Business Development Lead

Ste Marie; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A creative design studio in Metro Vancouver is searching for a Business Development Lead to enhance its marketing and business strategy. You will manage the CRM process, track market intelligence, cultivate relationships, and oversee marketing efforts. The ideal candidate has over 6 years of experience in business development within design or hospitality sectors. This role is integral to ensuring the studio achieves its long-term strategic objectives and will provide critical support to senior leadership.

Qualifications

• 6–10+ years in business development or marketing within design, architecture, or hospitality.
• Strong systems thinking and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a disciplined CRM with clear pipeline stages.
• Track early signals across priority sectors.
• Lead assembly of proposals and pitch materials.
• Direct Marketing Coordinator's priorities.

Skills

Business development

Marketing strategy

CRM proficiency

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Tools

HubSpot

Job description

STUDIO

Ste Marie’s singular purpose is to bring possible worlds to life; we exist to evoke a feeling, engineer experiences, and to activate that which can and should be. As an internationally recognized studio with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, we develop hospitality, mixed-use, food and beverage, wellness, and commercial projects for industry-leading clients domestically and internationally.

We shape the world through the lens of user experience, hospitality, and immersion, constantly prioritizing the human experience in our work. Through a skilled team of experts, we offer end-to-end design services, encompassing programming, concept & envisioning, brand ideation, interior design, FF&E selection, procurement and coordination, and art and styling services.

Role

The Business Development Lead owns Ste Marie's business development and marketing engine—ensuring a predictable, high-quality pipeline aligned with the studio's long-term strategy.

This role sits at the intersection of strategy, marketing, and operations. You'll translate leadership direction into consistent market presence, opportunity flow, and structured follow-through, freeing up senior leadership to focus on high-stakes decisions and deal conversion.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

PIPELINE & CRM GOVERNANCE

Maintain a disciplined CRM (HubSpot) with clear pipeline stages, probability rules, and go/no-go evaluation. Prepare weekly pipeline reports, run pipeline reviews, and provide data and insights to enable leadership to account for revenue or capacity gaps 6–9 months in advance.

MARKET INTELLIGENCE & EARLY OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION

Track early signals across priority sectors (hotels, hospitality, mixed-use residential, wellness, experiential retail). Monitor developer activity, brand expansions, planning approvals, and consultant movements. Surface opportunities before RFPs are issued.

RELATIONSHIP CULTIVATION & LEAD GENERATION

Manage outreach cadence for priority relationships—warm introductions, follow-ups, re-engagements. Coordinate event participation and prepare briefings for MD-led meetings. Ensure relationships progress without relying solely on leadership bandwidth.

PROPOSAL & PITCH COORDINATION

Lead assembly of all proposals and pitch materials. Structure narratives, select case studies, coordinate fee and resourcing inputs, and manage timelines and delivery. Ensure proposals are strategic and consistent without last-minute strain on senior leadership.

MARKETING OVERSIGHT

Direct the Marketing Coordinator's priorities and output. Align marketing efforts with BD strategy, pipeline needs, and target sectors. Oversee awards submissions, press opportunities, and project photography planning. You're not the creative director for marketing—but you ensure outputs are timely, relevant, and impactful.

WHAT THIS ROLE IS

A force multiplier for senior leadership.

A steward of process, clarity and continuity.

A strategic operator, leveraging their experience of the industry to elevate the Studio.

WHAT THIS ROLE IS NOT

You won't be setting strategic direction, making independent go/no-go decisions, pricing work, negotiating contracts, or replacing leadership's relationships. This is not a cold-calling or high-volume sales position.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

Within 6–12 months, success looks like:

• A consistently healthy weighted pipeline (2.5–3x annual revenue target)

• Earlier visibility into revenue gaps and capacity risks

• Improved proposal hit rate with fewer, better-qualified pursuits

• Marketing outputs clearly supporting BD priorities

EXPERIENCE PROFILE

• 6–10+ years in business development, marketing, or strategic partnerships within design, architecture, hospitality, real estate, or related professional services

• Strong systems thinking and organizational skills

• Comfortable taking direction from and working alongside senior leadership

• Excellent written and verbal communication

• CRM experience (HubSpot preferred)

ROLE INFORMATION

This description reflects the core activities of the role but is not intended to be all-inclusive and other duties may be required from time to time. Job descriptions will be reviewed regularly and where necessary revised in accordance with organizational needs. Major changes will be discussed with the employee. Ste Marie is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, colour, sex, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, provincial, or local laws. We make hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.