Senior Business Development Manager

About The Chief of Staff Association

The Chief of Staff Association (CSA) is the world's leading professional community for chiefs of staff. We exist to define, elevate, and advance the chief of staff role. Through our membership programs, executive education, coaching, and talent services, we serve a global community of chiefs of staff and the organizations that rely on them. Our two core service lines, Membership and Talent, work in close partnership to deliver exceptional value to members, candidates, and client organizations alike.

If you are passionate about the impact a great chief of staff can have, and want to help shape the profession's future, we'd love to meet you.

About The Role

This role was created to build new client revenue in one of CSA's priority growth segments: Scaling Business, which we define as companies with roughly $20M to $100M in annual revenue. As Senior Business Development Manager, you will own new business development for this segment across our executive search, consulting from prospecting and qualifying target companies through to building relationships with CEOs, founders, and senior executives and closing new engagements.

This is an individual contributor role with a clear new-business focus. Once an engagement is signed, you will hand the client relationship to our delivery team, who own delivery, renewals, and expansion, so your time and attention stay on building pipeline and winning new clients. You will start from the channel plans, target lists, and early playbooks CSA has already developed for this segment, and you will refine them as you learn what converts.

Reporting to the Managing Director, Talent, you will work alongside a business development colleague who owns the Private Equity segment. You will partner closely with Marketing on lead quality and targeting, and with the recruiting and delivery teams to make sure sales commitments match delivery capacity.

This is a full-time, exempt role based in Denver, CO or New York, NY, working in a hybrid capacity with a commitment to being onsite one day a week. The role includes regular travel for client meetings and industry events.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities may evolve as the function matures but generally align to the following core areas:

• New Business Development & Pipeline

  • Own and execute the business development strategy for the Scaling Business segment, building on CSA's existing channel and go-to-market plans.

  • Prospect, qualify, and close new client organizations across executive search and consulting engagements, against an annual new-revenue target.

  • Generate your own pipeline through targeted outbound outreach, referrals, partnerships, events, and your existing network.

  • Convert qualified leads handed off by Marketing into signed engagements, and share feedback on lead quality and conversion to improve targeting over time.

  • Scope, price, and negotiate engagements within CSA's approved pricing guidelines, bringing any exceptions to the Managing Director, Talent for approval.

• Handoff to Delivery

  • Partner with the delivery team to hand off each new client smoothly, so that scope, expectations, and key relationships transfer clearly from sale to delivery.

  • Pass renewal and expansion opportunities you identify during the sales process to the delivery team, who own those conversations.

• Pipeline Management, Forecasting & Reporting

  • Manage your pipeline in HubSpot with consistent discipline, keeping deal stage, value, and forecast data accurate and current.

  • Report regularly to the Managing Director, Talent on bookings, pipeline health, and forecast.

  • Track and report on core sales measures, including pipeline value, win rate, average deal size, and sales cycle length.

• Cross-Functional Partnership

  • Work with Marketing on ideal client profile definition, campaign targeting, and lead quality for the Scaling Business segment.

  • Coordinate with the recruiting and delivery teams so that sales commitments align with delivery capacity and candidate availability.

  • Work closely with your business development colleague covering Private Equity, sharing what is working and handing off opportunities clearly where they cross segments.

  • Represent the voice of Scaling Business clients in internal planning and service design.

You May Be a Fit If

• You have a track record of meeting or exceeding quota in consultative B2B new-business sales, ideally selling professional services, executive search, or recruiting services to senior executives or founders.

• You bring six or more years of business development or sales experience, including building and forecasting your own pipeline.

• You have sold to CEOs, founders, or similarly senior buyers, and you understand how growth-stage companies make decisions about leadership and talent.

• You are comfortable leading a complex sale with multiple stakeholders and a longer, relationship-driven cycle.

• You are energized by opening new client relationships and winning new logos, and you are comfortable handing clients to a delivery team once an engagement is signed.

• You are motivated by building pipeline in a segment that is still being developed, using existing channel plans and target lists as a starting point rather than a finished playbook.

• You bring rigor to pipeline management and reporting, and you are comfortable working in a CRM, ideally HubSpot.

• You are comfortable working as an individual contributor with significant ownership and without a team to delegate to.

• You understand, or are curious to learn, the value a strong chief of staff brings to a CEO and a growing organization.

You May Not Be a Fit If

• You prefer managing and growing existing accounts over winning new clients, since renewals and expansion sit with our delivery team.

• You are looking to lead a team in the near term, as this is an individual contributor role.

• Your experience is mainly in high-volume, transactional, or inbound-only sales, and you have not yet carried a long, consultative cycle with senior buyers.

• You need a fully built playbook, an established book of business, and a mature pipeline to be successful from your first day.

• You are looking for a fully remote role or one without regular travel.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation will reflect the successful candidate's experience, skills, and location. It includes base salary, a quarterly bonus and commission on new client revenue. Full-time employees also receive a monthly QSEHRA healthcare contribution, 401(k) participation, unlimited PTO, a full remote tech set-up, co-working access, and eligibility for monthly spot bonuses.

Denver, CO:

• Base Salary: $140,000 to $160,000 annually

• OTE: $200,000 to $220,000 annually

New York, NY:

• Base Salary: $155,000 to $180,000 annually

• OTE: $215,000 to $240,000 annually

What to Expect from Our Selection Process

The selection process is designed to assess the whole candidate and foster a mutual match for you and us. The process includes:

1. Take The Predictive Index™ Behavioral Assessment

2. 30 minute video screening interview with HR

3. 30 minute video interview with hiring manager

4. (2-3) 30 minute video block interviews with CSA colleagues

5. Take home assessment & in-person interview

6. References & background check

*Note:

The Chief of Staff Association partners with The Predictive Index to align workstyles with the role. All applicants complete a quick, two-question, five-minute assessment - no right or wrong answers, and receive a profile readout upon completion.

The Chief of Staff Association is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace where our employees can thrive and be themselves. We welcome all persons into our community. We embrace the diversity of gender, gender identity or expression, race, colour, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, physical and mental disabilities, medical condition, genetic characteristic, sexual orientation, marital status, family care or medical leave status, military or veteran status, or perceived membership in any of these groups.