Business Development Director

The opportunity

Turn established commercial-property relationships into profitable workplace design and build opportunities, with uncapped commission linked to project performance.

This senior appointment is for someone with an active, commercially productive network across the office property market. Your relationships may include commercial agents, occupier advisers, asset managers, landlords, developers and property companies. What matters is your ability to translate those relationships into worthwhile opportunities and, working with the wider team, profitable appointments.

You will know how office requirements develop, who influences procurement decisions and when to bring a design and build partner into the conversation. The role is aimed at established professionals capable of originating and materially contributing to approximately £10 million–£25 million of secured fit-out work a year. Candidates with strong records across that range will be considered; this is not a search solely for someone already producing £25 million.

You will work closely with experienced design, pre-construction, commercial and delivery colleagues. Your focus will be on the relationships and commercial judgement that win work, rather than taking personal responsibility for technical design or day-to-day project delivery.

What you'll do

You’ll develop relationships, identify opportunities before they reach a wider tender list and help the business decide which projects offer the strongest prospect of a successful, profitable outcome. You will remain engaged beyond the initial introduction, bringing your knowledge of the client and decision-makers to the work-winning process.

Your remit will include:

• Building and sustaining trusted relationships with commercial agents, occupier advisers, asset managers, landlords, developers and property companies, developing repeat sources of opportunities rather than one-off introductions.
• Identifying forthcoming relocations, lease events, refurbishments, landlord improvement works and changes in property strategy; establishing the decision-makers, project drivers, likely budget, programme and procurement route.
• Positioning the business early, helping it understand the opportunity and decide where to invest design, estimating and pre-construction resources. You will be prepared to challenge or decline poorly qualified work.
• Supporting the conversion of opportunities into appointments through relationship management, pitches, presentations and commercial discussions, while specialist colleagues retain responsibility for technical proposals and pricing approvals.
• Representing the business at relevant property and workplace events, maintaining a credible market presence and sharing intelligence about occupier requirements, leasing activity and asset improvement opportunities.
• Maintaining a reliable CRM pipeline with source, contacts, value, stage, likely decision date and next action; agreeing attribution where more than one colleague or an existing client relationship is involved.
• Supporting a considered handover to delivery colleagues and staying in touch with introducers and clients so that successful projects lead to stronger relationships and repeat business.

The measure of success is not the number of introductions or the size of an unconverted pipeline. It is a sustainable contribution to secured work, project gross profit and long-term relationships.

What you'll get

The proposed basic salary is £130,000–£150,000 per annum, with flexibility considered for an exceptional candidate who can demonstrate a repeatable record of originating substantial, profitable work. Commission is uncapped and linked to the gross profit margin achieved on each attributable project.

The commission structure is designed to reward the quality of the work secured as well as its value:

• Projects achieving a 20% to below 25% gross profit margin attract commission of 3% of attributable project GP.
• Projects achieving a 25% to below 30% gross profit margin attract commission of 5% of attributable project GP.
• Projects achieving a gross profit margin of 30% or more attract commission of 7% of attributable project GP.

Indicative earnings are based on a balanced portfolio rather than an assumption that every project produces exceptional margins. For planning purposes, the illustration allocates approximately 60% of attributable contract value to the 20%–below-25% band, 35% to the 25%–below-30% band and 5% to the 30%-plus band. It uses the entry GP margin for each band: 20%, 25% and 30%.

A joining bonus will also be considered where a move would cause you to forfeit commission on work already originated or helped to secure. Any such arrangement would reflect the value, timing and evidence of the commission being left behind and be separate from the annual earnings illustration.

What you'll need

You will bring genuine commercial-property relationships and evidence that those relationships have translated into secured work. The quality and relevance of your network matter more than the size of your contact list.

You should be able to talk clearly about projects you have originated, how the opportunities arose, your involvement in securing them and the resulting contract values. A track record generating approximately £10 million–£25 million annually is particularly relevant, but consistency, profitability and your personal contribution matter as much as the headline figure.

You’ll also need:

• A practical understanding of commercial office design and build, including occupier and landlord requirements, typical procurement stages and the commercial considerations affecting budget, programme and delivery.
• The judgement to distinguish promising conversations from qualified opportunities, assess commercial suitability and involve specialist colleagues at the right time.
• Credibility with senior property professionals, strong communication skills and the confidence to contribute meaningfully to pitches and work-winning discussions.
• Disciplined follow-through, accurate forecasting and the discretion to manage commercially sensitive client, property and project information.

Relevant backgrounds include senior fit-out business development and property-side roles with demonstrable work-winning experience.

About the company

The business is an established UK workplace design and build specialist with a substantial London presence and national delivery capability. Its services include workplace consultancy, office design, fit-out, refurbishment and furniture, supporting customers from their initial property and workplace decisions through to a completed space.

The client base includes occupiers, commercial landlords and flexible-workspace operators. Projects range from occupier relocations and refurbishments to landlord improvements, pre-fitted accommodation and larger repositioning schemes. Design, pre-construction, commercial and delivery teams work together to balance workplace quality with buildability, cost and programme, with sustainability and wellbeing informing the approach.

The breadth of the offering creates several routes into an opportunity: an occupier rethinking its workplace, an agent advising on an office move, or an asset manager looking to improve a property’s appeal to prospective tenants.

Getting in touch

To discuss the role in confidence, email Thomas Wood at thomas@apolloemea.com. We would be interested in understanding the markets you know best, the relationships you have developed and the scale of work you have personally helped to secure. There is no need to disclose confidential client information at this stage.