Director of Business Development, Northeast

Reports to: SVP, Revenue Management. Full-time role with regular travel to properties. Individual contributor, no direct reports.

About the role

Southern Marinas is hiring a Director of Business Development, Northeast to run sales across our Mid Atlantic and Northeast properties. Every lead for these properties comes to you. You qualify it, sell that property, and stay on it until the contract is signed and payment clears. You win by being faster than anyone else in the market and by building the broker, captain, dealer, and manufacturer relationships that send boats our way without a web form. You are selling the boating life: summer weekends with the family, the community on the dock, and the peace of mind that the boat is looked after. Sell it that way.

Responsibilities

• Lead Conversion
  • Work every inbound lead across all assigned properties from the website, phone, Dockwa, and trade referrals, responding the same business day, every time
  • Qualify on vessel specs, timing, and budget, and sell the property the customer is interested in
  • Coordinate property tours with the GM and follow up immediately afterward
  • Work the waitlist at each property as an active pipeline alongside the Dockmaster on vessel fit and timing
  • Run the renewal and contract cycle so returning customers are locked in before they shop elsewhere
  • Sell the full product set: seasonal slips, dry storage, and winter storage, and mine old and cold leads when inventory needs backfilling
  • Drive contracts to execution with each property's admin managers; a verbal yes is not a closed deal until it is signed and paid
  • Log every lead, conversation, and next step in the CRM; deals that are not in the CRM do not exist
• Trade Relationships
  • Build a working book of yacht brokers and dealers across the Mid Atlantic and Northeast, and be the name they give a client who needs a slip
  • Develop direct relationships with captains and owners, who are frequently the one deciding where a boat ends up
  • Build dealer and manufacturer relationships and use them to bring rendezvous, owner groups, and factory events to our properties
  • Work yacht clubs, sailing programs, and local boating organizations as referral sources and cruise-in partners
  • Maintain a regular contact cadence, and track every relationship in the CRM with contact history and referral volume attributed back to the source
• Boat Shows and Events
  • Own our presence at the regional boat show circuit: booth planning, staffing, materials, on-site selling, and lead capture
  • Plan and host on-site events, rendezvous, dealer days, and owner groups, owning them end-to-end: concept, budget, vendors, promotion, execution, and follow-up
  • Build and manage the annual event and show calendar across the properties
  • Ensure every show and event produces a lead list, captured on-site and loaded into the CRM before it closes out
  • Report on attendance, leads captured, and deals sourced
• Pricing and Promotions
  • Flex short-term and transient pricing within approved guardrails to win the boat
  • Build promotions that fill empty inventory: early commitment rates, multi-season terms, move-in incentives, and referral rewards
  • Move the inventory that does not sell itself without giving away the slips that would have filled anyway
  • Bring proposed promotions to the SVP of Revenue Management with the math behind them, and document every negotiated rate in the CRM
• Property Coordination
  • Maintain an accurate picture of availability at every property, and confirm availability and vessel fit with the Dockmaster before committing to a customer
  • Be on-site regularly and build real working relationships with each GM, Dockmaster, and admin manager
  • Track competitive rates and availability in each submarket and bring that intel back
  • Report weekly on pipeline, lead volume by property, conversion rate, and closed-won activity

Tools

HubSpot CRM, Sharper, Dockwa, SimpleTexting, and Microsoft 365. You will be expected to learn these systems quickly and use them daily.

Requirements

• Required
  • 3+ years in a quota-carrying sales or business development role with a record of hitting targets
  • Strong closing instincts and comfort asking for the business over the phone and in person
  • Proven ability to build and work a referral network
  • Ability to run a pipeline across multiple locations without losing track of anything
  • Self-directed and disciplined enough to work a full pipeline through the winter with no one watching
  • Boat show and event experience, or a clear willingness to own it
  • Valid driver license and willingness to travel throughout the region regularly
• Preferred
  • Marine industry experience: marina, yacht brokerage, dealership, or marine services
  • Existing broker, dealer, or club relationships in the Mid Atlantic or Northeast
  • Prior CRM ownership experience, ideally HubSpot
  • Working knowledge of seasonal slip, dry storage, and winter storage products
  • Boating background or hands-on familiarity with vessels 25 to 80 feet

Work Environment

• Regular travel to properties across the region, and to shows during winter show season
• Time on docks and in storage yards in seasonal weather
• Ability to safely board vessels and lift up to 40 pounds
• Weekend and evening availability during peak season, boat shows, and events

Pay

• Competitive base salary of $90,000 depending on experience
• Uncapped commission tied to signed seasonal dockage and storage agreements, transient bookings, and event-driven revenue
• On-target earnings of $135,000 in year one, with top performers exceeding it

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Paid time off
• 401(k)
• Employee discounts on marina services

About The Company

Southern Marinas is an owner-operator of premier marina properties across the United States. We invest in our properties, our technology, and our people.