AD Trade Development Manager

Mai Placement; Newark (NJ); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Mai Placement is seeking an A&D Trade Development Manager to expand our footprint in the interior design and architectural community in Newark, NJ. The role focuses on building relationships with designers, architects, and design firms, turning early conversations into long-term brand advocacy.

Travel will be regular across the East Coast, with the aim of creating a growing pipeline of designer-driven opportunities and cued engagements such as showroom visits, CEUs, and industry events.

Qualifications

• Experience working with or selling into the interior design, architecture, or broader A&D community
• Proven ability to develop new relationships and open doors, not just manage existing accounts
• Strong understanding of how designers evaluate products, brands, and trade partners
• Excellent relationship-building, communication, and consultative selling skills
• Comfort engaging cold prospects and representing a premium brand in design environments
• Strong presentation skills with experience leading product education sessions, lunch-and-learns, or industry presentations
• Ability to quickly learn product categories and speak credibly with design professionals
• Self-directed, organized, and disciplined in managing a long-cycle relationship pipeline
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout the assigned market

Responsibilities

• Build and develop relationships with interior designers, architects, design firms, and other key influencers within the A&D community
• Proactively identify, prospect, and secure meetings with new design professionals and firms
• Develop designers from initial awareness into engaged advocates who recommend and specify the brand over time
• Represent the company through designer meetings, showroom visits, lunch-and-learns, CEUs, industry events, and association engagement
• Build and maintain relationships with key industry organizations such as NKBA, ASID, AIA, and other relevant design groups
• Educate designers on product positioning, applications, and value- without needing to function as a technical designer
• Partner with the dealer and distribution network to ensure smooth handoff and continuity of designer-driven opportunities
• Maintain accurate tracking of relationship development, meetings, engagement activity, and specification pipeline
• Share market insights, competitive intelligence, and design trend feedback with Sales, Marketing, and Product teams
• Specification and revenue conversion may occur over a long cycle. The ability to build trust and consistently advance relationships is critical

Job description

A&D Trade Development Manager

Location: Newark, NJ
Compensation: $150,000-$200,000
Schedule: Monday-Thursday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM; Friday, 8:00 AM-1:00 PM
Travel: Regular East Coast market travel; approximately 50% field-based

Why This Role Exists

We are expanding our presence within the architecture and design (A&D) community.

Interior designers and architects play a critical role in shaping product selection for residential and commercial projects. Today, there is a significant opportunity to deepen our direct relationships within this influential audience and increase brand preference earlier in the design process.

The A&D Trade Development Manager will own this effort- building awareness, opening new relationships, educating designers, and developing long-term trust that leads to product recommendation and specification.

This is a relationship-first, market development role for someone who understands how the design community operates and knows how to turn early conversations into long-term brand advocacy.

What You Will Own

• Build and develop relationships with interior designers, architects, design firms, and other key influencers within the A&D community
• Proactively identify, prospect, and secure meetings with new design professionals and firms
• Develop designers from initial awareness into engaged advocates who recommend and specify the brand over time
• Represent the company through designer meetings, showroom visits, lunch-and-learns, CEUs, industry events, and association engagement
• Build and maintain relationships with key industry organizations such as NKBA, ASID, AIA, and other relevant design groups
• Educate designers on product positioning, applications, and value- without needing to function as a technical designer
• Partner with the dealer and distribution network to ensure smooth handoff and continuity of designer-driven opportunities
• Maintain accurate tracking of relationship development, meetings, engagement activity, and specification pipeline
• Share market insights, competitive intelligence, and design trend feedback with Sales, Marketing, and Product teams

What Success Looks Like

Early success is defined by building a strong and consistent top-of-funnel within the A&D community.

You will be expected to continuously create new conversations and convert them into meaningful, long-term relationships.

Success will include:

• Consistently securing meetings with new designers and design firms
• Building a growing pipeline of A&D relationships across the territory
• Converting early-stage relationships into engaged brand advocates
• Increasing the number of designers actively recommending the brand
• Developing a pipeline of projects where the brand is being considered or specified
• Strengthening the connection between designer influence, dealer engagement, and downstream sales activity

Specification and revenue conversion may occur over a long cycle. The ability to build trust and consistently advance relationships is critical.

What You Need

• Experience working with or selling into the interior design, architecture, or broader A&D community
• Proven ability to develop new relationships and open doors, not just manage existing accounts
• Strong understanding of how designers evaluate products, brands, and trade partners
• Excellent relationship-building, communication, and consultative selling skills
• Comfort engaging cold prospects and representing a premium brand in design environments
• Strong presentation skills with experience leading product education sessions, lunch-and-learns, or industry presentations
• Ability to quickly learn product categories and speak credibly with design professionals
• Self-directed, organized, and disciplined in managing a long-cycle relationship pipeline
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout the assigned market

Relevant Backgrounds

Strong candidates may come from:

• Kitchen and bath
• Luxury appliances
• Flooring
• Countertops and surfaces
• Decorative hardware
• Tile and stone
• Plumbing fixtures
• Lighting
• Furniture
• Architectural products
• Interior finishes
• Other design-driven building product categories

Established relationships within the design community and participation in organizations such as NKBA, ASID, or AIA are valuable but not required.

The Right Person

You are naturally relationship-driven, but commercially disciplined.

You understand that earning a designer’s trust and recommendation requires consistency, credibility, and long-term engagement. You are comfortable prospecting, following up, educating, and nurturing relationships over time rather than relying on transactional selling.

You can represent a premium brand with confidence while also being entrepreneurial enough to build a market from the ground up.

Compensation:
$150,000-$200,000 per year