Business Development Lead

Position Overview

Kolar, located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, is an award-winning team that specializes in bridging best-in-class interiors, brand experience, and spatial design—built on measurable insights that spark positive change. 

In this role, you are expected to embody our core values

• Be Transformative. We are innovators driving meaningful change in the way people build relationships with space and with one another. We lead with an open mind.
• Make Quality Personal. We are humans who create beautiful experiences for other humans. We engage with empathy.
• Be Curious and Dig Deeper. We are opportunity finders, bringing diverse perspectives to the table to learn together. We stay curious.
• Succeed as a Team. We are collectively inspired and individually motivated to bring results to life. We deliver on our commitments.
• Make a Positive Impact. We are connectors of ideas, influencers of our industry and contributors to our community. We drive positive change.

Role: Business Development Lead

The Business Development Lead is responsible for creating and qualifying new business opportunities for Kolar Design and KXI. This role owns the top of the sales funnel, serving as the first point of contact for prospective clients, strategic partners, and referral sources.

Success in this role is measured by the ability to build meaningful executive relationships, identify strategic opportunities, and consistently generate qualified pipeline that supports long-term business growth. The ideal candidate is consultative, naturally curious, commercially minded, and thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Because this is a remote role, success requires exceptional ownership, proactive communication, and the ability to operate independently while maintaining strong cross-organizational collaboration.

Objective & Responsibilities of the Role:

• Develop and execute outbound prospecting strategies aligned with target markets and growth priorities.
• Identify and engage prospective clients through networking, referrals, LinkedIn, email, phone outreach, conferences, and strategic events.
• Build and maintain a healthy pipeline of qualified opportunities.
• Research target accounts, industries, market trends, and executive decision-makers.

• Lead discovery conversations to understand client goals, organizational challenges, workplace needs, and strategic priorities.
• Qualify opportunities based on business fit, timing, budget, stakeholder alignment, and growth potential.
• Capture and communicate customer insights to leadership and project teams.
• Ensure seamless transition of qualified opportunities through the sales process.

• Build trusted relationships with corporate executives, procurement leaders, real estate professionals, healthcare executives, architects, and strategic partners.
• Represent Kolar Design and KXI at conferences, networking events, workshops, and industry functions.
• Cultivate referral sources and strategic partnerships that expand market presence.
• Maintain thoughtful and consistent follow-up with prospects throughout the buying journey.

• Maintain accurate CRM records, opportunity tracking, and forecasting.
• Monitor pipeline health and communicate progress to leadership.
• Collaborate on pursuit strategies, account planning, and proposal development.
• Support opportunity advancement through the sales lifecycle.

• Provide market intelligence and voice-of-customer insights.
• Identify emerging trends and new business opportunities.
• Partner with Marketing to support campaigns, events, and account-based engagement initiatives.
• Recommend messaging improvements based on market feedback.

Core Competencies:

Business Competencies

• Consultative business development and strategic selling
• Executive presence and relationship management
• Business acumen and commercial thinking
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• CRM discipline and pipeline management
• Strategic planning and opportunity qualification

Behavioral Competencies

• Demonstrates ownership and accountability for outcomes.
• Proactively communicates progress, risks, and opportunities.
• Takes initiative without waiting for direction.
• Builds trust through reliability, responsiveness, and follow-through.
• Exercises sound judgment and solves problems independently.
• Collaborates effectively across departments while maintaining accountability.
• Learns quickly and adapts to changing priorities.
• Demonstrates resilience, persistence, and curiosity.

Successful candidates:

• Create visibility into their work through proactive communication.
• Thrive with autonomy while remaining highly collaborative.
• Ask thoughtful questions and seek clarity early.
• Manage competing priorities with minimal supervision.
• Build relationships intentionally despite physical distance.
• Contribute to a culture of transparency, trust, and shared ownership.

• 5+ years of experience in business development, consultative sales, or strategic partnerships.
• Demonstrated success generating qualified pipeline and developing executive relationships.
• Experience using CRM platforms (HubSpot preferred).
• Experience within workplace, architecture, healthcare, design, real estate, construction, technology, consulting, or professional services environments preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.

• Qualified opportunities created
• Pipeline value generated
• Strategic accounts engaged
• Discovery meetings conducted
• Opportunity-to-proposal conversion rate
• CRM accuracy and pipeline hygiene
• New executive relationships established
• Contribution to revenue growth

Salary: $80,000 - $95,000+ (base, depending on location and experience)

Compensation: Position also includes commission/bonus opportunities based on performance.

Benefits (Begin on the 1st day of employment):

• Health, Vision, and Dental Insurance
• Short-Term Disability
• Life Insurance
• Eligible for 401(k) Plan and Match (Immediate Vesting)
• Computing Hardware and Software provided
• Free Parking