Job description
Remote Position - Reports To: Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Business Development
What You’ll Do
Amplify What We Do
As the Director of Client Development, you’ll help paint and sell the awe-inspiring picture of what an immersive experience and connected story can do for our potential clients and their brand. Boasting our multi-dimensional design capabilities, you’ll strive and work hard to secure a “piece of the pie” and major design contracts with investors, real estate developers and major IP holders all seeking to introduce or re-vamp place-based, visitor attractions of all sizes and focus in the United States.
Nurture Relationships
Potential clients and partners are just friends we haven’t met yet. Your job is to help them meet us and take the next step toward hiring us, referring us or partnering with us. You’ll use your experience in sales or partner development to build and nurture a growing network of connections. Using your sixth-sense, you’ll intuitively and strategically know which opportunities are right to pursue all while keeping serious leads within our orbit relationally.
Build Sales Solutions
We’ve had some pretty fantastic success through word of mouth in the US. We have a long history of building our business that way. Now, we’re putting additional wind in the sails by building out our marketing function and hiring a specific sales-based position like this for the US market. That means, you’ll have the opportunity to build on what we’ve done and shape the future for how we develop our pipeline in the United States—something that will take collaboration, negotiation, and prioritization superpowers.
Close While Solving & Serving
Make no mistake, this is a position to close new business. We have amazing capabilities at Storyland and want more and more people to know about it. However, we’re not a “sales” organization selling widgets, we’re an experience design firm selling connected stories that lift the Spirit. We have always sold our services while solving the problems of our clients, not just pressuring for a signature. We don’t just want a sale, we want to serve. We’re after building a great relationship, one that will lead to repeat business. So we’re always seeking ways we can add value or create opportunities—allowing that service to help us close the next project.
WHO’S RIGHT FOR THIS ROLE?
Great question, we’re glad you asked!
First off, you’re a great person! Emotional intelligence (check!). You’re the friend that everyone wants at the dinner party because you’ll make the party better. So much so, that when the host of the party hears you can’t make, they’d rather cancel the party than throw it without you.
You’re not a court jester or merely a smooth talker. You’re wicked smart, you know how to network in the old-school ways and you’re a jedi master at creating value and joining conversations on things like LinkedIn. You have either a direct love of theme-parks and experiences or a history in helping to build those experiences and place-based destinations. You’re not shy about creating clarity on a scope, schedule and budget, nor do you hate talking about money! You’re great at closing a deal and asking for terms that work well, easy-peasy.
You can travel, quite a bit and you don’t mind that at all. So that means you probably live in proximity to a major airport. This is not a desktop warrior job, we’re a relational company and while there will be plenty of time spent researching, planning, networking on LinkedIn and connecting via Zoom, there is nothing quite like going to dinner with people and breaking bread to build relationships and secure projects.
You’re also super curious and entrepreneurial. You don’t need someone to hold your hand or give you leads to chase, your bringing ideas to the party. When you are presented two options, you’re the kind of person who sees the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth option others didn’t know existed.
You probably have a direct sales background. You could be someone from the world of construction or land development. You might be someone who has done business development for similar experience design firms, or you might be from the corporate world and managed the licensing for world class brands and IPs. Whichever background you’re from, you know how to pitch investors and speak “C-Suite”.
Is it you?
What Success Will Look Like
For day-to-day success, you will…
- Exhibit flexibility, kindness, and a willingness to learn. Yep, that’s the top of the list!
- Land work. Probably obvious, but worth saying.
- Monitor industry trends and collect market intelligence on clients and competitors.
- Track competitor activity by monitoring websites, collateral presentations, trade journals and online chatter.
- In collaboration with the Chief Strategy Officer, support the development of the studio’s strategic plan including SWOT goals and action plans, market segmentation analysis, top clients, and revenue projections.
- Facilitate strategic partner collaborations including pre-contract sessions and potential alliances with partners like contractors, developers, IP holders, investors, companies or key consultants.
- Create and implement a key capture list to determine most viable and valuable clients to pursue.
- Establish relationships with partners including investment firms, IP holders, hospitality and retail land developers, themed entertainment, FEC and museum operators.
- Collaborate to identify project opportunities, strengthen current business ties and come up with strategies to expand Storyland’s market reach in the United States.
- Help to create and maintain a clear approach to tracking and nurturing leads.
- Actively engage and collaborate on proposal strategy, sometimes writing key proposal sections
- Build and implement a strategy for conference engagement and networking at client and industry events.
- Use social media as a tool to increase connections, raise visibility, create value and build engagement with the Storyland brand.
- Assist and collaborate on marketing for the US Market.
- Brief and support project teams as requested by producers and/or executives.
- Deliver sales presentations to key customers in coordination with additional Storylanders.
- Assist operations with optimizing the approach to serving pre-contract collaborations in service of securing work.
- Be comfortable in ambiguity and shaping “something” into something extraordinary without paint-by-number instructions.
- Happy to work in the USA, where this role is based.
- Write and communicate well. Ya, good grammar isn’t optional.
- Display continual curiosity.
What You’ll Bring To The Party
Skills and Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Public Relations or related field (preferred).
- Minimum of 7 years of related experience required
- Knowledge of AEC/Real Estate/Land Development/Investment markets.
- Skilled at developing and delivering presentations.
- Ability to prioritize effectively.
- While you can carry a lot on your own, you enjoy having a pack and work well on team.
- Discretion and confidentiality are your friends.
- You have the ability to think entrepreneurially, creatively and strategically.
- You, follow through on your follow through.
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- You have the ability to provide advice and recommendations in an informed and confident manner.
- Outstanding organizational skills; persistent, tactful and enthusiastic.
- Communicates with co-workers, management, clients and others with a responsive, service-oriented mindset; self-starter, resourceful, detail oriented.
- You have exceptional written and verbal communication skills. Bonus points for a sense of humor!
- You have an EQ that matches or supersedes your IQ — we hire just as much, if not more, based on values than strictly intellect or ability. If you’re humble, hungry, and servant-hearted—you’ve found your people!
- You see feedback as a means to growth, rather than criticism.
- You have a growing interest in the themed entertainment and attraction industry (for Storyland Studios clients).
- You’ll be comfortable working around cause and Christian faith-based clientele which we do through our sister studio, PlainJoe (though this is not the focus of this position).
- You’re fluent in English—equally able to write or present.
About Us
Storyland Studios is an experience design and production management firm with offices in the US and Europe. We imagine, design and create immersive experiences and environments that lift the Spirit.
From our shared background at Walt Disney Imagineering, we learned the art, craft and science of experience design—of telling stories in space. Our team of over 100 veteran Imagineers, strategists, marketers, artists, animators, designers, and developers craft connected stories and create truly immersive experiences.
We’re a fun-loving family that loves what we do and leads with our heart. We serve the themed-entertainment and attraction market through the Storyland Studios brand and Christian-based cause organizations through our sister brand, PlainJoe.
We care about the life and development of our people and want to come alongside you to care for you in your pursuits.
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