Associate Director, Business Development

The big picture: Axios is a media company dedicated to providing trustworthy, award-winning news content in an audience-first format. We are looking for an Associate Director of Business Development to lead, coach, and develop our Business Development Associate (BDA) team.

Why it matters: This role is at the center of Axios Locals' growth strategy. The Associate Director, BDA Manager will oversee our BDA team and be responsible for creating a strong top-of-funnel pipeline and equipping BDAs with the skills, confidence, and commercial acumen to advance into future sales roles.

You will manage a fully remote team of BDAs across different markets, setting the tone for collaboration, accountability, and growth. Reporting to the Senior Director of Revenue Enablement, you’ll partner closely with sales leadership to create and refine the systems, playbooks, and processes that drive high-quality outreach, meaningful meetings, and ultimately revenue.

Go deeper: In this strategic role, you will make an impact for Axios Local expansion through the following responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of BDA team operations: hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, performance management, and career development.
• Design and deliver a structured path for BDAs to transition into sales roles, ensuring a continuous pipeline of future Client Partners for Axios Local.
• Collaborate with sales and enablement leadership to align top-of-funnel activity with revenue goals and retention strategies.
• Develop and maintain playbooks, outreach cadences, and success metrics that scale with team growth.
• Monitor performance and pipeline data to identify trends, areas for improvement, and opportunities to celebrate success.
• Coach BDAs in real time — listening to calls, refining messaging, and sharpening objection handling.
• Leverage AI tools and explore building custom GPTs to improve team efficiency, automate low-value tasks, and enhance coaching insights.
• Foster a strong, inclusive, and collaborative team culture across remote markets

Worthy of your time: Ideal candidates should have an entrepreneurial spirit, be highly collaborative, exhibit a passion for building something new, and have the following experience:

• 5-7 years of direct experience managing entry-level or early-career professionals in a sales or commercial environment 
• Exceptional emotional intelligence with a proven track record of coaching and developing high-potential early-career commercial talent 
• Ability to understand the formula for maintaining top-of-funnel activity in order to drive toward revenue goals and milestones 
• Strong track record of building processes, infrastructure, and performance playbooks from the ground-up 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills 
• Ability to adapt quickly to evolving needs of a high growth sales team 
• Excitement to learn and leverage AI to find efficiencies in workflow
• A deep belief in and commitment to maintaining a diverse and inclusive team environment

Starting base salary for this role is in the range of $70,000 - $98,000 and is dependent on numerous factors, including but not limited to location, work experience, and skills. This range does not include other compensation and benefits. Axios' compensation philosophy takes into account cost of labor differentials across the country. Because this is a remote-optional job posting, this salary range takes into account all possible locations within the United States, but candidates will only be eligible for the salary range for their location.

What Axios brings to the table besides salary:

• 401(k) with employer match
• Robust PPO and High Deductible health insurance options on the Blue Cross Blue Shield network
• Employer Health Savings Account (HSA) contribution for the high deductible health plan option
• Dental and vision coverage
• Primary caregiver 12-week paid leave
• Generous vacation policy, plus holidays
• One mental health day per quarter
• Annual learning and development stipend
• $100 monthly work-from-home stipend
• Tele-mental health services through Headspace
• OneMedical membership, including telehealth services
• Personal health advocacy resources through HealthAdvocate
• Inclusive fertility, hormonal health, and family-forming benefits through Carrot Fertility
• Access to the Axios “Family Fund”, which was created to allow employees to request financial support when facing financial hardship or emergencies
• Increased work flexibility for parents and caretakers
• Virtual company-sponsored social events
• A strong and positive work environment
• A commitment to an open, inclusive, and diverse work culture

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Axios is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Axios makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.