Director of Business Attraction

Tulsa Innovation Labs • Tulsa, OK

30d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Business Attraction reports to the Head of Business Attraction and serves as a leader driving execution of targeted business attraction strategies. The position is responsible for managing high-priority corporate recruitment campaigns and comprehensive business development activities that bring new companies and investment to the Tulsa region across TIL’s focus areas.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in economic development, business, public administration, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in economic development, strategic partnerships, or business development, preferably leading and managing business attraction programs.
• Minimum of 5 years in business attraction with experience in public-private partnerships and a proven track record closing deals that result in investment and job creation.
• Strong understanding of decision-making, and economic development dynamics.
• Experience working across cross-functional teams to execute large-scale initiatives.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and strategic thinking skills.

Nice To Haves

• Proficiency with Salesforce (or similar CRM), including pipeline design , reporting , dashboards , and data governance .
• Experience with economic development tools and analyses (e.g., incentive modeling, cost-benefit analysis, labor market and real estate analytics, benchmarking).
• Strong financial and quantitative analysis capabilities to inform offers, ROI, and competitiveness.
• Demonstrated skills in presentation development, proposal writing, and collateral creation .
• Conference and trade show management experience, including lead capture and conversion.

Responsibilities

• Leads the development and execution of corporate recruitment campaigns, including qualified lead generation, prospect qualification, outreach sequencing, meeting preparation, and post-meeting follow-up to drive conversions.
• Manages and cultivates stakeholder relationships with regional partners (Chamber of Commerce, state agency, municipality), as well as brokers, consultants, and site selectors to expand deal flow and align joint pursuits.
• Coordination of incentive programs with partners, including application processes, performance monitoring, and program evaluation to ensure competitive, responsible, and timely offers.
• Executes partnership strategies with economic development allies, industry associations, and strategic partners to amplify market reach and accelerate business attraction outcomes.
• Coordinates site visits end-to-end, including logistics, itinerary development, stakeholder engagement, presentation preparation, facility and ecosystem tours, and structured follow-up to advance decision-making.
• Conducts market opportunity analysis, including competitive intelligence, industry trend research, target sector identification, and data-driven insights that inform positioning and prospect prioritization.
• Manages the business development pipeline in Salesforce, ensuring timely lead tracking, qualification, nurturing, and conversion activities; maintains high standards of data integrity and documentation.
• Coordinates with the Marketing team to create and tailor pitch materials and collateral—presentations, one-pagers, case studies, and proposals—that articulate Tulsa’s value proposition and TIL’s differentiated offerings for target sectors.
• Represents Tulsa at conferences, trade shows, and industry events; manages booths, conducts meetings, networks with key influencers, and captures leads for timely follow-up and pipeline advancement.
• Executes targeted national and international business development meetings and recruitment trips; coordinates with TIL team members and regional allies to maximize impact.
• Leads RFP/RFI response management, including prospect due diligence, proposal development, and stakeholder orchestration to deliver compelling, on-time submissions.
• Develops and delivers Salesforce-based reporting (pipeline, activities, conversion metrics, KPIs) for the Head of Business Attraction and key stakeholders; recommends process improvements based on performance trends.
• Works with Marketing and Communications and Research and Data teams to align messaging, validate claims with credible data, and produce sector-specific materials and campaigns.
• Completes due diligence on prospects and sources background information to prepare for business development meetings and special events promoting the Tulsa region; conducts promotional presentations to market Tulsa to targeted audiences.
• Identifies areas of opportunity and weakness to improve the competitiveness and business climate of the community and TIL’s related efforts; recommends operational enhancements to increase win rates.

Benefits

• work/life flexibility
• comprehensive health benefits
• paid time off
• generous retirement contributions
• 100% employer paid medical, dental, and long-term disability for full-time employees only. Option to add vision and dependents.
• 401K employee and employer contributions
• Paid time off to support you while you are out of the office
• Paid holidays so our employees can spend time with those they care about.
• Employer-paid AD&D life insurance, with employee option to add supplemental life insurance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director