Director of Business Development

VSA Partners is a design-driven branding and marketing company. What do we mean by “design-driven?” VSA was founded as a design firm more than 30 years ago with the belief that design is not only a craft, but a tool for achieving business objectives. As design thinkers, we approach business challenges holistically and aim to break down silos between branding, digital, marketing and advertising.

The Director of Business Development is responsible for prospecting, pursuing, closing and on boarding new client business. He/she will help to develop and implement the methodology used, as well as play a role in the development of wider agency growth initiatives, such as assessing new markets, developing new capabilities, and analyzing business opportunities. The Director of Business Development constantly strives to achieve this in a way that is unique to VSA.

* Help develop and execute VSA’s growth plan with the CMO and agency leadership. * Set standards for vetting new client opportunities, and present a clear point-of-view to CMO (and agency leadership team) when evaluating each opportunity. * Lead RFI/RFP responses as main point of contact throughout the process. * Drive the pitch/proposal process, including determining a strategy to win, casting, timing/pacing and presentation/pitch approaches. * Lead internal teams during pitch process. * Oversee a team of business development managers, as well as additional resources from across the agency. * Develop and maintain an extensive pipeline of qualified prospects in priority categories. * Own and manage the agency’s prospect management tool. * Work closely with PR and communications team to build and implement VSA content marketing strategy in order to build the pipeline. * Support opportunities for organic growth of existing clients by working through Client Engagement team. * Manage the agency’s business development materials, such as a library of VSA case studies. Ideate new formats and tools when possible. * Help to develop credentials for new agency capabilities and locations, when needed. * Help to continually develop the VSA story so that it stands out and is differentiated among our agency competition. * Develop relationships with agency search consultants. * Represent VSA at conferences and events in order to look for opportunities to build relationships with prospective new clients and partners/vendors to support our new business efforts.

* Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Business or related field. Master’s Degree a plus. * Minimum of 10 years of client service experience preferably in agency environment with 5+ years of proven business development. * Proven track record and demonstrated ability to be forward-thinking and innovative, while understanding client needs and the capabilities of VSA’s business processes and technologies. * A commitment to high quality work and to positive and productive relationships with all – clients, team members, peers, managers, etc. * Strong presenter and communicator, able to develop powerful presentations, and articulate in a confident manner. * Skills in complex problem solving, judgment, critical thinking and decision making. * Self-starter, capable of setting goals and reporting progress against them. * Ability to be versatile and handle multiple projects and re-prioritization. * Ability to maintain self-motivation and to work independently in team environments. * Able to work collaboratively with other departments to resolve complex issues. * Demonstrated ability to organize, lead and facilitate meetings with multiple agency leaders. * Experience working in a fast-paced environment.