Full-Time | Remote (U.S.)
Join Our Team
At Sandstorm®, our team is constantly evolving and growing as employees and experts in our industry. Job titles rarely do our staff justice. As our team continues to grow, we're looking for an experienced relationship builder, strategic thinker, and business development leader to help expand Sandstorm's market presence and drive new opportunities.
We work exclusively with mission-driven organizations, including associations, global nonprofits, higher education, and healthcare systems. It’s a wonderful way to do good work for good people and make a positive impact along the way.
The Senior Director, Growth Strategy plays a critical role in helping prospective clients envision what's possible, understand the value of digital transformation, and identify the technical solutions that help them achieve their goals.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of business development, strategic consulting, industry leadership, partnership development, technology, and solution strategy.
Position Summary
The Senior Director, Growth Strategy, is responsible for generating new business opportunities, expanding Sandstorm's visibility within our target industries, strengthening strategic partnerships, and guiding prospective clients through complex purchasing decisions.
Working closely with the leadership team, this individual serves as a trusted advisor, market ambassador, and growth leader for the organization. The Director will lead opportunities from initial relationship development through proposal creation, contract execution, and long-term relationship cultivation.
This role serves as a strategic contributor to Sandstorm's growth strategy, helping shape the firm's go-to-market initiatives, industry positioning, partnership development, and marketing activities. The Director will provide market intelligence, identify emerging opportunities, influence growth investments, and help strengthen Sandstorm's visibility and influence within the association, nonprofit, higher education, and healthcare sectors.
While this position is primarily focused on business development and revenue growth, it also plays an important role in shaping strategic solution recommendations during the sales process. Working alongside Sandstorm's strategists, UX leaders, architects, and delivery teams, the Director will contribute to proposal development, RFP responses, digital transformation recommendations, and high-level technology and experience strategies.
Success Metrics
Revenue Growth
- Achieve $2M+ in annual closed/won business
- Consistently grow revenue contribution year over year
- Pipeline Development: generate $5M+ in annual qualified pipeline opportunities
- Expand opportunities across associations, nonprofits, higher education, and healthcare organizations
- Lead technical sales engagements from discovery through close
Strategic Partnerships
- Develop and strengthen referral relationships, industry partnerships, and technology alliances
- Increase partner-sourced opportunities and revenue
Market Development
- Expand Sandstorm's visibility and presence within key markets, including Washington, DC (DMV area)
- Travel to and attend conferences, events, and speaking sessions to generate leads
- Participate in discovery sessions to understand client goals and technical requirements
- Present solutions during client meetings, demos, and proposal presentations
- Increase executive-level relationships within target industries
- Secure speaking engagements, thought leadership opportunities, and industry participation
- Marketing & Go-to-Market Leadership
- Contribute to marketing strategy, industry positioning, and growth planning initiatives
- Influence campaigns, events, partnerships, and account-based growth strategies
- Provide market intelligence that informs organizational investment and go-to-market decisions
- Operational Innovation
- Contribute to AI-enabled business development initiatives, including proposal generation, RFP response automation, qualification workflows, and sales operations improvements
Support Client Growth
- Partner with account teams to identify opportunities within existing clients
- Help shape recommendations for platform improvements, migrations, or new initiatives
- Provide AI consulting services (AI strategy, productivity opportunities, workflow, data/intelligence, etc.)
- Advise clients on best practices for AI adoption and technical solutions
- Act as a trusted advisor, shaping long-term customer success
Design Thoughtful Technical Solutions
- Translate client needs into clear technical approaches and architectures
- Help determine appropriate platforms and approaches, including Drupal, WordPress, and decoupled architectures
- Contribute to technical scoping and estimates for proposals and RFP responses
- Collaborate with delivery leadership to ensure proposed solutions are realistic and achievable
- Translate technical value for business, leadership, and technical audiences
- Build prototypes to demonstrate innovative ideas (via vibecoding, etc.)
- Own the technical win: Diagnose challenges and align solutions to customer needs
What We’re Looking For
- 10+ years of experience in business development, strategic consulting, account leadership, or agency leadership roles
- Proven success generating and closing complex digital transformation engagements
- Deep experience within associations (preferred), nonprofits, higher education, healthcare, or other mission-driven organizations
- Strong executive presence with exceptional relationship-building, communication, and presentation skills
- Demonstrated success leading proposals, RFP responses, and competitive pursuits
- Track record of growing existing accounts while generating new business opportunities
- Experience contributing to go-to-market strategy, partnership development, and industry thought leadership
Strategic Solutioning & Platform Expertise
- Experience helping organizations plan and invest in large-scale Drupal, WordPress, and digital experience platform initiatives
- Ability to translate business goals into compelling digital strategies, solution recommendations, and future-state roadmaps
- Familiarity with headless and decoupled architectures, AI-enabled experiences, integrations, and modern web ecosystems
- Experience collaborating with UX, strategy, engineering, and delivery teams to shape winning solutions and proposals
- Existing relationships within the Drupal, WordPress, and partner ecosystems (Pantheon, WP Engine, etc.) are a plus
Innovation & Growth Mindset
- Entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for learning and continuous improvement
- Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, including AI
- Create AI agents to drive RFP vetting, responses, and proposal development
- Collaborative, outcome-oriented approach focused on client success and measurable business impact
Compensation and Benefits
The expected starting salary for this position is $100,000+, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
We offer competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package, including:
- 401(k) with 4% company match
- Health, vision and dental plans
- Health Savings Account contributions
- Paid volunteer days, paid floating holidays and your birthday off
- Annual $1,000 learning and professional development stipend
- PTO + office is closed Dec 24 - Jan 1 for the gift of time
- 100% remote work environment
- A culture that values curiosity, perseverance, and fun
Why Sandstorm®?
We’re an award-winning, Chicago-based creative technology agency that does good work for good people (that’s our mission). We partner with purpose-driven organizations including associations, nonprofits, healthcare systems, and higher education institutions to create high-impact and meaningful websites and digital tools. By combining UX research, accessible design, AI, and emerging technologies with advanced engineering, we help our clients connect with their audiences and achieve significant results.
Our roster includes amazing brands like the University of Chicago, UNICEF, the New England Journal of Medicine, along with many other passionate, mission-focused organizations. If you want to do big-agency digital work in a boutique environment where curiosity and collaboration thrive, you’ll fit right in at Sandstorm.
Who Works at Sandstorm?
At our core, we are a team of compulsive problem solvers and solution-seekers; always thinking about what could be and implementing it. We play well with others and have found that clients benefit most when all partners are aligned and working well together. This follows our “Yes and” philosophy of always listening and building upon ideas, no matter where they originate. Collaboration is in our cultural DNA.
What About Culture?
Our team is constantly evolving and growing both as employees and as professionals in our industry. Job titles rarely do our staff justice. Our culture is grounded in our three core values:
- Be Curious – Continuous, collaborative improvement is fundamental.
- Warrior Spirit – We are a team and in it together. Persevere!
- Create Joy! – Showcased by our monthly “You Rocks!” and Super Secret Sandstorm events!
We are an equal opportunity employer committed to workforce diversity and inclusion.
