Business Development

Sean Wilson has over 20 years experience in identifying and creating new opportunities for sustainable business growth and improvement.

He has proven ability to drive exceptional business development outcomes across diverse industries including HR, technology, healthcare, recruitment, media, and professional services. With a strong commercial acumen and a track record of success in CEO, COO, and Sales Director roles, Sean has consistently delivered sustainable growth, expanded market share, and forged high-value strategic partnerships. 

Throughout his career, Sean has spearheaded numerous go-to-market strategies, led several regional and national sales teams, and managed many multi-million-dollar client portfolios, including accounts up to $1.5 million each.

At Sensis, he was instrumental in creating a national sales team responsible for over 5,000 business and government clients - delivering record sales and securing multi-million-dollar contracts with major organisations such as Visa, Sony, and the Department of Defence. His leadership contributed to a series of promotions and multiple national sales awards.

As CEO & Managing Director of BetterHR, Sean oversaw a nationwide business development strategy that grew the company’s user base to over 60,000, built a partner network of more than 300 organisations. His efforts in new product development, channel expansion, and strategic alliances significantly increased revenue, shareholder value (252%), and customer retention, even through challenging periods like the national bushfires, floods and COVID-19 pandemic.

As Group COO at Venturely and CEO at Zonda, Sean led business transformation and commercial strategy for multiple companies simultaneously - driving revenue growth, attracting new clients, and executing M&A initiatives. His ability to identify new market opportunities, build scalable sales processes, and close complex deals has made him a sought-after advisor and executive. For a short period, he also spearheaded business development as CEO at Marine Seven, where he cultivated new relationships with marine partners to support six boat sales and service dealerships (NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, etc). He successfully expanded into new markets, and developed innovative new ways to reach consumers and make sales (eg. boatsearch.com.au).

Backed by qualifications in marketing, management, and legal studies, and membership in professional bodies such as the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Sean combines strategic vision with executional excellence. His passion lies in building relationships, solving commercial challenges, and helping businesses grow.

As CEO for Kolling Foundation for 1.5 years, he successfully set up a new team as part of the launch of the new $100m Kolling Building for Medical Research in partnership with NSW Health and the University of Sydney. Kolling Foundation is the fundraising partner of the Northern Sydney Local Health District, including Royal North Shore Hospital, Ryde Hospital, Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital, and the Kolling Institute. Supporting over 200 doctors and scientists involved in medical research.

As National General Manager Sales & Marketing at The Housing Industry Association for over 2.5 years, he successfully led the national restructure and commercial transformation of 23 offices covering all Australian states/territories (200+ staff, field sales and services, 20+ retail stores, Home Ideas Centres in Canberra and Newcastle, print and digital media and publications such as Housing magazine, events team, IT team providing tools such as Tradebuild website, etc), which transformed declining membership and revenue to achieve strong growth (eg. over 10,000 new members). He also launched a new national call centre based in Sydney, which improved member engagement and satisfaction levels year on year. He also led organisational culture initiatives, which delivered improved employee retention, satisfaction, and engagement.

As National Sales Director at Sensis for 4.5 years, he successfully led the national transformation of government sales for a $2b company. Including the setup of a new National Sales Team to service over 5,000 client accounts nationally, including all federal, foreign, and ACT government departments, agencies, and statutory authorities, as well as all embassies and consulates, and all parliamentarians (commonwealth and ACT).

As Senior Manager in Government, he also sat on numerous HR related boards and committees, such as:

• Consultative Committee, which introduced a new competency-based pay system for all employees in NSW.

• Structural Reform Committees, which led government amalgamations and technology transformations across NSW.

He's also directed national HR functions, teams, and projects, and provided hands-on HR advice and support, in other executive management roles, and board and committee roles.

Awards & Honours for Business Growth, Sales & Sales Management

• Commendation for Growth (Sales & Profit), Zonda Care

• Commendation for Growth (Sales & Profit), Zonda Global

• Commendation for Growth ($m+), Kolling Foundation Board of Directors

• Commendation for Growth (10,000+ new members), HIA

• CEO Club Award (Record Sales), Sensis x multiple years

• Pinnacle Award for National Service Excellence, Sensis

• National Sales Person Award ($m+ sale) - Sensis

• No. 1  Sales Award - 231% to target, Sensis

• No. 1  Sales Award - 366% to target, Sensis

• And more.