Director of Design Strategy

Position Overview: The Director of Design Strategy is a key leadership role responsible for driving OFS’s sales strategy within the Architecture & Design community. This individual will spearhead efforts to enhance relationships with key design stakeholders, develop strategic initiatives to support the field sales team’s effort at promoting the brand through the influencer community (A&D, Students, CRE, PM firms, etc..), and provide coaching to sales teams to elevate their engagement with these critical stakeholders. The Director of Design Strategy will collaborate cross-functionally with Sales Enablement, Sales Leadership, Marketing, Customer Experience team to evolve and implement a national A&D strategy, ensuring OFS is positioned as a leader in this community.

Key Responsibilities:

Designer / CRE / Student Sales Strategy Development:

• Evolve and implement a national Design Strategy.
• Lead the execution of strategies targeting top A&D firms, including Gensler, HOK, IA, CBRE, and JLL (and beyond) using a comprehensive approach.
• Integrate dealer designer and broker designer strategies.
• Lead student outreach efforts to grow the university sales pipeline.
• Develop and track KPIs for A&D strategy effectiveness and provide regular reporting to leadership.

Sales Support and Coaching:

• Provide collaboration, support, motivation, and insights to field A&D reps and all OFS sellers calling on A&D, ensuring alignment with the A&D strategy and to support field team’s success in driving to greater strength in each and every A/D exchange including help to move individual designer relationships up the relationship management scale from level 4 to level 3, level 3 to 2, level 2 to 1.
  • Level 1: Designer willing to write “hard spec” and hold it, get “last look"
  • Level 2: Place of favor with designer, get spec’d, w/ wide consideration
  • Level 3: Designer has awareness of our brand and is open to consideration.
  • Level 4: Design is not supporting our brand.
• Travel to support and represent OFS at key A&D and industry events, fostering community and connection between A&D reps and industry.
• Lead a monthly A&D sales team call with all sellers calling on A&D.

• Develop and reinforce “best practices” with all sales territories to increase the level of effectiveness in making calls on A & D firms. 

   

Relationship Management:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key A&D influencers, industry leaders, industry groups (IIDA, ASID), and corporate real estate stakeholders.
• Represent OFS at national conferences, industry events, and public speaking engagements to enhance brand visibility.
• Develop and oversee account nationwide strategies for top A&D firms, ensuring cross-market collaboration and alignment with corporate goals.
• Spearhead and manage strategy and teams for critical A&D Furniture vendor process & requirements such as Gensler’s.

Thought Leadership and Industry Engagement:

• Collaborate cross functionally on with marketing on A&D-focused programming, content creation, and the development of tools to enhance the OFS &/ Carolina brand in the A&/D community.
• Lead the development and management of OFS/Car/ROOM CEU programs, white papers, and other thought leadership content to position OFS as a leader in the industry.
• Collaborate cross functionally on A&D-focused programming, content creation, and the development of tools to enhance the OFS & Carolina brand in the A/D community.
• Collaborate with Digital Team to support A&D-specific email marketing, showroom experiences, and the creation of tailored resources for the A&D market.
• Participate on a national level with A&D focused events, shows, speaking engagements and conferences.
• Participate in IAP programming and various productions to be an A&D voice on the IAP platform.

Research and Analysis:

• Conduct market research and competitor analysis to inform sales strategy development and product offerings.
• Perform quantitative analysis of sales data to monitor A&D specification involvement and align sales strategies with budgetary goals.
• Create and disperse sales support content and thought leadership on branding OFS to the Commercial Real estate community. Develop tools to support sales efforts in cultivating business opportunities.

Sales Enablement Collaboration:

• Collaborate with the Sales Enablement team to develop industry-specific training and ensure continuous alignment with the overall sales strategy.
• Build out the A&D bid response methodologies, templates, content and framework in conjunction with the Blue House team and internal team members.
• Assist with the creation of go-to-market strategies for various levels of A&D firms (A, B, C) and support cross-territory projects.
• Develop and implement sales experiences that are unmatched in the industry, focusing on elevating the engagement of A&D stakeholders.

Key Requirements:

• Extensive experience in strategic initiatives within the contract furniture or related industries.
• Deep understanding of the A&D community's needs, challenges, and market trends.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and relationship-building skills.
• Strategic thinker with a proven track record of driving results and fostering collaboration.
• Exceptional public speaking, networking, and thought leadership capabilities.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% to support key initiatives and foster relationships across markets.