Market Development Manager

This role is fundamentally mission-driven: our client believes employee ownership is one of the most powerful tools available to Canadian business owners planning their exit, and this position's mandate is to educate mid-market owners, inspire confidence in employee ownership pathways, and carry that conviction through to a signed engagement. You will bridge the gap between high-level B2B strategy and elite relationship execution. Instead of a traditional, high-pressure "hard sales" environment, you will act as a consultative Market Development Manager and educational thought leader who builds trust specifically because trust is what moves a nervous business owner toward a decision. Your work spans identifying mid-market business owners, educating them on specialized corporate transition pathways, constructing sustainable referral networks with professional channels (such as commercial banks, law firms, accounting practices, and financial advisors), and winning their commitment to move forward.

Outstanding, clear, and empathetic communication is the absolute foundation of success in this role—but so is genuine, personal conviction in the mission. This is not a role for someone who simply recites bullet points; it is for someone who authentically believes in social impact and values-driven business models, and whose authentic belief is what persuades business owners to choose employee ownership over conventional exit options. Our client operates in a horizontal, transparent, and intensely collaborative startup-meets-corporate culture. The ideal candidate must be highly comfortable navigating ambiguity, taking autonomous ownership of their territory, and reading between the lines to address the natural anxieties business owners face during major transition cycles. While you do not need to be a technical financial modeler on day one, you must possess immense curiosity and a strong willingness to learn the financial mechanics, valuation concepts, and structural regulations associated with advanced corporate advisory frameworks.

This role is offered on a hybrid basis, requiring a minimum of one day per week (Wednesdays) in the Vancouver office, alongside dynamic travel opportunities to represent the firm at nationwide industry conferences. While the core team is based in British Columbia, candidate selection is open to top-tier profiles across Canada. Outstanding written and verbal fluency in English is mandatory to effectively engage with corporate partners across national boundaries; advanced fluency or bilingualism in French is considered a highly valuable strategic asset to support the firm's market development across diverse Canadian territories.

Advantages
• Highly competitive annual salary ranging between $100,000 and $150,000, tailored directly to your professional experience and depth of skill.
• Comprehensive benefits: Health, dental, vision, and medical package designed to safeguard your holistic well-being.
• Strategic autonomy: High levels of professional ownership paired with an intensely collaborative, horizontal, and values-driven workspace.
• Flexible hybrid model: Requiring only one day per week (Wednesdays) in the central Vancouver office, with the remainder completed remotely.
• Impactful development: Significant professional acceleration opportunities within a fast-growing, market-pioneering advisory firm dedicated to social impact and employee ownership.
• Premium networking: Excellent travel opportunities to represent the organization at national industry conferences and corporate networking events.
• Collaborative culture: Immersive experience working alongside an elite team of practitioners who value true execution excellence and healthy work-life balance.

Responsibilities
• Proactively identify and engage mid-market business owners, founders, and executives nearing major succession or strategic corporate transition windows.
• Serve as an authentic, values-driven champion for employee ownership and specialized corporate structures, educating prospective clients, strategic partners, and professional networks.
• Build, scale, and meticulously maintain a robust pipeline of qualified leads based on financial health, organizational readiness, and mission alignment.
• Guide prospects through high-stakes exploratory conversations, taking consultative ownership of the relationship from top-of-funnel education through to a signed engagement.
• Conduct high-level, top-of-funnel feasibility assessments and detailed information gathering before seamlessly transferring qualified files to the transaction team.
• Cultivate and manage lifelong referral partnerships with external strategic professional channels, including tier-one financial institutions, law firms, accounting practices, and financial advisors.
• Represent the advisory firm as a key educational speaker and networker at regional and national industry conferences, webinars, and professional association events.
• Contribute actively to the design and execution of market-facing thought leadership, including workshops, educational slide decks, case studies, and whitepapers.
• Participate dynamically in weekly all-hands meetings, sharing transparent cross-functional feedback to optimize internal organizational processes.

Qualifications
Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Psychology, Communications, or a related professional discipline.
• A minimum of 7 to 10 years of progressive experience in market development, corporate consultative sales, relationship management, or elite professional services.
• Demonstrated alignment with values-driven, mission-oriented business models and a genuine interest in social impact or employee ownership frameworks.
• Proven track record of managing consultative B2B relationship phases and converting mid-market prospects into signed engagements.
• Documented experience interacting directly with mid-market business owners, founders, or C-suite executives on highly confidential or high-stakes matters.
• Previous experience working successfully inside agile, fast-paced startup environments or highly entrepreneurial, non-hierarchical corporate structures.
• Strong baseline or a demonstrated intellectual capacity to rapidly learn, retain, and apply complex regulatory advisory frameworks and financial principles.
• Prior proficiency utilizing HubSpot or equivalent modern CRM platforms to track, measure, and optimize long-term market development initiatives across Canada.
• Outstanding written and verbal fluency in English is mandatory; advanced fluency or bilingualism in French is a highly valuable strategic asset.

Skills
• Exceptional emotional intelligence (EQ) and active listening skills, with a proven ability to hold space for anxious clients and build deep interpersonal trust.
• Values-driven conviction: Genuine personal belief in employee ownership and purpose-driven business, providing the credibility needed to guide owners through major transitions.
• Consultative closing ability: The relationship-building instinct to earn trust and guide long, emotional sales cycles to a successful conclusion without high-pressure tactics.
• Strategic mindset: Strong analytical capability, allowing you to design and independently execute custom outreach strategies in an agile environment.
• Public speaking & presentation: Outstanding facilitation skills, with a distinct knack for translating complex legal or structural jargon into accessible, engaging terms.
• Adaptability: Deep professional adaptability and a "chameleon" quality, effortlessly matching the demeanor required for both corporate executives and grassroots owners.
• High comfort with ambiguity: Strong startup mentality and self-direction needed to build your own processes without constant oversight.
• Collaborative team spirit: Total transparency and comfort with giving and receiving direct peer feedback in a completely horizontal structure.
• Technical curiosity: An eager willingness to learn advanced corporate finance concepts, operational valuations, and relevant regulatory frameworks.

Summary
At Randstad Professional, we are entirely dedicated to helping you achieve professional fulfillment while balancing what matters most in your personal life. As a global leader in talent solutions, our professional recruiters are niche experts in the sales & marketing field, meaning we don't just match you with an opening—we actively partner with you to construct a successful, rewarding career. If you are a values-driven strategist ready to make a tangible, positive impact on Canadian workplaces, we invite you to take the next step. Apply directly on our website today, or reach out to connect one-on-one with our professional recruitment team.

If this specific position does not fully align with your current career ambitions, please reach out to our expert advisors to explore our wide array of diverse professional opportunities across Canada.

Randstad Canada is committed to fostering a workforce reflective of all peoples of Canada. As a result, we are committed to developing and implementing strategies to increase the equity, diversity and inclusion within the workplace by examining our internal policies, practices, and systems throughout the entire lifecycle of our workforce, including its recruitment, retention and advancement for all employees. In addition to our deep commitment to respecting human rights, we are dedicated to positive actions to affect change to ensure everyone has full participation in the workforce free from any barriers, systemic or otherwise, especially equity-seeking groups who are usually underrepresented in Canada's workforce, including those who identify as women or non-binary/gender non-conforming; Indigenous or Aboriginal Peoples; persons with disabilities (visible or invisible) and; members of visible minorities, racialized groups and the LGBTQ2+ community.

Randstad Canada is committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible workplace for all its candidates and employees by supporting their accessibility and accommodation needs throughout the employment lifecycle. We ask that all job applications please identify any accommodation requirements by sending an email to accessibility@randstad.ca to ensure their ability to fully participate in the interview process.