Director of Retirement Plan Business Development

Director of Retirement Plan Business Development

Location: Rochester, NY; onsite

Salary: $105,000 to $130,000 base, plus commission (on-target earnings $170,000 to $200,000)

Employment Type: Full Time

Travel: Regional travel across the Buffalo-to-Albany corridor for prospect and client meetings as needed; mileage reimbursed. Not a heavy-travel role.

Relay Recruiting is proud to partner with an established, local wealth management firm in Rochester, NY, seeking a Director of Retirement Plan Business Development to build the first dedicated new-business engine for its growing 401(k) advisory practice.

The Opportunity

This is a full-cycle, hunter-first business development role built for someone who wants to own new business from the very first conversation. You'll build your own target list, open the door with CFOs, CEOs, business owners, and HR leaders across the Buffalo-to-Albany corridor, and lead the sales process through a signed plan. Once a plan comes on board, you'll stay through the custodian conversion and employee rollout, then hand the relationship to a servicing advisor and head back out to hunt. This is not a licensed seat, no investment advice, no advisor-of-record responsibilities, which means the door is wide open to strong B2B sellers from payroll, benefits brokerage, PEO, HCM, or commercial banking, not just people who already sell retirement plans.

What makes this role different is the upside. Most 401(k) sales roles cap out at a base-plus-bonus structure that resets every year. This one builds: you earn an ongoing trail on every plan you source, starting in year two, so your income compounds as your book grows, without anyone raising your quota to get there. You'll also be the first person to ever own this function full time here. The target list, the outreach cadence, and the CRM process are still being built, and you'll have real input in shaping how they work going forward. Leadership is collaborative and hands-off day to day, favors autonomy over micromanagement, and invests seriously in its people through coaching, continuing education, and conferences.

There's a mission underneath the numbers, too. This practice gives business owners and their employees access to professional, objective retirement advice that most people never otherwise get, delivered through one-on-one enrollments for every new hire and in-person education rather than a passive paperwork-and-login experience. You'll be selling something the firm is genuinely proud of, backed by an independently certified fiduciary standard that few firms in the market can claim.

About the Company

The firm offers full-service wealth management, including financial planning, retirement planning, estate planning, tax planning, and Medicare insurance solutions, alongside a dedicated and growing 401(k) advisory practice built around three pillars: fiduciary protection at the trustee level, HR-level plan support, and employee-level education and engagement. The firm is independently certified for fiduciary excellence and serves as a co-fiduciary on the plans it manages, taking on liability that most advisors won't. It manages plans ranging from solo practices to large corporate sponsors across professional services, manufacturing, nonprofit, and healthcare, and is known for high-touch employee engagement, including one-on-one enrollments, in-person education, and on-site events, rather than a passive paperwork-and-login approach.

Team culture centers on ownership and a genuine “figure-it-out” mentality. Leadership invests heavily in its people through continuing education, sales coaching, conferences, and professional development, and is genuinely open to new ideas, tools, and resources that help the team be more effective. The team works out of a single Rochester office, with the flexibility this role naturally requires for time in the field and gathers periodically for team trips and events.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and execute a personal business plan and outbound prospecting strategy targeting CFOs, CEOs, business owners, and HR leaders to win new 401(k) plan relationships.
• Develop and manage a full sales pipeline from first conversation through signed plan, tracking activity and progress in the firm's CRM.
• Source opportunities through a mix of proactive outreach, networking, referrals, and centers of influence, opening both cold and warm conversations with prospective plan sponsors.
• Present the firm's fiduciary protection, plan design, and employee-engagement value proposition to decision-makers, positioning it against competing providers and advisors.
• Manage a long, consultative sales cycle, staying engaged with prospects over months without losing momentum or discipline.
• Partner with the firm's marketing lead on outreach strategy, campaigns, and client-facing collateral and events.
• Coordinate with the fiduciary, HR support, and education and enrollment specialists to ensure a smooth handoff once a plan signs, staying engaged through custodian conversion and employee rollout before returning to new business development.
• Help shape and refine the sales process itself, including the target list, outreach cadence, and CRM workflows, as the first person to own this function full time.
• Track and report pipeline activity and progress toward annual new-plan revenue targets.
• Stay current on retirement plan trends, competitive offerings, and prospects' business needs to sharpen outreach and positioning.

What We're Looking For

• 5 to 10 years of B2B sales experience with a demonstrated record of prospecting, opening new doors, and closing new business, not primarily managing existing or inbound relationships.
• Comfortable with a long, unpredictable sales cycle where activity and results don't always track together in the short term.
• Self-directed, with the ability to build and run a personal pipeline and process without close day-to-day sales management.
• Strong at opening conversations with CFOs, CEOs, business owners, and HR leaders.
• A track record of growth, promotion, or increasing responsibility over the course of your career.
• Bachelor's degree preferred; a strong, demonstrated sales record can outweigh the degree requirement.
• Comfortable operating in a non-licensed, non-advisory capacity, building relationships and opening doors rather than giving investment advice or serving as advisor of record.

Bonus Points If You Have:

• A background in payroll, benefits brokerage, PEO, HCM, or commercial banking.
• Experience selling through networking, referrals, and centers of influence rather than cold outreach alone.
• Experience managing a pipeline through a CRM.

Compensation and Benefits

Base salary $105,000 to $130,000, on-target earnings: $170,000 to $200,000, growing beyond that as your trail builds year over year. Medical, dental and vision. FSA and HSA options available. EZAccessMed for you, your spouse, and children – no copay, no deductible. Life insurance. 401K plan, generous PTO, EAP.

Equal Opportunity

Relay Recruiting is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status under applicable law.