Client Development Director

About the role

ESI Design, an NBBJ Studio, transforms places into experiences that drive excitement and create a unique invitation for personal interaction and empathy. The studio experiments and collaborates to develop new ideas for high‑profile, visionary clients, designing, developing, and constructing large‑scale, novel ideas. As part of the renowned NBBJ Design firm, ESI combines physical, digital, and behavioral elements to create memorable moments through interdisciplinary collaboration and a user‑first approach. The Client Development Director is based in the New York office, reports to the Operations Leader, and serves as the studio’s ambassador in the market, spending roughly 75% of their time out of the office building relationships with clients, connectors, and industry leaders.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the studio’s ambassador in the market, spending approximately 75% of time out of the office meeting clients, connectors, and industry leaders to build relationships and identify project pursuits.
• Work with studio operations, project management, and creative leadership to align relationship‑building and pursuit activity with top‑line revenue goals.
• Execute the studio’s growth strategy roadmap through in‑person meetings, travel, and events to identify and secure work from new clients.
• Travel regularly to spend the majority of time in person with clients, prospects, and connectors at their offices, project sites, and industry gatherings.
• Collaborate with studio leadership to identify target markets, clients, and lead lists for potential clients, connectors, and project prospects.
• Build and maintain relationships with C‑suite and decision‑maker level contacts and with connectors who drive larger relationship growth tied to target projects.
• Proactively research, identify, and qualify new clients, markets, and project opportunities.
• Meet with potential clients to establish relationships and introduce the appropriate creative/market leaders.
• Advise Market Leaders and the Marketing Manager with client and market insight; collaborate on positioning and design competitions.
• Partner with the Director of Communications to align communications activities and investments that support market presence.
• Monitor and analyze client trends and relevant news to maintain a competitive edge and enhance service offerings.
• Develop year‑end analysis of business development successes and failures to evolve year‑over‑year strategic plans.
• Leverage best‑practice tools such as win/loss debriefs, surveys, Pipedrive, and CRM data analysis to understand market trends, identify opportunities, and track success metrics.
• Advise on key value points to be