Director of Business Development

Description
Midwestern-based and noted national educational publisher of supplemental curriculum resources for Pre-K-12 is seeking a Director to provide hands on expertise to Key National Accounts in business development. Position is a direct report to the Chief Operating Officer who possesses a unique blend of Marketing and Operating expertise. Client is on the leading edge of its industry in terms of product innovation, customer endorsements, loyal customer base, employee support, and its ongoing commitment to excellence. The firm has a high percentage of repeat customers among the nation’s educational publishers and continues to see increasing sales opportunities.

Candidate will be the caretaker and face of the client to key customers and will become the principle communicator of key customer needs. Manage key account sales effort to provide best in class service in an effort to maintain existing base business and achieve sales growth through acquiring new products/development projects (products, kits, custom work) from both existing and new customers by:

Strengthening current client relationships while forging new relationships deep within existing client network of executive management to line level personnel in procurement, global sourcing, inventory planning, marketing, and editorial, product development, and finance. Identify and develop productive relationships with new target clients. Works directly with Chief Operating Officer in securing supply agreements with strategic partners.

Works closely with Director of Sales Operations to: Develop and execute a sustained marketing campaign to increase client visibility in the marketplace as a full-service solutions provider. Educate current customer decision-makers to client’s broad range of manufacturing and sourcing core competencies that are not currently being utilized by customer(s). Identify opportunities to broaden client’s corporate capabilities to promote growth in new segments and channels. (contract packaging, premiums) Manage the process in which new product is quoted to customers and how price changes are delivered to customers. Assume leadership role to ensure quality service from client’s supply chain.

Works closely with the Director of Custom Publishing and Technology. Will gain introductions to key account customers. Communicating customer needs regarding supplying and or developing product. Will depend on the Director to determine project viability

Heavy travel (minimum of 7 days per month) between Boston, northern New Jersey, Orlando, Manhattan, Columbus, OH, and Glenview, IL required. Travel will increase as customer base grows. The incumbent will be responsible for all sales calls and must possess the ability to eventually hire and manage additional sales staff. Will conduct client meetings, create and give client presentations, and coordinate interface between client staff and shared resources (i.e. IT, Product Development, Creative Services, Marketing Services, Technology, Finance, Supply Chain, QC, etc).

Qualifications
Ideal candidate began their career in editorial, production, design, manufacturing, sourcing, or project management and migrated to sales, marketing and business development through career progression. Must have at least ten years in sales and/or sales management experience servicing educational publishing. Understanding of printing, packaging, injection molding, or other manufacturing or supply chain processes is preferred.

Experience servicing the publisher calling upon both creative (editorial/design/production) and operational (inventory/supply chain, procurement/purchasing) prospects. Success with identifying opportunities to source or manufacture products within educational publishing. Able to learn product and processes quickly and correlate capabilities to new opportunities. Will become knowledgeable with the front list and back list. Able to engage customers at staff, management and executive levels. Must have experience with or thorough understanding of sales forecasting or demand planning.

Exceptional writing skills. Excellent analytical skills and ability to navigate Excel spreadsheets. Bachelor’s degree is preferred. Experience with MS PowerPoint and MS Word required.

Proven hands on leader who contributes to and implements the strategic vision with colleagues and superiors. Imaginative idea generator and idea evaluator. An out of the box thinker. Passionate. Experience with SFA/CRM systems (i.e. Salesforce.com) a plus. (Will use daily.)

A verified strategic thinker who possesses strong business acumen and an understanding of the link between marketing and product development functions. Aligns work with strategic goals. An established ability to function independently, using sound judgment to make decisions in a timely manner.

Must possess the flexibility to move from the big picture down to the details. Macro to micro and comfortable in both. An ability to simplify concepts.

Company
Client is on the leading edge of its industry in terms of product innovation, customer endorsements, loyal customer base, employee support, and its ongoing commitment to excellence. The firm has a high percentage of repeat customers among the nation’s educational publishers and continues to see increasing sales opportunities. As a dominant player in existing markets and characterized by an entrepreneurial culture, the client is continually evaluating and moving into new marketing and business development opportunities. The client is empowering the next generation of leadership who will be responsible for leading the company successfully through its current and future stages of growth. Core leadership is highly stable and progressive thinkers.

Location: Open

Years Experience Required: 10 +

Salary: Base to $100,000 + incentive.