Full-Time

Vice President Business Development

Highwire

Highwire

51-200 employees

Scholarly publishing platform and manuscript management

Compensation Overview

$130k - $195k/yr

California, USA + 3 more

More locations: New York, NY, USA | Massachusetts, USA | New Jersey, USA

Hybrid

Remote candidates must reside in an approved state; candidates near New York or San Francisco offices work three days on-site weekly.

Category
Business & Strategy (1)
Required Skills
Communications
Forecasting
Marketing
Data Analysis

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Requirements
  • At least 10 years of experience in business development and client leadership with a communications, marketing, advertising, or public relations agency.
  • Proven success leading complex, multi-stakeholder pitches and winning new business.
  • Strong understanding of integrated, cross-channel agency offerings.
  • Ability to build systems and processes that scale growth.
  • Experience engaging senior-level procurement leaders and decision-makers.
  • Strong storytelling, pitching, and proposal development skills.
  • Solid understanding of agency economics and pipeline management.
  • Candidates must reside in an approved U.S. state at the time of hire.
Responsibilities
  • Own the full new business lifecycle from qualification to close.
  • Manage a strong, qualified pipeline aligned to agency priorities.
  • Partner with marketing and leadership to drive inbound and outbound growth strategy.
  • Track pipeline health, forecasting, and performance metrics.
  • Build relationships with senior marketing and communications leaders.
  • Lead consultative conversations that uncover client needs and opportunities.
  • Partner with account teams to drive cross-sell and upsell growth within existing clients.
  • Lead requests for proposals, referrals, and strategic pitch processes.
  • Partner with account teams to develop compelling, insight-driven proposals and presentations.
  • Orchestrate cross-functional teams across strategy, creative, digital, and insights.
  • Prepare and coach teams to deliver high-stakes presentations with strong executive presence.
  • Create playbooks, templates, and frameworks to improve win rates and efficiency.
  • Improve forecasting, reporting, and pipeline visibility.
  • Use data to continuously refine business development performance.
  • Mentor and develop business development talent.
  • Align cross-functional teams around growth opportunities.
  • Share market insights that inform agency strategy and offerings.

HighWire provides a digital publishing platform and services for scholarly publishers to host journals and books, manage manuscript submission and peer review, and handle subscriptions. It offers an end-to-end, integrated workflow from author submission through editorial review to publication and monetization. By focusing on the scholarly publishing niche, HighWire differentiates itself with long-standing relationships and a full suite tailored to publishers’ needs rather than generic publishing tech. The goal is to streamline scholarly communication by delivering scalable technology-enabled tools that simplify content production, review workflows, and revenue management for publishers, societies, and university presses.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Growth Equity (Venture Capital)

Total Funding

$1.2M

Headquarters

Princeton, New Jersey

Founded

2008

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • June 2026 CFO hire Kelly Losko signals expansion discipline after acquisition.
  • Highwire Health targets regulated healthcare budgets where crisis communications spend stays sticky.
  • Mergers with Bliss and Candor Content expand cross-sell into demand generation and executive visibility.

What critics are saying

  • AcroIntelligence competes against Cision, Meltwater, and Muck Rack with thinner software economics.
  • January 2026 Bliss integration risks culture clashes and client churn across North America.
  • Agency revenue depends on client retention; one lost enterprise can hit utilization quickly.

What makes Highwire unique

  • June 2026 AcroIntelligence and AcroAI give Highwire proprietary media-signal intelligence.
  • January 2026 Bliss Group acquisition gives Highwire 250-plus professionals and healthcare depth.
  • Highwire Health unifies life sciences, health tech, and business-of-health expertise after March 2026 launch.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Paid Parental Leave

Hybrid Work Options

401(k) Company Match

Home Office Stipend

Wellness Program

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-4%

1 year growth

-4%

2 year growth

-4%
GlobeNewswire
May 13th, 2025
Highwire Appoints Powerhouse Michael O'Brien As Ceo

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwire, a strategic marketing communications agency partnering with brands at the intersection of innovation and industry, today announced the appointment of Michael O’Brien as its new chief executive officer, to further accelerate the agency’s growth and lead Highwire’s journey into a new era of integrated services and impactful client programs. O’Brien brings over 30 years of experience driving growth and excellence for some of the world’s most iconic brands. He served as chief client officer for over 10 years of his 23-year career at Ketchum. There, he transformed client service by focusing on growth, reducing revenue attrition, and creating a more purposeful approach to client management. O’Brien was also responsible for global business development and strategic planning. He will succeed Carol Carrubba, who is currently serving as interim CEO

ForexTV
Mar 20th, 2025
Highwire Achieves Double-Digit Growth in 2024, Elevates Michael Byrnes to Chief Growth Officer

To sustain and accelerate this momentum, Highwire has promoted Michael Byrnes to Chief Growth Officer.

The Robot Report
Dec 28th, 2024
Bay Area Events Note The Convergence Of Ai And Robotics

The San Francisco Bay Area is a nexus of AI and robotics. Source: Adobe Stock. The San Francisco Bay Area is the nexus of the artificial intelligence revolution in the U.S., anchored by San Francisco, with the renaissance of robotics investment and innovation in Silicon Valley. AI is merging with and embodied by robotics here. For instance, Waymo’s driverless cars are a common sight in San Francisco. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the future of AI is physical AI, embodied by robotics including self-driving cars

GlobeNewswire
Dec 19th, 2024
Highwire Appoints Mike Steavenson As Executive Vice President Of Enterprise Technology Practice, Elevates Jason Mayde To Cto

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwire, a high-impact communications and marketing partner for global technology and healthcare companies, is proud to announce the appointment of Mike Steavenson as Executive Vice President of its Enterprise Technology Practice and the elevation of Jason Mayde to Chief Technology Officer (CTO). By expanding its technology leadership team, Highwire bolsters its commitment to harness the transformative power of AI in every aspect of its business and to offer clients unparalleled expertise in both B2B technology and AI. Highwire is committed to leveraging AI in a way that ensures quality, safeguards ethics, and complies with all applicable regulations. This approach harnesses the power of AI responsibly to drive innovation, efficiency, and impactful results for clients. “AI is transforming every industry, including communications and marketing, so investment in enterprise and technology talent distinguishes Highwire as we guide our clients in this new era,” said Highwire interim CEO Carol Carrubba

PRWeek
Jul 30th, 2024
Highwire PR hires Real Chemistry's Chuck Hemann

At the start of the year, Real Chemistry named group president and managing partner Kevin Johnson to oversee capabilities, including social media planning and activation; starpower, its pop culture and influencer agency; paid media; and omnichannel practices.