Business Development Representative / Gap Selling Professional

AXE Engineering Services; Arlington (OR); On-site; USD 60,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

AXE Engineering Services in Arlington seeks a commission-driven Business Development Representative who lives and breathes gap selling, identifying client needs and closing opportunities with a disciplined, consultative approach.

This outbound-first role owns the pipeline from first contact through signed contract, partnering with private builders and developers across the region, and offers part-time or full-time hours with earnings tied to results.

Qualifications

• Experience with gap selling methodology and field-ready approach.
• Proven track record of outbound prospecting and closing.
• High emotional intelligence and questioning to uncover real problems.
• Comfortable with ambiguity; can define success for a new role.
• Self-directed; can manage daily activity without oversight.
• Clear, persuasive communicator with developers, builders, and officials.
• Familiarity with local construction/development market; CRM familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Identify, research, and prospect private builders, developers, and land owners in Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties.
• Execute outbound outreach via calls, emails, site visits, and industry events.
• Diagnose prospect problems and map them to Axe Engineering solutions.
• Qualify leads ruthlessly to focus engineering time on right fits.
• Support and convert inbound leads to close deals.
• Own the pipeline from first contact to signed contract; hand off to engineering with project brief.
• Maintain accurate pipeline data and notes for the team.
• Represent Axe Engineering at industry events and networks.

Skills

Gap selling experience

Outbound prospecting

Closing

Emotional intelligence

Self-directed

Excellent communicator

CRM experience

Tools

CRM

Job description

Read this first.

If you don't know what gap selling is — stop reading.

Seriously. Close the tab. This role isn't for you.

Still here? Good.

Here's your first assignment: figure out our gap. Research us, study our market, talk to our clients if you can find them, and walk into your interview ready to close us on why hiring you is the answer to a problem we may not have fully named yet.

That's the job. Every day. With our prospects.

If that sounds like exactly how sales should work — keep reading.

Position Overview

Axe Engineering is a high-performing civil engineering firm with offices in Bellingham and Arlington. We work with private builders and developers across Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties - site civil design, land use entitlements, permitting, and everything it takes to get a project from raw land to construction.

We're good at what we do. Our clients come back. Our reputation is strong.

And we're leaving revenue on the table.

Not because the market isn't there - it is. Not because our services aren't competitive - they are. But because our engineers are engineers. They're not salespeople. They shouldn't have to be.

That's where you come in.

We are looking for a commission-driven Business Development Representative who lives and breathes gap selling - someone who can identify where a builder or developer is, where they want to be, and exactly why Axe Engineering is the solution to close that gap. Someone who doesn't pitch features and benefits. Someone who diagnoses first, and sells second.

This is outbound-first, with support for inbound leads we're already generating but not fully converting. You will own the pipeline from first contact through signed contract. Our engineers take it from there.

This role is part-time or full-time - we're flexible for the right person. Compensation is commission-based, structured to reward results aggressively. If you're a producer, this is a significant earning opportunity in a market with a real floor and no ceiling.

We don't need a rep who can explain what civil engineering is. We need a closer who can get a developer to admit what's standing between them and their next project - and then show them we're the team to remove that obstacle.

What You'll Actually Be Doing

• Identify, research, and prospect private builders, developers, and land owners in Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish Counties who are planning or considering development projects
• Execute outbound outreach - calls, emails, site visits, industry events, referral development - with the discipline of a system and the instincts of a closer
• Diagnose prospect problems before pitching solutions - understand where they are, where they want to be, and what's standing in the way
• Qualify leads ruthlessly - not every project is the right fit, and your job is to know the difference before we spend engineering time on it
• Support and convert inbound leads that are already coming in but need a skilled closer to get across the finish line
• Own the pipeline from first contact to signed contract - then hand off to our engineering team with a complete project brief
• Maintain accurate pipeline data and prospect notes so the team always knows where things stand
• Represent Axe Engineering at industry events, builder associations, and developer networks across the region

You will work closely with our principals to understand our services, our capacity, and what types of projects we want more of. You won't be selling blind - but you will be selling proactively.

What We're Looking For

• Demonstrated experience with gap selling methodology - you've read the book, internalized the framework, and used it in the field
• Proven track record of outbound prospecting and closing - you've built pipeline from scratch, not just managed existing accounts
• High emotional intelligence - you know how to ask the questions that get to the real problem, and you know when to stop talking
• Comfortable with ambiguity - this is a new role at a growing firm; you'll help define what success looks like
• Self-directed and disciplined - no one is going to manage your daily activity; you manage yourself
• Excellent communicator, in person and in writing - you can hold your own in a conversation with a developer, a builder, or a county official
• Familiarity with the local construction, development, or real estate market is a strong plus - but a fast learner beats a slow expert
• CRM experience - you track your pipeline, your notes, and your follow-ups religiously

Civil engineering experience is not required. An obsession with understanding your buyer's world is.

Who We Are

Big firms have more people. We have better ones.

We operate out of Bellingham and Arlington with a lean team of engineers and designers who run circles around the big regional players on local private development. Our land-use practice is deep, our clients keep coming back, and our work shows up in the communities around us.

Here's what that means for you as a BDR: you're not selling a commodity. You're selling a high-performing team with a track record, deep local relationships, and a reputation for finding a way when other firms say it can't be done. That's a story that sells - if you know how to tell it.

We're adding a sales professional to this team for the first time - because we're ready to grow, and we know that growth doesn't happen by accident. It happens when the right person decides to make it happen.

That person reports directly to ownership. No layers. No bureaucracy. You will have direct access to the people who can say yes to any resource, any strategy, and any deal structure you need to close business.

The Axe Creed

• Cutting Through Project Barriers

We find a way. Every time. No exceptions.

Most projects don't die because of bad engineering. They die because someone accepted "no" from an agency, a neighbor, a jurisdiction, or a process - and stopped pushing. We don't stop pushing.

Our pledge to every client: "we treat your project like it has our name on it - because it does."

The words we live by. On every project. Every day.

• Assumptions are the enemy. Find the truth.
• Show me your results, not your intentions.
• How you do anything is how you do everything.
• Your word is your contract.
• Winners want pressure.
• Less words, more meaning.
• We work the problem until the problem is solved.

If those resonate - you might belong here.

You Might Be a Fit If

• You've walked into a sales conversation knowing more about a prospect's problem than they did - and used that to close
• You've been told "we're happy with our current provider" and treated it as the beginning of a conversation, not the end
• You've built a sales territory or pipeline from zero - no hand-holding, no warm leads handed to you
• You keep a CRM like it's a weapon, not an administrative burden
• You've walked away from a bad-fit deal because you knew it would cost more than it was worth - and you were right
• You find civil engineering and land development genuinely interesting - or you're confident you will once you understand the market