Business Development Lead

Business Development Lead

Kolar, located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, is an award-winning team that specializes in bridging best-in-class interiors, brand experience, and spatial design—built on measurable insights that spark positive change.

In this role, you are expected to embody our core values:

• Be Transformative. We are innovators driving meaningful change in the way people build relationships with space and with one another. We lead with an open mind.
• Make Quality Personal. We are humans who create beautiful experiences for other humans. We engage with empathy.
• Be Curious and Dig Deeper. We are opportunity finders, bringing diverse perspectives to the table to learn together. We stay curious.
• Succeed as a Team. We are collectively inspired and individually motivated to bring results to life. We deliver on our commitments.
• Make a Positive Impact. We are connectors of ideas, influencers of our industry and contributors to our community. We drive positive change.

The Business Development Lead is responsible for creating and qualifying new business opportunities for Kolar Design and KXI. This role owns the top of the sales funnel and serves as the first point of contact for prospective clients, strategic partners, and referral sources. This is a relationship-driven role focused on opening doors, building trust, identifying opportunities, and creating qualified conversations that lead to revenue growth.

The ideal candidate is naturally curious, highly proactive, and comfortable engaging senior decision-makers. They understand how to uncover business challenges and connect them to solutions that improve workplace experience, brand environments, and organizational performance.

Objective & Responsibilities of the Role:

Prospecting & Opportunity Development

• Develop and execute outbound prospecting strategies across target markets and industries.
• Identify and engage prospective clients through networking, referrals, email, phone, LinkedIn, and industry events.
• Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified opportunities.
• Conduct research on target accounts, industries, and key decision-makers.

Discovery & Qualification

• Lead initial conversations and discovery meetings with prospective clients.
• Identify business drivers, organizational goals, workplace challenges, and project opportunities.
• Qualify opportunities based on strategic fit, budget, timeline, and stakeholder alignment.
• Document and communicate insights into opportunities to leadership and project teams.

Relationship Building

• Build relationships with corporate leaders, procurement professionals, real estate leaders, healthcare executives, architects, and strategic partners.
• Represent Kolar Design and KXI at conferences, networking events, and industry functions.
• Develop referral networks and partnership opportunities.
• Maintain consistent follow-up and engagement with prospects.

Pipeline & Sales Process Management

• Maintain accurate CRM records and activity tracking.
• Monitor pipeline health and provide regular forecasting updates.
• Collaborate with leadership on pursuit strategies and target account planning.
• Support proposal development and opportunity advancement.

Strategic Growth Support

• Provide market intelligence and voice-of-the-customer insights.
• Identify emerging trends and opportunities within target sectors.
• Collaborate with marketing on campaigns, events, and account-based engagement initiatives.
• Help refine positioning and messaging based on prospect feedback.

Required Competencies:

• Business development or consultative sales experience
• Strong networking and relationship-building skills
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities
• Executive presence and professionalism
• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• CRM discipline and pipeline management
• Self-motivation and accountability
• Ability to navigate complex organizations
• Curiosity, resilience, and persistence
• Experience within workplace, healthcare, architecture, design, real estate, construction, technology, or professional services environments preferred

Success Metrics:

• Qualified opportunities created
• Pipeline value generated
• Strategic accounts engaged
• Discovery meetings conducted
• Opportunity-to-proposal conversion rate
• CRM data accuracy and activity levels
• New relationships established
• Contribution to revenue growth through qualified pipeline

Salary: $80,000 - $95,000+ (base, depending on location and experience)

Compensation: Position also includes commission/bonus opportunities based on performance.

Benefits (Begin on the 1st day of employment):

• Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance
• Short-Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Eligible for 401(k) Plan and Match (Immediate Vesting)
• Computing Hardware and Software provided
• Free Parking