Business Development Strategist

Taoti Creative is looking a Business Development Strategist to join our agency's business development team!

(Sorry in advance for the long read.  But this is your career we’re talking about here!  It’s worth the extra detail, right?  The right fit is critical for both of our sakes, so please forgive us in advance for the verbosity.)

Now, about the Job...

It’s one thing to have brilliant ideas and technical knowledge to put together a solution for a client.  But it’s another thing to be able to write it and articulate it in a clear, concise, and compelling fashion.  That’s your job: to be a driving force behind coming up with winning themes and ideas and then translating them into proposals and pitches.  Our business development process is extremely collaborative, so it’s not like we throw an RFP at you, lock you in a dark room, and say, “here, write a response to this.”  As our opportunities come in, our team evaluates, qualifies, and strategizes them.  As a team, we decide which opportunities to pursue and what our big ideas are. That’s where you step up. You borrow bits from old proposals, take ideas from our team, add in your own two cents, and set out to write the world’s best proposal that will get us in the room with the client (metaphorically speaking) to win the work.   

  

Let’s be clear: this is a business development role, so you should be comfortable with the idea that you build relationships with prospects and clients to increase revenue.  And within the team, a lot of your time will be spent writing and putting together proposals and other client communication.  But it’s not your (primary) job to go find leads or be the leading voice in pitch meetings (though if you want to, you can do it).  

We think a part of being a good Business Development Strategist is getting inside the head of the prospect. You will need to have calls with them to determine if we are the right fit and to identify what needs they have. You will also need to research them to understand how to connect their needs to what we propose, creating a proposal that emotionally connects with them.  

  

And no, this is not a commissioned position (Taoti doesn't actually have any commissioned positions). Everyone works on a fixed salary here. 

What We’re looking for

• You have a demeanor that projects confidence and credibility.
• You are comfortable speaking with others during pitches and calls
• You write unbelievably well.
• You have 3 - 5 years of business development or account experience in the world of web development, strategic communications, marketing, etc.
• You eat 80-page RFPs for breakfast.
• You WANT to write proposals.  It’s not a chore.  Not something you have to do as punishment.  Not something you do when you run out of other things.
• You’re not afraid to let some personality show through your writing and know how much is the right amount of ‘edgy.’
• You know Word inside and out.  You’d never dare individually format a heading without applying a style.  You know how to create dynamic TOCs.  You could teach Clippy a thing or three.
• While you may not be an artist, you know how to make a fine-lookin’ document.
• You’re collaborative.  You’re not afraid to get out of your chair and go ask a dev about why a client would want SOLR and how you should position it in the proposal.
• You can work directly with clients to refine and revise proposals, scopes, and other documents.

Responsibilities

• Review RFPs to determine if we are the right fit
• Qualify opportunities by setting and leading calls with the client to discuss their needs
• Write engaging proposals that separate Taoti from other agencies
• Work with other members of the agency to price out and create winning engagement approaches
• Develop winning strategies for client pitches, build rapport with the client, and prepare the internal team for success
• Negotiate contracts with the client
• Support other members of the agency to help them drive revenue with existing clients and prospects

Tips for getting onto the short list…

• Stand out.  When you apply, make an impression.
• As a full-service agency, we do more than our fair share of web development.  So, experience with Drupal and/or WordPress is a HUGE plus.  So is experience with branding, marketing, video, SEO, analytics, CRM systems and paid media. If you’ve got it, tell us about it!
• Show—don’t tell—us how great you are.
• If you wrote and/or managed large-scale proposals for large, complex projects with multiple service offerings, partners or multi-year commitments, please share an example if possible, or describe your contributions.
• We can tell a lot by the documents someone creates.  Doesn’t matter what it is, but we’d love to see some documents you’ve put together.
• Talk to us about your favorite tools.
• Give us some insight into your general Project Management philosophies.
• Tell us why you want to work at Taoti, specifically.  And what was wrong with your last gig that makes you want to leave?
• Show us your passion and energy.  We like passion and energy.
• As a member of the business development team, we seek competitive colleagues who want to help us win deals that are set up for our colleagues to succeed.

So what on earth is a Taoti??

Established in 1996, Taoti Creative is a boutique, full-service creative agency located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.  We are privately owned and have no corporate overlords (nothing personal, WPP.)  We have the in-house ability to concept and deliver holistic branding, marketing and integrated digital solutions for our clients. This includes brand guides, logos, marketing strategies and execution, web development, social media management, branding, experiential marketing, video, AR/VR, etc.  Our mission is to ‘move the needle’ for our clients.  We leverage technology, creativity, and innovation to generate meaningful and measurable results for our clients—that’s what drives us.  Speaking of clients, they’re about 50% government, 30% non-profit, and 20% commercial.  Some of our customers include DC.gov, U.S. Figure Skating, Events DC, Howard County, MD, science and health-related non-profits, World Bank, USAID, the Environmental Defense Fund, the NFLPA, Jane Goodall Foundation, a slew of water utilities, commercial clients and dozens of ‘National Association of _____________,’ etc. 

Our full-time team of about 60 employees is about 65% in-house and 35% remote.  We hail from over 12 countries.   There’s of course plenty of additional information on our website.  If you’ve not done so already, be sure to check out our Instagram, LinkedIn, and culture video:  https://vimeo.com/289302105.  Or if you’re feeling virtual, here’s a snapshot of some of our current team in our office, located in the former rehearsal space for the Shakespeare Theater (Warning: not suitable for printers.)

What’s the corporate culture like?

“Fun but focused,” as one Taotian put it, is a great way to sum up our culture.  We’re a fun and casual shop.  The kind of place where you can wear whatever and bring in your dog (one at a time)..  We take the work seriously and believe deeply in the mission to make meaningful and measurableimpacts for our clients.  The perks and the office vibe is fun, but to really fit in here, you need to be about the work. 

We also believe in total transparency and open communication across teams and across ranks. We want everyone to have and share their own voice. About once per month, the CEO holds ‘CafeClutch’ just so he can hear ideas and feedback directly from the team instead of through the filter of management. 

Logistics

This is a full-time, W2, “in-house” role based out of our Washington, DC office.  A note about what it means to be “in-house” here: the rule of thumb is that most employees in the DC area should be in the office 3.5 days a week.  Certain roles (such as managers or people involved in projects that require more on-site meetings) may be more, and that may change from time to time.  Ultimately, our goal is to embrace a hybrid office culture that balances the needs of the agency with the needs of employees.

What about benefits?

What about benefits?

• 5+ weeks PTO for starters (includes 11 federal holidays)
• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance.  (50% for qualifying dependents.)  And we have good insurance.
• Paid family leave for men and women (including PTO plus short and long term disability options.)
• 3% retirement plan matching (plus access to a financial advisor).
• Home buyer help (including a $1200 closing credit)
• Mobile phone reimbursement
• You can opt for a company-supplied PC or Mac laptop.  Or if you want to use your own, we’ll reimburse you for it.
• Charitable contribution matching
• Tax-free metro benefits
• A sincere respect for work/life balance
• Money and time off allocated for professional development (also increases with tenure)
• A diverse team hailing from more than 12 countries
• A very hip/cool/funky/quirky office space on Barracks Row, in the heart of Capitol Hill.  Just 2 blocks from the metro!
• Fun perks like a regular company boat outings (boat is walking distance from the office), chill work environment, etc.
• No real dress code (within reason, as long as you can be an adult about getting dressed for work)
• Of course, the above is a quick list.  See the handbook for all the gory details.

Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Great ideas happen when diverse perspectives come together.  Those perspectives are Taoti’s secret sauce. So, building a diverse team and culture where everyone has a voice and is included in the process is not just the right thing to do.  It’s good for business.  We’d love your own perspective to add to our mix!  We're eager for new, diverse voices to join the team and sincerely hope people from every walk of life will apply!  And of course, Taoti is an equal opportunity employer.

Next steps…

If you’re qualified and interested, please apply on our website (https://www.taoti.com/careers.)   Please note that these job ads often get placed onto other websites with their own application systems (we’re looking at you Jooble!)  and some sites (looking at you Indeed!) have made up random salary ranges. We aren't able to respond to applications that don’t come through our own website (because we use software to manage our hiring process, and without it, it would be the wild west here. So please be sure you’re applying on our website.  But don't worry--real people read these. There's no AI involved here.)

Pretty please, no recruiters.