Business Development & Sales Manager

Business Development & Sales Manager

Millis Family of Companies — Houston, TX

Full-Time | Reports to the Vice President of Sales

ABOUT THE MILLIS FAMILY OF COMPANIES:

The Millis Family of Companies is a family-founded, vertically integrated construction organization headquartered in Houston, with offices in Dallas–Fort Worth, Central Texas, and Tampa, Florida. Our companies build parks, aquatic facilities, amenity centers, public spaces, and the civil infrastructure that serves them, and care for the landscapes around them after they open. This role supports our heavy civil and commercial landscape businesses in the Greater Houston market.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Business Development & Sales Manager is responsible for generating new business and driving profitable sales growth for our heavy civil and commercial landscape businesses in the Greater Houston market. This is a hands-on, externally focused individual-producer role: building relationships with the contractors, developers, owners, and public agencies that award our work, and converting those relationships into qualified opportunities and awarded work.

The role works closely with operational and branch leadership and estimating to ensure the right opportunities are pursued and carried cleanly from first contact through estimating, award, and project execution. The objective is not simply more bid invitations — it is the right relationships, the right projects, and profitable, repeat work.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Sales & Pipeline Generation

· Develop and execute a Houston-area sales plan aligned with annual revenue and growth goals

· Generate new business through outbound prospecting, direct calling, customer meetings, jobsite visits, industry events, and referrals

· Own opportunities from identification and qualification through pursuit, bid support, follow-up, negotiation, and award

· Grow existing accounts and re-engage past and inactive customers with the potential to generate new work

· Meet or exceed established sales, pipeline, and revenue goals

Customer & Relationship Development

· Build relationships with decision-makers across contractors, developers, property owners and managers, and public agencies — from executives and preconstruction leaders to estimators, project managers, and procurement staff

· Learn each target customer’s project pipeline, buying and bidding practices, and decision-making process

· Engage early in the project lifecycle to become a preferred, repeat, or invited partner rather than simply another number

· Sell both construction and ongoing landscape maintenance services, and convert completed projects into long-term customer relationships

· Tailor the sales approach to each line of business — heavy civil, landscape construction, and landscape maintenance customers buy differently

Estimating & Operations Collaboration

· Qualify opportunities before significant estimating or operational resources are committed, and participate in go/no-go and pursuit-strategy discussions with operational and branch leadership and estimating

· Evaluate pursuits on strategic fit, customer relationship, competitive position, probability of award, margin potential, schedule, and estimating and operational capacity

· Give estimators complete pursuit context — scope, customer expectations, relationship history, and competitive intelligence

· Own the customer relationship through estimating and proposal, including follow-up after bid submission

· Support a clean handoff to operational and branch leadership after award and stay engaged through delivery to build follow-on and repeat work

CRM, Forecasting & Market Intelligence

· Keep customer, contact, opportunity, and activity records current in the CRM, including next steps, anticipated award dates, probability, and projected revenue

· Maintain a target-account list and account strategies for priority customers

· Participate in regular pipeline and forecast reviews with the Vice President of Sales and operational and branch leadership

· Capture win/loss feedback and use it to sharpen future positioning

· Track Houston market activity, upcoming projects, and competitors, and bring that intelligence back to operational and branch leadership to inform pricing, services, and growth strategy

Cross-Company Collaboration

· Introduce other Millis Family of Companies capabilities when there is a strong customer or project fit

· Coordinate with the broader Millis sales team to avoid duplicate outreach and keep account coverage aligned

· Support opportunities in other markets when relationships developed in this role create a path to additional work

How Success Is Measured

· Closed sales, revenue, and gross margin of awarded work

· Qualified pipeline value, pipeline coverage, and win rate

· New customers acquired and growth within existing accounts

· Key customer relationships developed and invited-bid or negotiated opportunities created

· Forecast accuracy and CRM discipline

· Strategic fit of work generated and effectiveness of collaboration with operational and branch leadership and estimating

QUALIFICATIONS:

Required

· 5+ years of professional sales or business development experience, with a record of generating new business and converting opportunities into revenue

· Experience developing relationships with contractors, developers, or owners, preferably in the Houston construction market

· Working knowledge of how construction work is identified, qualified, estimated, bid, negotiated, awarded, and transitioned into project execution

· Experience managing opportunities through the full pursuit lifecycle, not solely generating leads or introductions

· Experience working alongside operations, estimating, or preconstruction teams in a construction or related environment

· Strong prospecting skills and comfort with outbound calling, networking, jobsite visits, and building relationships where none exist

· Proficiency with CRM and sales reporting tools to manage accounts, pipeline, activities, and forecasts

· Willingness to spend significant time in the field meeting customers across the Houston market

Preferred

· 2–3 years of sales or business development experience in heavy civil or landscape construction

· An established network across the Houston construction community — contractors, developers, owners, and property managers

· Experience selling self-performed construction or maintenance services

· Experience in a CRM-driven sales organization managing a measurable opportunity pipeline

· Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, construction management, or a related field; equivalent industry and sales experience will be considered

Core Competencies

· Communication – Conveys information clearly and professionally across all levels of the organization

· Accountability – Takes ownership of outcomes and follows through on commitments

· Problem-Solving – Identifies issues early and drives practical, timely solutions

· Collaboration – Works effectively across teams, trades, and departments to advance project goals

· Adaptability – Performs consistently in a fast-paced environment

· Attention to Detail – Maintains accuracy and quality across all work product

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

This role operates in a hybrid office/field environment, with significant time spent in the Houston market at customer offices, industry events, and active jobsites. Jobsite visits require the ability to navigate active construction sites, including uneven terrain, exposure to weather conditions, and proximity to heavy equipment. The position requires regular driving throughout the Greater Houston area and occasional travel to Dallas–Fort Worth.

Affiliation – The Millis Family of Companies is an affiliate of its parent company, Après Ventures.

Equal Opportunity Employer – The Millis Family of Companies is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.

Physical & Accessibility Requirements – The Millis Family of Companies is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Candidates must be able to perform the essential functions of this role, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Compensation Classification – All salaried positions within the Millis Family of Companies are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). All hourly positions are classified as non-exempt and are eligible for overtime in accordance with applicable federal and state law.