Commercial Business Development Manager, Northeast Region

Key Responsibilities

• Building the Zip category across North America through education, specification influence, and market development.
• Driving early specification with architects and designers.
• Creating pull-through demand into real projects.
• Acting as a market builder, not just a seller.

Primary Objectives

• Educating a market that largely doesn’t yet know the category.
• Driving early specification with architects and designers.
• Creating pull-through demand into real projects.
• Acting as a market builder, not just a seller.

Specification Strategy & Influence

• Drive specification activity early in the design cycle.
• Build relationships with key specifiers to increase adoption in project designs.
• Identify priority firms, verticals, and markets to focus specification efforts.
• Track project influence from design through to installation (pull-through visibility).

Market Education & Category Building (Core Focus)

• Lead efforts to educate architects, designers, and engineers (A&D) on Zip’s technology and applications.
• Deliver CEUs, lunch-and-learns, and in-office presentations.
• Drive demo unit placements within specifier offices to build familiarity and preference.
• Build relationships with industry associations and design communities.
• Develop and refine education content, presentations, and engagement strategies, often building materials from scratch.

Position Zip as a Thought Leader and Premium Solution in the Category

• Act as a proactive market builder, expanding existing opportunities while developing new relationships and areas of growth.
• Operate effectively within an evolving business environment, leveraging existing structure while contributing to ongoing development and refinement.
• Create and share repeatable playbooks and tools that can scale across regions.

Rep Agency & Territory Alignment

• Partner with manufacturer rep agencies to scale A&D coverage and specification activity.
• Train and support reps on how to lead with education and specification selling.
• Collaborate with Territory Sales Managers (TSMs) to align on spec activity, project pipeline, and sales execution where it drives the greatest impact.
• Help define best practices for spec-driven selling across markets.

Project Development & Pipeline Creation

• Support engagement with developers, owners, and project stakeholders.
• Help convert specification activity into real project opportunities.
• Maintain a balance between long-cycle specification influence and near-term project wins.

Industry Presence & Brand Building

• Represent Zip at trade shows, industry events, and design forums.
• Expand Zip’s presence within A&D and commercial real estate communities.
• Contribute to case studies and proof points where applicable.
• Reinforce Zip’s positioning as a design-forward, premium brand.

Measures of Success

• Increased awareness and engagement within the A&D community.
• Growth in CEUs, lunch-and-learns, and demo unit placements.
• Stronger specifier relationships and repeat engagement.
• A measurable increase in projects influenced at the design stage.
• Clear pull-through from spec to installed projects.
• Development of scalable tools, playbooks, and best practices.
• Proven ability to open new markets and accounts from zero.

Qualifications

• 5–10+ years of experience in: Business development, specification sales, or A&D engagement.
• Commercial construction, building products, or related industries.
• Experience working with architects, designers, engineers, or specifiers.
• Proven ability to operate in a highly self-directed, ambiguous environment.
• Strong communication and presentation skills (especially in educational settings).
• Experience working with or managing rep agency networks preferred.
• Comfortable with travel across the region.

Target Salary Range

$120,000- 140,000 year plus bonus. Exact pay will be based on factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, level, geographic location, and business and organizational needs.

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Health, dental, vision, life, disability benefits
• 401(k)