Head of Business Development

We are looking for a Head of Business Development to join our growing team. You’ll work closely with the managing partners and our design team to source and develop new client partner relationships; craft and win design and growth strategy projects for the firm; and, cultivate deep client partner relationships with the partnership. Directors at Runyon are highly strategic, detail-oriented, and passionate about the role of human-centered design in products, services and companies. They share our deep empathy for user needs and have the ability to develop a deep understanding of an existing or potential partner’s business, generate insights, and translate those into a plan of action. They develop strong relationships and build trust with core decision-makers, both internally and externally.

What you can expect of us is a highly collaborative team model that offers thought partnership to shape our work, grow our relationships, and the leadership opportunities to drive business development in your own ways. We work on a range of impactful and challenging design work, from early-stage venture incubation to growth-stage and enterprise product design strategy.

About Runyon

Runyon is a product design and venture studio that helps companies grow. We are a team of customer-centered designers, researchers, and strategists that crafts new products, experiences and ventures. Our approach combines customer needs and behaviors with leading edge business strategy. Our work is sprint- and prototype-driven and we think about how we can craft strategies and products into the market in ways that are meaningful and measured from the start. Our team has decades of experience working with some of the largest global partners including Disney, The New York Times, American Express, Target and others.

• We're prototyping-led. We lead with tangible assumptions in the form of prototypes and test them with real stakeholders to validate and refine our strategy and design. Regardless of discipline, we think and communicate in concepts, and use those to move further, faster.
• We're detailed and intentional. We always back up our design decisions with sound reasoning—be it user research, market research, or both. We make things that make sense and that have a clear through line.
• We're fast. We work almost exclusively in sprints, and with lean teams. We need folks who like to run.
• We're collaborative. We jam as a multidisciplinary team of specialists who collectively contribute to the full spectrum of work across user research, strategy and design to arrive at high quality outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead the creation of an overarching business development strategy for Runyon and carry out the tactics to implement that strategy, including managing our pipeline and informing the firm’s operational and directional path
• Identify and drive conversations with prospective client partners to understand their key needs, hunches, and challenges while sharing how Runyon’s approach and collaborative partnership could be valuable; with considerable prioritization on developing relationships with executive decision makers at F500 organizations who are responsible for Product, Growth, Design, Strategy
• Capture and convey the value of collaborative engagements through the crafting and writing of compelling design-driven proposals
• Work collaboratively on and with the managing partners to ensure that the business development process is integrated with our human-centered and business-focused design projects as well as our resourcing approach
• Develop and enhance depth in growth strategy, product design, and innovation to design user experiences
• Be a smart, effective, and generous contributor to and collaborator in building the culture and business of Runyon
• Share in, celebrate, and contribute to the success of your colleagues
  

QUALIFICATIONS 

• 6+ years of experience in new business development and relationship development within a creative firm, including a strong track record of bringing in new business
  
• Appreciates the power of storytelling and has experience presenting those stories to senior client partners
• A desire to lead and engage with collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams which include our client partners
• Ability to persuasively present and defend strategic thinking and synthesis, in addition to listening and modifying your thinking based on the contributions and perspectives of others
• Experience developing and honing creative strategies (e.g. hosting events, going to conferences, tapping referrals of your broader network, etc.) that can yield promising and relevant engagements
• Great communication and collaboration abilities, including experience in building strong partnerships with client partners
• You thrive in ambiguity, and have a propensity to experiment with generative ideas in order to identify the most innovative and disruptive solutions