Director of Business Development

Watch my 3-minute video first: https://lnkd.in/p/gBhG7vQG

If you've closed six-figure deals with plant managers, property managers or procurement teams, and you're tired of starting from zero every January, keep reading.

This is a business development executive role. You'll build how Red Seal wins its biggest accounts, open the doors yourself, and close the deals with me.

Levi Rock, President and licensed sprinkler fitter

About Red Seal

We inspect, service and repair fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems in commercial buildings across Southwestern Ontario. We started in Windsor in 2020. We're about 20 people, and in 2026 we acquired All Protex Fire & Safety.

We've completed more than 3,000 fire inspections, from single plants to national retail chains and large residential portfolios. That's proof you can use with any facilities director on day one.

We already deliver for large portfolios. What we haven't had is someone whose whole job is winning them. That's this seat.

The Ontario Fire Code puts this work on a schedule, so an account you land pays every year. More than nine in ten of the buildings that fit our profile are still inspected by someone else. That's your market.

What our customers buy

They buy a clean, defensible file on every building. It answers the fire prevention officer, the insurer and head office without anyone chasing it. We open with the Fire Code Compliance Blueprint Inspection: one fixed price for every system in the building. Then it becomes a 12-month Compliance Plan, and the repairs and 24/7 service follow.

Every promise is in writing:

• Reports within 48 hours of the visit, guaranteed

• Two-hour emergency response in our core territory

• One company for every fire system in the building

• No invoice ever above the approved quote

The role

You own new-account growth for our largest customers, from strategy to signature. You also build the enterprise sales function as it grows.

• Accounts worth $50,000 to $700,000 a year: REITs and condo portfolios with 5 to 30 buildings, plants over 50,000 sq ft, school boards, colleges and universities

• Territory: Windsor-Essex, Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton and London

• You report to me, with no direct reports at the start

• Existing customers and accounts under $50,000 a year stay with our division managers

What you'll own

Win the accounts

• Build and run our Dream 100: the portfolios, plants and institutions we most want to win.

• Map every decision-maker, from the owner and asset manager to facilities, operations, procurement and risk.

• Open doors with account-based campaigns: a custom video per account, LinkedIn, email, phone, mailed letters and hand-delivered packages. Follow up until they say yes or stop.

• Walk portfolios with our division managers. Read the current contractor's reports and turn what you find into a business case.

• Build portfolio proposals and multi-year service agreements. Set pricing with me, then negotiate terms with owners and procurement.

• Run RFPs, tenders and vendor onboarding: prequalification, insurance certificates and WSIB clearance.

Build the engine

• Take the enterprise playbook I've started and make it Red Seal's system.

• Keep the pipeline in dollars. Log every touch the same day, review it with me weekly and forecast it monthly.

• Run a weekly review of a recorded sales call with our division managers and marketing, so what buyers say shapes both.

• Hand every new account to operations in writing and be on site for the first inspection. Run the 90-day review, then grow the account: more buildings, more intervals, the repairs.

• When your volume calls for it, hire and coach a Business Development Representative to book first meetings for you.

Represent Red Seal

• Be our face at trade shows, chamber events, and other business networking events across the four regions, and on LinkedIn.

• Build referral relationships with property management firms and insurance brokers.

A typical day

• Morning: account research, then outreach to decision-makers by phone, video, LinkedIn and email

• Midday: site walks and discovery meetings, with a division manager beside you

• Afternoon: proposals, pricing, negotiation, RFP paperwork and follow-ups

• End of day: the CRM up to date, every commitment dated, tomorrow's targets set

A typical week

• Monday: plan the week in the first hour, every priority on your calendar

• Tuesday and Thursday mornings: team training and the recorded-call review

• Friday: one-on-one, pipeline and forecast review with me

Your first 90 days

• Days 1 to 30, learn. Study our 170-page Closer Handbook, the system behind more than $14 million of my own fire protection sales. Ride along on ten inspections across both divisions. Learn NFPA 25, CAN/ULC-S536 and the Fire Code basics from our division managers. By day 30, have 100 accounts mapped, 40 in your campaigns and 10 first meetings booked.

• Days 31 to 60, run the plays. Walk sites with the division managers and send your first proposals, with me presenting beside you.

• Days 61 to 90, close and build. Sign your first accounts, reach $200,000 a month in proposals, and bring the first version of the enterprise playbook to your 90-day review.

What success looks like

• Year one: $1.0 million of new annual revenue signed

• Year two on: $1.8 million to $2.0 million a year

• Every month: 40 accounts in your campaigns, 12 first meetings, 6 site walks and $200,000 in proposals, with 40% or more closed by value

• Every account you land is on a signed service agreement, and 90% are still with us after 12 months

Marketing and support already in place

• The Blueprint Inspection offer and its guarantees

• LinkedIn content for property and facility managers, plus LinkedIn and email outbound

• Building-specific inspection quotes mailed to multi-storey buildings

• A marketing coordinator who edits your prospect videos

• A website rebuild for lead generation, under way now

Marketing opens some doors. Your outreach opens most of them. VP of Sales is the earned next step as the sales team grows.

Pay

• Base salary: $130,000 to $150,000, depending on experience.

• Commission: 7% of first-year revenue on new service and inspection accounts once you pass your annual threshold. No cap.

• The threshold is $800,000 of new annual revenue at a $130,000 base. It rises with a higher base.

• At $1.8 million of new annual revenue, you earn about $200,000. At $3 million, about $284,000.

• Commission is earned when the customer pays, so it trails a signing by at least two months. Plan your first year on base.

• Installs and retrofits over $50,000 pay 2%. You get the full commission plan in writing before you sign.

• Relocation support up to $10,000 if you're moving from the GTA, repayable if you leave in the first year.

What you get

• Company vehicle, iPhone and laptop

• LinkedIn Sales Navigator, our CRM, and NFPA LiNK access to the codes and standards

• A budget for custom prospect videos, hand-delivered packages and industry events

You'll fit if

• You've closed $1 million or more a year in new B2B business for at least three years, in deals of $50,000 and up.

• Most of it was self-sourced, and you can show the proof.

• You've sold to procurement-led buyers (plants, property managers, institutions or the public sector) and negotiated multi-year contracts with them.

• You have a trade, technical diploma or engineering background, or a record selling a technical product. You're comfortable in a mechanical room.

• You live in, or will move to, one of our four regions, and you have a valid driver's licence.

Strong signals

• You've sold recurring service contracts: elevators, HVAC and controls, building automation, security or fire.

• You've handled contractor prequalification and public tenders, or you already know facilities leaders in Southwestern Ontario.

• Huge plus: you already use Claude or a similar AI tool in your sales work, for account research, call prep or proposal drafts. Our managers run Claude with our own company skills, and we build internal tools with it.

This isn't for you if

• You need leads handed to you.

• You close by cutting price. We don't compete on price. We win on service, speed and fire protection our clients never have to chase.

• You want a team under you before you've produced.

• You can't show proof of what you've closed, or you don't want direct feedback every week.

How to apply

1. Watch the video.

2. Record a 60-second video. Tell me why this seat, and walk me through the biggest deal you personally found and closed. Be specific and be honest.

3. Apply at the same link with your video, your résumé, and anything else you think we should know.

Applications without a video aren't reviewed. I watch every video myself.

What happens next

1. A values interview with me

2. A short take-home

3. A live exercise with feedback

4. Conversations with our division managers and service coordinator

5. A full paid day with us in Windsor

6. A 30-minute presentation of your 90-day plan

Strong candidates move through in about two weeks. Target start: February 1, 2027.

Know someone who fits? We pay a $15,000 referral bonus for the person we hire: half at 90 days and half at 12 months.

The fine print

• This posting is for an existing vacancy.

• We use AI tools to help organize applications. People review every application and make every hiring decision.

• If you interview with us, we'll tell you whether we've made a decision within 45 days of your last interview.

• Accommodation for candidates with disabilities is available at every stage of hiring, including an alternative to the video. Email [email protected].