We are looking for a Director of Business Development to build and lead a new business acquisition function. This is a player-coach role: you will carry a personal sales quota and close deals yourself while simultaneously building the infrastructure, processes, and team to scale new business development across our service area.

In Year 1, you will be our primary hunter, personally sourcing and closing new accounts while managing the SDR function to feed qualified meetings into your pipeline.

Over time, you will add Business Development Managers, transition from personal production to team leadership, and own the full new business pipeline from lead generation through first-year account establishment.

You will report directly to the CEO and work closely with our Chief Customer Officer, who owns existing commercial strategy, client retention, and account management.

What You Will Do:

Personal Business Development (Year 1 emphasis)

• Identify, pursue, and close new accounts across our Business's service area (IL, IN, WI), with a focus on environmental firms, industrial facilities, and municipal/government entities
• Develop and manage a personal pipeline targeting $1.0M+ in new annual customer revenue in Year 1, with $1.5M as the stretch target
• Build relationships with consultants, project managers, and procurement decision-makers at target accounts
• Respond to RFPs/RFQs and develop proposals for new customers
• Leverage competitive intelligence and market dynamics to position our Business's capabilities and turnaround performance against competitors

Team Building & Leadership (escalating over time)

• Own the SDR function, optimizing the meeting-generation process and ensuring qualified pipeline flow
• Hire, onboard, and coach Business Development Managers as the team scales (first BDM anticipated within 6-18 months)
• Assign territories, set quotas, and manage BDM performance against new business targets
• Build and refine the sales playbook, outreach sequences, and competitive positioning materials
• Transition from majority personal production to majority team management as headcount grows

Pipeline & CRM Management

• Own the new business pipeline in the CRM, ensuring accurate stage tracking, forecasting, and reporting
• Provide weekly pipeline visibility to the CEO and CCO
• Analyze win/loss data, pipeline velocity, and conversion rates to continuously improve sales effectiveness

Market Intelligence & Strategy

• Monitor competitive landscape including certification changes, pricing shifts, and regulatory developments (particularly PFAS-related opportunities)
• Identify geographic and vertical expansion opportunities within the service area
• Partner with the CEO on strategic new business initiatives, including pursuit strategies for large or complex opportunities
• Track personnel movement across the consulting ecosystem. When contacts at existing customer firms move to new employers, identify the transition as an opportunity to introduce our Business to a new organization through an established, trusted relationship.

What We Are Looking For

Required

• 7+ years of B2B sales experience with a demonstrated track record of closing new business in a services or technical environment
• 3+ years managing or mentoring sales professionals (SDRs, BDMs, or account executives)
• Experience selling to technical buyers (engineers, scientists, project managers) in a relationship-driven, consultative sales environment
• Proven ability to build a pipeline from scratch, not just manage inbound leads
• Strong CRM discipline. You manage the pipeline in the system, not in your head
• Based in the greater Chicago area or willing to relocate; this is an on-site role

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in environmental services.
• Existing relationships with environmental consulting firms in the IL/IN/WI market
• Familiarity with accreditation, analytical methods, or state regulatory frameworks
• Experience in a growth-stage company with aggressive revenue targets and board-level reporting

What Will Make You Stand Out

• You've built a sales team before, not just inherited one. You know what it takes to go from solo contributor to functional leader
• You understand the consulting ecosystem: who the decision-makers are, how projects get scoped, and how companies get selected
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and don't need a polished playbook handed to you. You'll help write it
• You have a competitive streak and pay attention to what's happening in the market around you

Why Our Business

• Growth trajectory: We are actively investing in commercial capabilities and targeting significant revenue growth over the next three years
• A product that sells itself: our business delivers market-leading on-time rates and the quality our competitors promise but consistently fail to deliver. You will not be selling empty words. When you tell a prospect we hit turnaround times and get results right the first time, you will have the data and the track record to back it up. That is a rare advantage in this industry and it makes every sales conversation easier
• Greenfield opportunity: You will build this function from the ground up with full CEO support and the resources to do it right
• Competitive compensation: Base salary plus uncapped commission on personal production, team overrides as you build, and annual quota bonus
• Strategic backing: We have the capital and strategic support to invest in growth initiatives and the commercial team needed to execute

Pay: From $120,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person