Managing Director, Business Development & Growth in Alexandria, Virginia at Water Environment Federation

Job Description

Location: Hybrid or Remote from these states (VA, DC, MD, PA, NC, FL, GA, NM, IL, OR, WA, WV, MA, SD, MN, OK & AL)

Salary Range: $175,000 - $220,000

Position Summary

The Managing Director, Business Development & Growth (MD, BD&G) is a strategic, relationship driven leader responsible for expanding the Water Environment Federation’s (WEF) impact, revenue, and mission-focused events. This role reports directly to the Executive Director and oversees all business development and value-based sales initiatives across all WEF in-person events, and the associated technical education programs. The MD, BD&G will lead and scale the department through strategic planning and disciplined pipeline management, ensuring all WEF revenue streams (exhibition sales, partnerships, sponsorships, advertising and media products, etc.) align with organizational strategy and sector priorities while improving the customer experience. Oversee all phases of the value-based sales cycle (from cradle to grave) to connect and demonstrate the impact of our products when married with other product lines including fulfillment to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction.

All activities will be performed in close collaboration with other departments to identify, mitigate, or remove organizational barriers to success.

The MD, BD&G is ideal for someone who thrives in a mission-focused environment but enjoys building meaningful partnerships and can translate big-picture vision into sustainable growth. This position is a strategic leader that oversees growth and new business development, by partnering with other Senior Leadership Team (SLT), Board of Trustees and other volunteer leadership committees, as well as other stakeholders within WEF. The MD, BD&G is responsible for ensuring WEFTEC and all WEF Events remain of the highest quality and adapts to help establish event trends. This position has frequent communications with executive level industry partners, members of staff across multiple departments, and the BD&G team. This position partners with internal & external stakeholders to increase volunteer engagement and external partnerships.

The MD, BD&G must thrive on initiative, problem solving, being agile, inclusive, and a team player. The ideal candidate will have experience leading high-performance teams and success working across and supporting mission-based organizations to best help WEF serve the Water Community.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive sales and business development strategy aligned with the WEF’s mission, vision and long-term goals.
• Identify new revenue and expand existing opportunities across WEF Events, education, sponsorships, advertising & media, digital engagement and community partnerships by collaborating with other WEF stakeholders and in compliance with WEF policies.
• Works diligently to retain current customers while adding new customers.
• Lead market analysis to anticipate trends, assess opportunities, and position WEF for growth.
• The position is responsible for conducting reviews and updates of program benefits and adjusting programs to align with WEF’s plan of work as it evolves, managing the expense and accurately forecasting revenue, establishing benchmarks for future performance against program goals and overall creating a collaborative environment that is conducive to partner recruitment, retention and is supported by all staff.
• Collaborates with the Senior Leadership Team to shape organizational priorities and strategic initiatives.

Leadership

• Lead, mentor, develop and retain a high-performing sales, sales support & business development team
• Fosters a culture of innovation, accountability, cross-departmental collaboration, initiative and problem solving
• Ensures BD&G staff have the tools, training and support needed to thrive and grow at WEF
• Responsible for developing staff awareness, interest and understanding of the value of programs offered at WEF. Works with staff to be proactive and reactive to the needs of customers and all stakeholders

Revenue Management & Reporting

• Set and monitor revenue targets and annual budgets, ensuring consistent progress toward WEF’s financial goals and providing periodic updates as needed.
• Evaluate and optimize WEF’s current offerings and pricing structure to maximize revenue potential, enhance value, and ensure financial resilience.
• Oversee proposal development, sponsorship packages, and partnership agreements.
• Provide regular reports to the ED and BOT on business development performance, trends and opportunities.
• Ensure that the sales and customer success teams meet or exceeds sales plan goals by serving as a fully engaged, productive and inspiring people leader.
• Oversee all phases of the value-based sales cycle and associated training to connect and demonstrate the impact of our products. Generate new sales opportunities, collaborating with WEF departments to develop and implement an organization-wide revenue model; includes the sale of existing products and the development of new products.
• Will oversee sales of booth space, advertising and sponsorships for WEF’s annual trade show and expo, WEF events, and other products and opportunities identified as new business opportunities.
• Effectively negotiate and manage a variety of contracts, including sales contracts for WEFTEC, WEF’s flagship expo and conference, contracts with vendors and outside contractors, and other contracts as needed.

Event Management

• Partner with stakeholders to assist with the planning, development and execution of a diverse portfolio of WEF Events, including conferences, seminars, workshops, etc.
• Collaborates to help with the integration, development and execution of conferences, seminars, workshops and other events with all appropriate stakeholders.
• Partners with stakeholders for negotiations/renegotiations and contract discussions with potential sponsors, exhibitors, vendors, and event partners. · Collaborates with stakeholders for event design and management for all WEF events, to maximize all revenue goals for the event or product. · Co-leads all WEF events to ensure the highest production quality and compliance with WEF branding and logo design.
• Strong working knowledge of event management preferred and ability to provide guidance on strategic direction to maximize revenue and customer experience

Partnership Development

• Collaborates with the Strategic Partnership team to cultivate and steward high value relationships with corporations, foundations, community organizations, and key stakeholders.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to build a diverse and collaborative revenue generating strategy for all WEF events, and educational programs.
• Represents WEF at industry events, conferences, and community gatherings to elevate visibility and build and strengthen alliances.
• Co-Design new approaches to serve all levels of industry partners, providing opportunities to engage with WEF outside of traditional offerings to generate additional revenue.

Community Engagement & Integration

• Partner with Community Engagement (CE), Mission, MARCOMM and other stakeholders to help strengthen volunteer activities and awareness about WEF.
• Assist CE, Mission and other stakeholders with ensuring volunteer community is effectively leveraged to support WEF events, conferences, outreach and program delivery.
• Promotes a culture of appreciation, inclusion, empowerment and teamwork across WEF volunteers, communities and stakeholders.
• Leverage community insights to drive marketing alignment and product improvements.

Qualifications

• BS or BA degree with 15+ years of progressively responsible sales, business development, fundraising, partnerships or related field.
• 9+ years of people leadership responsibility; experience growing and developing staff
• Recognized experience with large ($15.0 MM+ revenue) trade expo and conference(s) highly desired
• Proven success in securing major partnerships, sponsorships, or -revenue generating collaborations.
• Experience working with large volunteer networks or membership-based organizations.
• Strong understanding of -event-based revenue models, event and educational program development with an entrepreneurial mindset and a knack for identifying opportunities others miss.
• Experience managing an annual operating budget of more than $20M, including development, reporting, and trend analysis.
• Exceptional communication, presentation, negotiation, and -relationship building skills.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to execute and deliver measurable results.
• Demonstrated leadership experience with the ability to inspire teams and stakeholders.
• Ability to travel up to 25 - 30%

At WEF, we are committed to an interview experience that is authentic, transparent, and equitable. Candidates are asked to answer interview questions in their own words, without real-time AI assistance, so we can fairly assess individual experiences, skills and qualifications.
To support a genuine interview experience, WEF’s interviewers also refrain from using AI tools during live interviews. If a candidate’s responses appear inconsistent or suggest outside assistance, WEF’s interviewers may pause to clarify or adjust the interview to maintain fairness for all candidates.
These measures are not intended to be punitive; rather, they aim to ensure a consistent evaluation process that aligns to WEF’s cultural and ethical principles.