Addition Building & Design / ABD Build
Los Angeles, CA | Full-Time | Senior Leadership | In Office
Base Salary: $130,000–$150,000 | Target Total Compensation: $220,000–$310,000+
ABOUT ADDITION BUILDING & DESIGN
Addition Building & Design is a Los Angeles luxury residential design-build firm specializing in custom homes, major renovations, hillside construction, additions, and complex residential projects. For more than 40 years, our team has brought design, engineering, pre-construction planning, permitting, estimating, and construction together under one coordinated process.
As we expand ABD Build across Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Brentwood, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Hidden Hills, and the greater Los Angeles market, we are seeking a Director of Client Development & Strategic Partnerships to lead our business development strategy.
THE ROLE
This is a senior, highly visible position combining strategic business development, hands-on client engagement, relationship building, market development, and brand representation. You will work directly with company ownership to develop new business, convert qualified opportunities, and expand ABD's position within the Los Angeles luxury residential market.
The successful candidate will not simply manage the opportunities that come to ABD — they will continuously create new ones. We are looking for someone with deep knowledge of the luxury residential ecosystem and the ability to build meaningful relationships across it.
CLIENT DEVELOPMENT & SALES STRATEGY
- Lead ABD's client development strategy end-to-end, from initial relationship through signed agreement
- Manage and convert qualified inbound leads while proactively sourcing new business
- Build and maintain a strong pipeline of custom-home, rebuild, major renovation, and luxury residential opportunities
- Develop relationships with prospective clients long before a formal opportunity or bid exists
- Identify projects during the architecture, design, property acquisition, and pre-construction stages, positioning ABD to become involved early
- Work directly with ownership to evaluate opportunities, determine pursuit strategy, and advance qualified projects through meetings, presentations, proposals, and negotiations
- Maintain disciplined CRM management, pipeline tracking, follow-up, and forecasting
- Establish and report against measurable business-development goals and KPIs
STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS & PARTNERSHIPS
Build and maintain meaningful relationships throughout the luxury residential ecosystem: architects, interior designers, luxury brokers, developers, owner's representatives, landscape architects, engineers and consultants, vendors and showrooms, community organizations, past clients, and referral partners.
- Develop relationships with principals and senior professionals at leading Los Angeles architecture and design firms
- Meet regularly with architects and designers in their offices, at projects, and at industry events
- Understand each firm's clientele, design philosophy, project pipeline, and construction-partner preferences
- Identify opportunities to provide pre-construction expertise during early design, and give design professionals a chance to experience our work firsthand
- Build referral relationships with professionals who can introduce ABD early in the client decision-making process
- Take a systematic approach to cultivating these relationships and track the revenue they generate
The objective is to make Addition Building & Design a preferred construction partner — one of the first builders these professionals call when a significant residential project begins.
LUXURY CLIENT ENGAGEMENT
- Serve as a senior relationship point for prospective clients, building trust with high-net-worth homeowners
- Understand the priorities, expectations, and decision-making process of sophisticated residential clients
- Clearly communicate ABD's design-build, pre-construction, estimating, construction, and project-management capabilities
- Help prospective clients understand project feasibility, budgeting, timelines, permitting, and construction strategy
- Coordinate involvement from ownership, design, estimating, and construction leadership, and support a seamless transition from business development into pre-construction
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
- Develop ABD's presence within Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Brentwood, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Hidden Hills, and other priority markets
- Maintain a strong understanding of residential development, rebuilding activity, luxury real estate, and architecture trends
- Identify upcoming projects before they reach the general contractor selection stage
- Monitor how leading luxury builders are positioning themselves
- Provide leadership with market intelligence that informs business strategy, marketing, and geographic expansion
- Work with ownership and marketing leadership to shape how ABD Build is positioned, ensure messaging reflects what architects, designers, brokers, and homeowners need, and identify thought leadership opportunities
EVENTS, NETWORKING & INDUSTRY PRESENCE
- Represent ABD at architecture, design, luxury real estate, and community events, including Pacific Palisades and Malibu organizations
- Identify high-value sponsorship and partnership opportunities
- Develop ABD-hosted architect, designer, broker, and client events, including project tours, dinners, and presentations
- Determine which events provide meaningful business-development value, and follow up systematically
This position requires someone comfortable being out in the market developing relationships rather than waiting for business to arrive.
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
- 10–15+ years of relevant professional experience.
- Significant business-development, client-development, sales, or partnership experience
- Demonstrated experience working with high-net-worth clients.
- Proven ability to develop new business through professional relationships.
- Strong understanding of the luxury residential project lifecycle.
- Experience developing and managing a meaningful business-development pipeline.
- Ability to independently source and cultivate new opportunities.
- Excellent client-facing communication and presentation skills.
- Strong relationship-building and networking abilities.
- Ability to communicate comfortably with architects, designers, builders, developers, real estate professionals, and sophisticated homeowners.
- Highly organized and disciplined regarding follow-up and relationship management.
- Comfortable representing a premium company in high-level professional and social environments.
- Ability and willingness to regularly attend meetings, events, project tours, lunches, dinners, and other relationship-development activities throughout Los Angeles.
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE
- Existing relationships within the Los Angeles luxury residential market — architects, designers, real estate professionals, developers, owner's representatives, or high-net-worth homeowners
- Experience with custom single-family residences, major renovations, hillside construction, architect-led projects, or residential rebuilds
- Background with a respected luxury builder, architecture firm, design-build firm, developer, owner's representative, or luxury real estate organization
- Experience working directly with company principals, founders, or executive leadership
- Experience developing a new market, division, business-development program, or partnership network
- Familiarity with CRM and sales-pipeline management
WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR
- Highly connected: you understand how relationships drive luxury residential business
- Strategic: you know which relationships deserve attention and how to develop them over time
- Proactive: you create opportunities rather than wait for leads
- Sophisticated: you can represent ABD with leading architects, designers, developers, brokers, and high-net-worth homeowners
- Persistent: you know major residential projects develop over months or years
- Commercially minded: relationship development ultimately needs to produce profitable projects
- Collaborative: winning a project is only the beginning; long-term success depends on how business development, design, estimating, pre-construction, and construction work together
HOW SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED
Performance will be evaluated through measurable KPIs: new qualified relationships and strategic partnerships developed, architect and designer relationships established, qualified opportunities generated, pipeline value, new client meetings, pre-construction agreements, construction contracts, signed contract value attributable to business development, revenue, conversion rate, referral and repeat business, and growth within ABD's priority markets.
The expectation is not simply activity. The expectation is measurable business growth.
COMPENSATION
Base Salary: $130,000–$150,000 annually, depending on experience, demonstrated results, existing relationships, and the ability to independently generate significant new business.
Target Total Compensation: $220,000–$310,000+
This position includes an aggressive performance-based compensation program tied to clearly defined results, with incentives that may include qualified opportunities generated, pre-construction agreements, signed construction contracts, contract value, profitable revenue, and annual business-development targets. A Director who consistently generates significant, profitable construction volume should have the ability to earn well above base compensation.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is a chance to work directly with the ownership of an established Los Angeles design-build company while building the next stage of its luxury residential business. ABD is looking for someone who wants more than a sales position — someone who can build a market presence, relationship network, and long-term business-development platform, and become a critical external representative of the company as we establish ABD Build as a preferred partner throughout Los Angeles.
Pay: $130,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Ability to Commute:
- Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 (Required)
Work Location: In person
