Director of Business Development

About the role

Lead and direct the organization’s efforts to proactively identify and cultivate new business prospects considering the state for new investment. Develop and implement a strategy that maximizes the success of the team in generating new deal flow, with a focus on foreign-direct investment (FDI), by collaborating with various partners and advisory organizations and communicating North Carolina’s value proposition to audiences of prospective investors.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, lead, and manage the Business Development unit’s strategy - including performance metrics and annual target goals – to generate and deliver qualified business recruitment leads
• Direct the organization’s efforts to identify new corporate investment leads, including the advanced manufacturing, distribution, food-processing, headquarters, information-technology, R&D, and back-office/shared-services sectors
• Direct and coordinate lead-generation and business development strategies of EDPNC’s overseas investment offices, serving as primary point of contact for select foreign offices
• Personally identify, cultivate and manage an active pipeline of opportunity leads, and, when appropriate, refer those leads to the Business Recruitment unit, Existing Industry unit, local partners, and/or private sector partners
• Identify high-growth industry sectors and companies for North Carolina to prioritize for corporate recruitment and prospecting purposes
• Promote North Carolina as a business location to corporate decision makers through marketing events, conferences/forums, and one-on-one meetings
• Create and communicate relevant iterations of the state’s value proposition for new investment to prospective investors and decision-influencers (e.g. transactional advisory firms and foreign governmental agencies involved with helping companies evaluate the U.S. and North Carolina for expansion)
• Proactively engage corporate decision makers at industry conferences, trade shows and other related events
• Develop strategic partnerships with other North Carolina associations and organizations, as well as other businesses (e.g. service providers in law, construction, banking, and other related sectors) to increase generation of deal flow
• Leverage current trends in foreign-direct investment, including understanding the most active sectors and source countries for new FDI
• Provide regional and/or industry specific project-management support as needed for business recruitment and expansion projects, however those projects are sourced
• Lead the organization’s efforts to build and develop relationships with third-party influencers of the corporate investment decision, including transactional advisors (e.g. law firms, construction firms, accounting firms, etc.) and related international business, government, and non-profit organizations (e.g. German-American Chamber of Commerce, SelectUSA)
• Serve as a representative for the organization, such as through speaking engagements to various stakeholder groups

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, preferably in related fields such as business, marketing, economics, finance, public policy, etc.
• Professional fluency in a major Western European (e.g. German, French, Spanish) or East Asian (e.g. Japanese, Korean, Chinese) language is preferred.
• Minimum three years of experience in business development, preferably involving international clientele or similar experience in site-selection or incentives advisory work, or marketing and sales.
• Minimum two years of experience managing multiple direct reports in an economic development agency or similar business-development capacity is preferred.
• Knowledge of foreign-direct investment issues (including industry sector trends) is preferred.
• Ability to interface professionally with senior-level business executives and government officials at all levels and across different cultures.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including presentations to outside audiences.
• Strong organizational skills and thorough follow up.
• Strategic thinking
• Focus on attaining performance results
• Ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, both internal and external to the organization
• Customer service-focused attitude and behavior