Business Development Lead (Fractional)

About Hemisphere Hemisphere is a marketing agency that brings the excitement and persuasiveness of consumer advertising to B2B and B2G companies. We turn complex business solutions into creative stories, and campaigns that get decision makers to act. The people who pitch are the people who do the work. Our partners come from Accenture, Omnicom, Havas, Saatchi & Saatchi, Y&R, and Grey, and spent seven years leading creative for Accenture's largest new-business pursuits. Today we work with a Fortune 500 defense integrator on program pursuits and its presence at Space Symposium, AUSA, and AFA; with McKinsey on its Private Equity Transformation campaign; with a NYSE-listed company on its investor day; and with technology integrators launching new offers. Our best work happens at high-stakes moments: a pursuit that has to be won, a new CEO resetting the story, a portfolio company repositioning after acquisition, a stage at a major show. We want more of those moments, sooner. The role We are looking for a senior, well-connected operator who is already trusted inside PE-backed and growth-stage B2B companies, especially in aerospace, defense, and government services, and who hears about the big moments before they reach a brief. You are most likely a PE operating advisor, a former portfolio company executive, a fractional CMO, or an independent strategy or value-creation consultant. You work alongside the marketing function rather than inside it: in strategy, operations, finance, transactions, or growth. You regularly hear \"we just closed an acquisition and need one story,\" \"the new CEO wants a reset,\" \"we are preparing for exit,\" or \"we have a pursuit coming and nothing to show.\" When you do, you want a team you trust to hand it to. This is a fractional role, about one day a week to start. You open the door, qualify the opportunity, and co-lead the first conversations. Our partners shape, price, and deliver the work, and you stay close to the relationship. If it works, the role grows with the business (see \"Where this goes\" below). This is not a lead-list-and-cold-email role. We are hiring for your relationships and your judgment. The moments we look for We do our best work at inflection points. You will be listening for: • New leadership: a new CEO, CMO, or chief growth officer who needs to reset the story. • An acquisition or roll-up: a 100-day plan, or several companies that now need one brand and one capabilities story. • Exit or IPO preparation: an equity story, investor materials, and the film and narrative behind them. • A major pursuit: a program or contract that has to be won, with orals, capture storytelling, and proof to show. • A launch: a new product, offer, or business line that needs a market position. • A change in status: graduating out of a small-business program, entering a new market, or moving from services into products. What you will do Open doors where private equity meets defense and B2B. • PE-backed aerospace, defense, and government services (our priority). Many of these companies are built through acquisition and constantly need to merge brands, tell a combined capabilities story, and win larger programs. This is where our experience is strongest. • Private equity operating teams. Build relationships with operating partners, value-creation teams, and portfolio company CEOs and CMOs at lower middle-market and middle-market funds. The operating side is where marketing gets bought, and one relationship can open a whole portfolio. • Defense and national security. Reach marketing, business development, and capture leaders at prime contractors, mid-tier integrators, and defense-technology companies pursuing major programs or reshaping their brand. • Consulting and professional services (secondary). Reach practice and marketing leaders at consulting and advisory firms who need thought leadership, campaign, and pursuit creative. Qualify hard and early • Bring opportunities that meet our qualified-lead standard (below), so the partners spend pitch time on work we can win and want to do. • Share the context that is not in the brief: who decides, what is really driving the need, and what a win looks like for the buyer. Co-lead the first meetings • Make warm introductions and join first meetings alongside a partner. • Help shape the angle of the pitch with the partners, drawing on what you know about the buyer. • Stay the relationship owner through proposal and beyond, so clients have a trusted point of contact. Build repeatable channels • Turn one-off introductions into channels: a PE firm that brings us into several portfolio companies, or a partner firm that brings us into its pursuits. • Tell us what you are hearing in the market, so our offers and proof points keep pace with what buyers need. What a qualified lead means here An opportunity counts when it has all five: 1. A named decision maker you have spoken to or can introduce us to directly. 2. A real trigger: a pursuit, a launch, a leadership change, an acquisition, an investor event, or a repositioning. 3. Budget of $50,000 or more, or a clear path to it. 4. Timing within six months. 5. A fit with what we do: brand and positioning, campaigns and thought leadership, events and investor days, or pursuit and new-business creative. Who you are • You are already trusted by leaders at PE-backed or growth-stage B2B companies, ideally in aerospace, defense, or government services, and by the operating teams at the funds that own them. • You can name ten people with a live trigger this quarter, and the people you would call first. • You have originated senior relationships that turned into real work, and you can talk about specific introductions, deal sizes, and outcomes. • You understand how these buyers work: PE value-creation timelines and hold periods, defense pursuit and capture cycles, and how roll-ups integrate. • You have the credibility to sit with a CEO, operating partner, or chief growth officer and talk about their business, not our services. • You can tell a real opportunity from a pleasant conversation, and you say so early. • You are comfortable being a trusted introducer: your reputation is on the line with every introduction, and you protect it. • You can commit to two to three qualified introductions a month. Useful but not required: a board or advisory role at a PE-backed company; a defense or government services background, or a security clearance; experience working with or around an agency. What success looks like First 30 days • You know our work, our partners, and our strongest proof points well enough to introduce us credibly. • We have agreed a target list of 25 named accounts and firms across your networks. • Your first three introductory meetings are booked. First 90 days • Six to eight qualified leads introduced. • At least $250,000 in qualified pipeline created. • At least one proposal issued on an opportunity you sourced. First 6 months • First sourced client signed. • $500,000 or more in qualified pipeline created since day one. • At least one channel producing repeat introductions, such as a PE firm or partner firm. First 12 months • $300,000 or more in closed revenue from clients you sourced. • A steady flow of introductions we can plan around. How it works • Engagement: independent contractor, fractional, about one day a week (four to six days a month). Flexible hours. • Location: remote, with in-person meetings in New York and the Washington, DC area as needed. Reasonable travel expenses are covered when agreed in advance. • Compensation: a monthly retainer plus a success fee on revenue from clients you source, paid as the client pays us. We will share the specific numbers in our first conversation. • Start: a paid, 60-day initial phase with clear goals, so we can both confirm the fit before committing to a longer term. • Existing clients: our current clients and active prospects are house accounts and sit outside the success fee. We will share the list up front. • Conflicts: if you advise or are paid by a company you introduce, tell us before you make the introduction. We will agree how to handle it openly with you and, where needed, with the client. We will not pay a success fee on a company where you are its paid marketing adviser. Where this goes We are building this role to grow. If the introductions turn into clients, the role expands: more days, a larger retainer, and a seat in how we plan growth. At the right point, and based on results, we will talk about a senior growth leadership role at Hemisphere with the ownership and economics that come with it.