Luxury Hospitality & Partnerships Business Development Consultant

We are a Japanese luxury ceramics and lifestyle brand representing exceptional artisans from some of Japan’s most celebrated kilns. Our collection includes handcrafted coffee and espresso cups, matcha vessels, limited editions, and collectible art pieces, with a focus on craftsmanship, provenance, scarcity, and cultural storytelling. We are building our international presence through luxury hospitality, fine dining, select retail, experiential partnerships, corporate gifting, and direct relationships with collectors. We currently have a retail presence in Mayfair, London, and are actively developing opportunities in Japan and other international markets. We are looking for an experienced business development professional who can help us open the right doors and convert those relationships into meaningful commercial partnerships. This is a hands-on business development and partnerships role. We are particularly interested in someone who understands how business gets done within luxury hospitality, restaurants, premium retail, design, travel, or adjacent luxury categories. You will help identify high-value prospective partners, reach the appropriate decision-makers, develop relationships, and move qualified opportunities through the sales process. Potential partners include: • Luxury hotels and resorts • Michelin-level and fine dining restaurants • Premium restaurant and hospitality groups • Luxury cruise and travel companies • Boutique and luxury retailers • Interior designers and hospitality design firms • Corporate gifting programs • Private clubs and member organizations • Premium coffee and culinary brands • Luxury experiences and cultural destinations What You’ll Do Business Development -- Build a highly targeted pipeline of prospective partners -- Identify the actual decision-makers within target organizations -- Conduct thoughtful, personalized outreach -- Leverage your existing professional network where relevant -- Secure introductions, meetings, presentations, and product conversations -- Qualify opportunities based on commercial potential and brand fit -- Manage follow-up and keep opportunities moving -- Support proposals, partnership concepts, and commercial discussions -- Maintain clear pipeline reporting and next steps -- Work directly with leadership on priority accounts Partnership Development We are interested in opportunities beyond traditional wholesale. Depending on the partner, this could include: • Curated serviceware programs for hotels and restaurants • Bespoke or limited-edition collaborations • VIP and corporate gifting • Retail partnerships • In-room or guest experiences • Restaurant and coffee rituals • Collector events and private experiences • Hospitality activations • Design and interiors specifications We want someone who can understand the customer’s business and develop the right opportunity around it. Who We’re Looking For You may have worked in: • Luxury hospitality • Hotel business development • Fine dining or F&B • Luxury retail • Premium tabletop or housewares • Hospitality procurement • Interior design or hospitality design • Luxury travel • Corporate gifting • Premium consumer brands • Strategic partnerships • Wholesale or distribution You should have demonstrated experience selling through relationships and navigating organizations to reach senior decision-makers. Existing relationships with hotel GMs, F&B directors, restaurant owners, procurement leaders, designers, retail buyers, corporate partnership teams, or similar decision-makers would be particularly valuable. What Matters Most We care about: -- Quality of relationships over quantity of leads -- Strong commercial judgment -- Excellent written and verbal communication -- Confidence engaging senior decision-makers -- Understanding of luxury positioning -- Thoughtful, highly personalized outreach -- Ability to develop opportunities rather than simply book meetings -- Persistence without aggressive sales tactics -- Excellent follow-through -- Comfort working with a founder-led, entrepreneurial company What This Role Is Not -- We are not looking for mass cold-email outreach, automated LinkedIn prospecting, purchased lead lists, or a traditional high-volume SDR approach. -- We are a high-value, limited-production luxury brand. A smaller number of excellent relationships is considerably more valuable to us than hundreds of loosely qualified leads.