Director of Business Development

This role isn’t seeking a salesperson – we’re looking for a brand builder and a strategic orchestrator. As our Director of Business Development, you will be the engine behind our agency’s growth. You are responsible for identifying the right partners, elevating our national reputation, and managing the intricate machinery of the pursuit. This is a role for someone who loves the hunt but finds equal satisfaction in a perfectly organized CRM and a compelling, data-backed case study. You will lead the end-to-end growth process, ensuring Doe-Anderson is top-of-mind for prospects and our pitch process is a well-oiled machine. Develop and execute a proactive growth plan to identify and engage best-fit brands. Work closely with leadership to define the win – targeting categories and clients that align with our agency’s expertise and culture. Network Orchestration & Relationship Mapping: Actively cultivate a robust professional network of brand-side marketers, search consultants, and industry influencers; you don’t just collect contacts – you build meaningful relationships that allow us to get ahead of the RFP and identify growth opportunities before they are public knowledge. Curate and maintain a library of high-impact case studies and agency credentials. Partner with our creative and strategy teams to ensure our Work. People. Love promise is consistently compelling and fresh. Increase agency awareness through strategic participation in industry events, award submissions, and PR opportunities. Operational Excellence (The Sleeves Up Work) CRM Mastery: Own the pipeline. Ensure our CRM is accurate, up-to-date and used to provide clear reporting on lead status and conversion. Pitch Management: Coordinate RFI/RFP responses from start to finish, managing timelines, stakeholders, and quality control. Resource Coordination: Mobilize internal teams (Creative, Strategy, Media) to deliver winning pitch materials without burning out the engine. Reports to: Chief Executive Officer Experience: 7–10+ years in agency environments, with a significant focus on business development. You’ve likely served as a Deputy Director or Senior Manager and are ready to own the top spot. An Industry Network: You don’t just follow the industry; you’re a part of it. You already maintain active relationships with search consultants and industry gatekeepers, and you have a clear pulse on the annual circuit of conferences and events that drive agency growth. Strategic Mindset: You can analyze a prospect’s business challenges before the first meeting even happens. Detail-Oriented: You believe a typo in a deck is a deal-breaker. You enjoy the grind of organizing assets and managing databases. Communication: Exceptional writing and presentation skills. You can distill complex agency offerings into a why us narrative that sticks. The Player-Coach Mentality: You are as comfortable leading a brainstorm as you are formatting a spreadsheet or chasing down a late RFI contribution from a busy Creative Director. You know the cliché about a company being like a family? Well, sometimes clichés become clichés because they’re true. In the case of Doe-Anderson, you would be joining an organization that’s been nurturing careers (and the people attached to them) for well over a century. We like to think it’s because you can carve your own path here, supported by management and your peers. We try hard to keep corporate politics to a minimum and self-reliance to the max. That may be why almost half our employees are shareholders in the company – and why people tend to stick around nearly three times the ad agency average. There’s something about the place that makes it hard to leave. Work. People. Love. That’s what we make and how we make it. For our partners. For each other. For the world. And to create this kind of work, we strive to reflect the world we live in and speak to it every day. It requires believing in and celebrating one another as individual members of a diverse and inclusive team. We will never disqualify a potential team member based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or veteran or disability status. The Perks Summer Fridays From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we close-up shop at 3:00pm every Friday. Because making the most of every summer makes us better at what we do. Get what you gotta do done (well), and go have fun. Work‑from‑anywhere Weeks For four weeks a year, you can choose to work from literally anywhere in the world you want to. When? That’s up to you. Where is, too. Like the name says – anywhere. The farther flung, the more culturally enriching, the better. Agency Recharge Weeks For a full week in the summer and winter, we all close our laptops (and the agency closes its doors) to rest and recharge without worrying about what we might be missing at work. That’s in addition to your standard vacation time. Totally Employee Owned We’re 100% employee owned. No holding company or board of directors to answer to (or pay out profits to). Once you’ve put down roots here, you can buy in and be an owner alongside the nearly half of our employees who are, too. Our hometown since 1915 was recently dubbed “the new Austin.” We’re not sure what that means, but we’ll take it as a compliment. We like to think of Louisville as the place where Southern hospitality begins but Midwestern common sense and practicality stick around. It’s a blend of the best of both cultures. And speaking of culture, we’ve long been known for having one of the country’s most dynamic art scenes. Over the past decade, our food scene has caught up, with Louisville becoming recognized as one of the leaders in the farm‑to‑table movement. Oh, and did we mention bourbon? Mix in with a low cost of living and an ease of getting around. Stir well. Enjoy. #J-18808-Ljbffr