Director of Business Development

Location: U.S. Remote (Eastern Time Preferred)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Compensation: Base Salary + Commission

About 36creative

36creative is a creative, marketing, and technology agency that helps organizations grow through thoughtful strategy, strong creative, and high-performance digital experiences.

Our agency work spans brand development, website design and development, ecommerce, UX, print and collateral design, marketing campaigns, and ongoing optimization programs. We love partnering with organizations that value strategic thinking, strong design, and measurable outcomes from agencies.

We are looking for a Director of Business Development to help expand our client portfolio and introduce our capabilities to organizations seeking a strategic creative and marketing partner.

The Role

This is a consultative business development role, not a transactional sales role.

You will identify, cultivate, and close relationships with organizations that need support across branding, marketing, creative services, and digital experiences.

You will work closely with agency leadership to shape opportunities, develop proposals, and bring in clients that align with our expertise and capabilities.

The ideal candidate understands how creative agencies deliver value and can connect business challenges with the right mix of strategy, creative, marketing, and technology. Additionally, the ideal candidate understands how to translate our services and capabilities into measurable ROI and tangible business outcomes that demonstrate clear value to clients.

Key Responsibilities

1. Build and Manage Sales Pipeline

• Identify and pursue organizations that could benefit from creative, marketing, or digital services
• Generate new business opportunities through outreach, networking, partnerships, referrals, and industry relationships
• Maintain a consistent pipeline of qualified opportunities

2. Lead Discovery and Opportunity Development

• Conduct discovery conversations to understand client goals, challenges, and opportunities
• Identify opportunities across branding, marketing campaigns, web development, digital experiences, and creative work
• Collaborate with internal leadership to shape appropriate scopes of work

3. Position Agency Capabilities

• Present agency services in a way that connects creative and technical solutions to measurable business outcomes
• Help clients understand how branding, marketing, and digital strategy work together
• Build trusted relationships with founders, executives, and marketing leaders

4. Close New Business

• Manage opportunities from initial conversation through proposal, negotiation, and contract
• Work with leadership to develop scopes, budgets, and timelines
• Ensure smooth transition from sales to delivery teams once engagements begin

5. Build Long-Term Client Partnerships

• Identify opportunities for ongoing engagements and retainer relationships
• Maintain strong relationships that lead to additional projects and referrals

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, Advertising, or a related field
• Equivalent professional experience in agency business development or consultative sales may be considered in lieu of a degree
• MBA or other advanced business degree preferred, but not required

Required Experience

• 3+ years of experience using a CRM platform (HubSpot preferred) to manage pipeline, track opportunities, maintain accurate forecasting, and support a disciplined sales process
• 5+ years of experience in business development, agency sales, or consultative B2B sales
• Experience selling creative, marketing, branding, or digital services
• Proven ability to close engagements ranging from mid-sized projects to larger strategic partnerships
• Experience managing the full sales cycle from prospecting and discovery through proposal and contract
• Strong ability to communicate strategic and creative solutions to executive-level decision makers

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience working within or selling services for a creative, marketing, or digital agency
• Familiarity with integrated services, including branding, web development, marketing campaigns, digital experiences, and creative strategy
• Experience working with CMOs, founders, and senior marketing leaders
• Established professional network that may support new business development
• MBA or other advanced business education is considered a plus

Professional Competencies

• Strong relationship-building and networking skills
• Excellent consultative selling and discovery abilities
• Ability to translate creative or technical work into clear business value
• Strategic thinking combined with practical execution
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong ability to collaborate with internal department leaders to craft strategic proposals and scopes of work that align with client needs and agency capabilities

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role includes:

• Building and maintaining a consistent pipeline of qualified opportunities
• Bringing in clients that align with the agency’s strengths and services
• Converting opportunities into profitable engagements
• Developing long-term client partnerships that lead to repeat work and referrals
• Knowing when to bring agency leaders into the conversation through the sales process

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary plus commission based on new business revenue generated.

The compensation package includes:

• Base salary: $75-125k
• Commission: 5-15%
• Medical, Dental, 401(k) plans, PTO, summer days, and more. Ask us!
• Performance incentives for exceeding growth targets

Compensation will be determined based on experience and demonstrated ability to generate and close new business opportunities.

Why Join 36creative

• Opportunity to help shape the growth of a respected creative and marketing agency
• Sell a wide range of services, including branding, creative, marketing, and digital experiences
• Work directly with agency leadership on growth initiatives
• Flexible and collaborative work environment

How to Apply

Please submit your resume along with a brief note describing:

1. Your experience selling creative, marketing, or digital services
2. The types of clients or industries you’ve worked with
3. The special keyword banana to show you read this description
4. A notable engagement or partnership you helped bring in
5. Please be prepared to send 2-3 references