Director, Business Development

Designer Brands Inc.•Columbus, OH

35d

About The Position

The Director, Business Development is responsible for leading the evaluation, diligence, and prioritization of new business initiatives across the enterprise. This role serves as a critical partner to executive leadership by assessing growth opportunities with a focus on strategic fit, financial viability, and execution risk. This leader will act as a central point of intake for new business development ideas and opportunities—developing structured business cases, conducting financial analysis, and translating complex insights into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leaders. This leader will also support idea-to-value project coordination and follow through with stakeholders within the business. The role is highly cross-functional, requiring strong collaboration with strategy, finance, operations, and functional business teams to advance high-impact initiatives.

Requirements

Strong structured strategic thinking with the ability to break down ambiguous problems into clear frameworks
Advanced financial modeling and analytical capabilities
Exceptional executive communication skills (written and verbal)
Proven project management skills with ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously
Ability to influence without authority in a highly cross-functional environment
Strong business judgment and attention to detail
8–10+ years of experience in strategy, consulting, investment banking, private equity, corporate finance, or similar analytical roles
Demonstrated experience developing business cases, financial models, and executive-level presentations
Experience working in or supporting retail or consumer-facing businesses strongly preferred
Track record of leading complex, cross-functional projects from concept through recommendation
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, or related field required

Nice To Haves

Experience in both analytical roles (finance/consulting) and operational or industry roles (e.g., retail) is highly valued
Exposure to corporate development or transaction-related work is a plus but not required
MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Conduct market and competitive research on trends and identify potential growth opportunities aligned to DBI’s overall enterprise strategy
Serve as the central intake point for evaluating new business initiatives across the organization, including opportunities from executive leadership, internal teams, and external partners
Evaluate strategic alignment of initiatives with enterprise priorities and identify key risks, dependencies, and value drivers
Build and own comprehensive financial models and scenario/sensitivity analyses to support decision-making
Translate complex financial and operational inputs into clear, decision-ready insights, including expected returns, cost structures, and risk profiles
Develop executive-level presentations and materials that clearly communicate recommendations, trade-offs, and key decision points
Partner cross-functionally with strategy, finance, IT, operations, merchandising, marketing, and other stakeholders to gather inputs, validate assumptions, and address business case benefits and risks
Drive project management of evaluation efforts, ensuring timelines, milestones, and deliverables are met across multiple concurrent initiatives
Maintain and track the pipeline of active and proposed initiatives, including status updates, key milestones, and decision timelines
Support development and application of prioritization frameworks to focus on the highest-impact opportunities
Provide visibility to leadership on pipeline health, trade-offs, and resource considerations
Support transition to execution for approved initiatives, including outlining key implementation considerations and success metrics
Partner with initiative owners to ensure continuity of business case assumptions and alignment from evaluation through execution