At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience across marketing, business development, brand, communications, and client strategy in architecture, engineering, and construction or a closely related professional services environment, including at least 3 years in a senior, executive, or leadership role.
Deep understanding of and passion for higher education, cultural, and mission-driven institutions.
Demonstrated experience building and leading an integrated marketing, communications, and business development team and fostering collaboration across offices, practices, and disciplines.
Strong financial and analytical fluency in budgeting, managing return on investment, building performance metrics, and understanding pipeline, backlog, and pursuit data, with experience translating that data into forecasting and resource planning insights.
A proven track record of building and scaling marketing and business development functions that increase pursuit win rates and drive measurable revenue growth in new or expanded markets at a firm of comparable scale and complexity.
An undergraduate degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field is required.
Ability to work effectively in a hybrid environment, with reasonable in-office presence and occasional travel between company offices, as required.
Responsibilities
Set firmwide strategic direction for marketing, business development, communications, and client experience, aligning these functions with the firm's business plan and growth objectives.
Define and protect brand positioning and market identity, ensuring consistency across external-facing communications and materials.
Lead the firm's communications portfolio, including project photography, awards, thought leadership, website and social media, and email blasts; direct communications strategy for sensitive, high-profile, or crisis situations with firm leadership and public relations partners.
Set firmwide strategy for participation in priority industry conferences, events, speaking opportunities, and networking activities, aligning investment and participation with targeted clients, sectors, and growth priorities.
Lead the firmwide client relationship strategy, including how priority clients are identified, assigned, cultivated, evaluated, and expanded based on strategic value, growth potential, and profitability.
Develop sector-specific business development approaches with the business development team and practice and market sector leads; oversee firmwide business development support, pursuit strategy, and proposal quality.
Supervise market research strategy and ensure research insights inform firmwide business strategy.
Oversee client experience strategy across the full client lifecycle, building systems to gather feedback, assess relationship health, and apply client insight to positioning, service delivery, and business strategy.
Build, lead, mentor, and develop a diverse team across marketing, business development, communications, and client experience, fostering collaboration, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Establish performance targets for shortlists, hit rates, win rates, pipeline health, and campaign effectiveness, and support practice and market sector leaders in achieving revenue targets.
Establish key performance indicators and reporting for executive leadership, and partner with accounting and market sector leaders to maintain accurate pipeline and backlog data for forecasting and resource planning.
Develop budget strategy and allocation for the marketing and business development function, optimizing resources and return on investment and prioritizing investments in sponsorships, conferences, memberships, events, and awards.
Establish firmwide standards, workflows, and best practices for marketing operations, go/no-go processes, and pursuit development, including proposals, interviews, presentations, qualifications packages, and marketing collateral.
Build firmwide business development capability through tools, training, coaching, expectations, and best practices for principals and other client-facing leaders.
Set strategy for marketing and business development technology, customer relationship management, data, automation, and artificial intelligence to capture institutional knowledge, strengthen client intelligence, improve efficiency, and support competitive advantage.
Desired Qualifications
A graduate degree or equivalent executive experience is preferred.
Description
About Ayers Saint Gross
Ayers Saint Gross is an internationally recognized design firm with expertise in architecture, planning, landscape architecture, graphic design, interior architecture, and space analytics. Since our founding in 1912, we have built a reputation for designing environments of enduring value. The focus of our expertise and most of our work supports mission-driven clients, particularly colleges, universities, and cultural institutions. Our design approach is inspired by a critical and analytical discourse, a respect for past wisdom, a mind to future potential, and a belief that we have an obligation to leave places better than we found them. Our mission is to engage people and places to create designs that enrich our world. With over 150 professionals, we are headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Washington, DC and Tempe, Arizona.
Position Overview
Reporting directly to the President, the Marketing and Business Development (MBD) Director is a senior leader responsible for the firm’s integrated business development, client experience, marketing, and communications strategies and functions. This role carries the organizational authority to set firmwide direction across these functions and the demonstrated ability to build and lead effective, multi-disciplinary teams that execute against it.
A highly visible partner to senior leadership and a core member of the Corporate Management Team, the Director of Marketing and Business Development is a business strategist and a creative leader, working in partnership with Market Sector Leaders and Corporate Management to improve win rates and drive client retention, expansion, and long-term firm positioning and growth. This individual also advises senior leadership on market trends, competitive positioning, client opportunities, and growth initiatives.
Requirements
Marketing, Brand & Communications
The MBD Director sets the strategic direction for how Ayers Saint Gross presents itself to the market and engages its audiences across brand, communications, and content, positioning the firm for growth and expansion in new and established markets. They are responsible for brand and communications strategy firmwide, directing execution through the marketing and communications functions.
Champions innovative marketing approaches that differentiate Ayers Saint Gross, strengthens its standing in key market sectors, and enables entry into new markets/service lines.
Defines and protects brand positioning and market identity, ensuring consistency across all external-facing communications and materials.
Serves as the executive leader for the firm's communications portfolio, including project photography, awards, thought leadership, website/social media, and e-blasts, and directs communications strategy for sensitive, high-profile, or crisis situations in coordination with firm leadership and PR partners.
Sets firmwide strategy for participation in priority industry conferences, events, speaking opportunities, and networking activities, aligning investment and participation with targeted clients, sectors, and growth priorities.
Business Development & Client Experience
The MBD Director guides the firmwide growth strategy spanning existing markets and targeted expansion opportunities and drives the health and performance of the firm's pursuit and client experience ecosystem. They lead the firm’s business planning process and create actionable priorities, investments, and measures of success.
Leads the firmwide MBD strategy to align marketing, BD, and communications around the firm's business plan and growth objectives.
Leads the firmwide client relationship strategy, including how priority clients are identified, assigned, cultivated, evaluated, and expanded based on strategic value, growth potential, and profitability.
Develops sector-specific BD approaches in collaboration with the MBD team, and Practice and Market Sector Leads to strengthen positioning, support targeted growth, and provide oversight and strategy for firmwide BD support, including pursuit strategy and proposal quality.
Supervises market research strategy and ensures those insights continuously inform firmwide business strategy.
Oversees client experience strategy across the full client lifecycle, building systems to gather feedback, assess relationship health, and turn client insight into improvements in positioning, service delivery, and business strategy.
Performance, Operations & Team Leadership
The MBD Director builds and sustains the operational infrastructure, team capability, and performance culture that enables the MBD function to deliver consistently against the firm’s growth, strategic and business plan goals.
Builds, leads, mentors, and develops a diverse team across marketing, business development, communications, and client experience, with a leadership model that empowers collaboration across offices, practices, sectors, and disciplines by promoting a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement within the MBD function.
Establishes performance targets for shortlists, hit rates and win rates, pipeline health, and campaign effectiveness, and supports Practice and Market Sector leaders to achieve revenue targets.
Oversees the firm's MBD performance framework by establishing KPIs, ensuring rigorous reporting to executive leadership, and partnering with accounting and Market Sector Leaders to ensure accurate pipeline and backlog data that informs forecasting and resource planning.
Develops budget strategy and allocation for the MBD function, with accountability for resource optimization and ROI, including prioritization of investments in sponsorships, conferences, memberships, events, and awards.
Establishes firmwide standards, workflows, and best practices for marketing operations, go/no-go processes and pursuit development, including proposals, interviews, presentations, quals packages, and marketing collateral.
Builds firmwide business development capability by establishing tools, training, coaching, expectations, and best practices that enable principals and other client-facing leaders to become more effective relationship builders and business developers.
Sets strategy for MBD technology, CRM, data, automation, and AI, ensuring the firm effectively captures institutional knowledge, strengthens client intelligence, and uses emerging technology for competitive advantage and improved efficiency.
Key Traits
At least 10 years of experience and progressive leadership across Marketing, BD, Brand, Comms, and Client Strategy in AEC or a closely related professional services environment, including a minimum of 3 years in a senior, executive, or leadership role.
Deep understanding and passion for higher education, cultural, and mission-driven institutions.
Demonstrated experience building and leading an integrated marketing, communications, and business development team and fostering collaboration across offices, practices, and disciplines.
Strong financial and analytical fluency in budgeting, managing ROI, building performance metrics, understanding pipeline, backlog, and pursuit data, with experience translating that data into forecasting and resource planning insights.
Proven track record of building and scaling MBD functions that increase pursuit win rates and drive measurable revenue growth in new or expanded markets, at a firm of comparable scale and complexity.
Exceptional executive communicator with the credibility and presence to align senior leaders within the firm.
Undergraduate degree in business, marketing, communications, or related field required; graduate degree or equivalent executive experience preferred.
Ability to work effectively in a hybrid environment, with reasonable in-office presence and occasional travel between ASG offices, as required.
Why work at Ayers Saint Gross?
We are a design driven firm working with exceptional clients
We are an employee-owned company, with over 100 years of design excellence
We encourage our employees to pursue local and professional advocacy groups
We provide the opportunity to help with pro-bono initiatives that brings Architecture to the community
We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including a 401(k) and ESOP
The salary range for this position is $150,000-200,000 annually. The actual salary offered for this position will vary depending on multiple factors including the candidate’s qualification, education, position knowledge, work experience, skills, ability, work location, and internal incumbent compensation for similar roles. We do not anticipate individuals hired into this position will start at or near the top half of the range listed; the decision will be based on each individual case. The salary range listed above does not include other compensation elements such as discretionary bonus opportunities, employee stock ownership grants, paid time off, medical insurance, and other wage and benefit opportunities.
Ayers Saint Gross is a respected leader in the community offering comprehensive benefits and a highly energized work environment. For additional information and to apply online, please visit our website at www.ayerssaintgross.com
Ayers Saint Gross is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment based on merit, performance, and business needs without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Ayers Saint Gross is committed to providing accessible employment; specific physical and mental requirements for this position may be provided upon request. Please contact [email protected] for additional information.