively as part of a senior leadership team.

Desirable

  • Experience working within a design consultancy, creative agency, branding agency or other professional-services environment.
  • An established network among senior decision-makers in relevant sectors.
  • Experience growing existing client relationships as well as winning new accounts.
  • Experience contributing to marketing, thought leadership or market-positioning strategy.
  • Knowledge of sectors such as retail, healthcare, hospitality, workplace, property or consumer brands.

The Opportunity

This is a senior commercial role with genuine influence over the future direction of the consultancy.

You will have the opportunity to shape which sectors and clients the business pursues, influence how the consultancy positions itself in the market and work directly with senior creative and commercial leaders to convert opportunities into long-term client relationships.

The role offers significant autonomy, a seat at the senior leadership table and the opportunity to help drive the next stage of growth within an established and respected creative consultancy.

It also offers an unusually attractive working structure: a four-day week, with just two days per week required in the Dublin office.

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