Business Development Director

Gilder Search Group; New York (NY); On-site; USD 150,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Gilder Search Group is seeking a senior new business development professional to win mid‑market immigration and travel compliance clients across the United States. You will identify, engage, and close opportunities, selling a consultative, expert‑led service to HR, Legal, Global Mobility, Immigration and Travel teams.

Success requires challenging prospects on immigration risk, reframing compliance, and positioning the firm as the strategic partner of choice.

Qualifications

• Extensive B2B new business sales experience in global mobility, travel, or related services.
• Strong understanding of the US market and immigration/travel compliance space.
• Ability to challenge prospects on risk and position us as a strategic partner.
• Proven track record of winning new customers with $500K+ deal sizes.
• Experience with consultative, multi‑stakeholder sales processes and structured methodologies.
• Knowledge of pricing, competition, and building a business case.
• Experience with Salesforce and pipeline forecasting.
• Fluency in English and excellent written/verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Own the full sales cycle from prospecting through close within territory.
• Build and manage a qualified pipeline targeting defined profile organisations.
• Develop territory/account plans prioritising high-potential prospects.
• Partner with marketing to convert outbound activity into meetings.
• Collaborate with consulting to identify upsell pathways into advisory services.
• Engage with bid management and pricing on competitive proposals and RFPs.
• Share market insights to inform broader commercial strategy.

Skills

B2B sales

Global mobility

US market knowledge

Consultative selling

Challenger/MEDDPICC/SPIN

Salesforce

English fluency

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Summary of the role

This is a new business development role focused on winning mid-market clients across the United States. You will be responsible for identifying, engaging, and closing opportunities that have growing or complex immigration and travel compliance needs.

This is not a transactional sales role. You will sell a consultative, expert-led service into HR, Legal, Global Mobility, Immigration and Travel. Success requires the ability to challenge how prospects think about immigration, reframe their understanding of risk and compliance, and position us the strategic partner of choice.

Main responsibilities

New Business Development

• Own the full sales cycle from prospecting through close of accounts within their territory
• Build and manage a qualified pipeline targeting organisations within the defined customer profile
• Develop territory and account plans that prioritise high-potential prospects based on sector, immigration volume, and compliance exposure
• Partner with other sales team members to convert outbound activity into qualified meetings

Consultative & Challenger Selling

• Lead insight-driven conversations that challenge prospect assumptions about immigration risk, compliance, and cost
• Tailor commercial proposals around each prospect’s specific workforce mobility challenges—not a one-size-fits-all pitch
• Orchestrate senior subject-matter experts (immigration consultants, attorneys, advisory leads) into client-facing conversations at the right moments
• Navigate multi-stakeholder buying committees spanning HR, Legal, Procurement, and Global Mobility

Pipeline & Revenue Discipline

• Maintain rigorous CRM data in Salesforce—accurate staging, next steps, close dates, and deal values
• Deliver against quarterly and annual new business revenue targets
• Provide accurate, evidence-based forecasts; distinguish between commit, upside, and pipeline
• Contribute to the refinement of sales playbooks, customer profile definitions, and go-to-market strategy as the segment matures

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Marketing on campaign execution and content-led demand generation
• Represent us at industry conferences, trade shows and networking events to build brand awareness and generate pipeline
• Develop a professional social media presence particularly on Linkedin – sharing relevant immigration insights and industry commentary.
• Collaborate with Consulting team to identify and develop upsell pathways into advisory services
• Engage with Bid Management and Pricing teams on competitive proposals and RFP responses
• Share market intelligence and competitive insight to inform broader commercial strategy

Experience and skills

Essential

• Extensive B2B new business sales experience in global mobility, travel, professional services, consulting, HR services, workforce solutions, or a similarly complex, relationship-driven environment
• Strong experience and understanding of the US market
• Ability to challenge how prospects think about immigration, reframe their understanding of risk and compliance, and position us as the strategic partner of choice.
• Proven track record of winning new customers in the with deal sizes in the $500K+ range
• Demonstrated ability to run a consultative, multi-stakeholder sales process—not order-taking
• Experience with Challenger, MEDDPICC, SPIN, or equivalent structured sales methodologies
• Strong understanding and experience of pricing, competitive positioning, and how to build a business case
• Experience with Salesforce or similar and pipeline management and forecasting
• Fluency in English
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Ability to thrive in fast-changing environments where priorities shift and formal processes are still being built.

Preferred

• Experience in immigration services, legal, global mobility, relocation, or adjacent workforce mobility sectors
• Familiarity with corporate immigration buying dynamics (HR, Legal, Global Mobility functions)
• Knowledge of RMC (Relocation Management Company) and TMC (Travel Management Company) channel and how immigration services integrate with broader mobility programmes
• Experience selling into regulated or compliance-driven environments
• Prior exposure to Sales Development Rep-supported go-to-market models