Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager

Interaction Institute for Social Change 

The Details

Location: Remote

Start Date: March 1-15, 2025

Salary Range: $85,000 - $89,000

Reports To: Director of Practice

Application Deadline: December 15, 2024

The Opportunity

The Interaction Institute for Social Change is seeking a Business Development Manager. They will lead the business development process from initial inquiry to staffing, budgeting, and contracting for our national nonprofit which partners with individuals, organizations, and networks to build their capacity for collaboration for racial equity and social change. They work closely with the Director of Practice, the Communications and Marketing Manager, and other key staff to ensure practices are seamless and our external communications are clear and compelling.

This role is best for a person who is energized by supporting the staff of a mission-driven organization that advances racial equity and social justice with a focus on and experience in generating new work. IISC is committed to strong relationships combined with high quality service standards. Recognizing that being responsive to the needs of our clients and potential clients is critical to our success, the Business Development Manager is expected to demonstrate to all potential new clients that they are valued and leave them clear about how IISC can strengthen their work. They will also be expected to handle multiple lanes of work while being responsive to prospective clients, strong in tracking details and deadlines, and data oriented. 

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package which includes 100% medical, dental, vision coverage for individuals employees, spouses, domestic partners and dependents. We also offer: a four-day work week with both remote and hybrid work options available depending on role, a five-week sabbatical after five years of employment, virtual office equipment and utility reimbursement, and more. 

Key Responsibilities

50% - Generate and Process Leads for the Business Development Pipeline 

• Develop and implement all aspects of the business generation process, from identifying and contacting to cultivating new prospects. This includes:
  • Leading organization-wide efforts to generate new leads by working in partnership with members of the Practice Team to set targets and identify and reach out to potential clients.
  • Building ideas, data, and work plans for new arenas of work (types of groups, geographies, etc.)
  • Maintaining knowledge of and fluency with all IISC offerings and areas of expertise.
  • Discovering the needs of prospective clients and tailor pitches to meet those needs. 
  • Working closely with the Communications & Marketing Manager to develop accurate and compelling communications about IISC’s offerings and determine target audiences and platforms for disseminating those messages so that it is easy for those audiences to engage with IISC. 
• Review inquiries (leads) and RFPs to determine when and how to respond.
• Coordinate and participate in exploratory and scoping meetings with prospects to explore needs and options for an IISC engagement. This includes:
  • Identifying the most appropriate member(s) of the delivery team to help scope.
  • Scheduling scoping calls at mutually convenient times for all participants.
  • Preparing and maintaining all relevant documentation to support the scoping process (meeting agenda, background materials, etc.) and preparing IISC staff.
• Develop and submit scopes of work and budgets (scope memos and more formal proposals,  often written in collaboration with deliverers) that best meet the needs of prospective clients.
• Coordinate and lead the follow-up strategy with prospective clients following exploratory and scoping calls to maximize the likelihood of positive outcomes.
• Identify staff person(s) for each client training and consulting project, in consultation with the Director of Practice and the Training Coordinator as appropriate.
• Seek out opportunities for IISC to build relationships and visibility with prospective clients.
• Solicit and analyze feedback from consulting and training engagements to ensure IISC offerings are continuing to meet the needs of existing clients.
• Develop a post-engagement communication strategy for relationship maintenance and renewal opportunity generation. 
• Bring a network perspective to the business development pipeline, tracking relationship touchpoints and major changes within client systems and the larger field.

25% - Data, Reporting, and Systems Maintenance

• Partner with the Director of Practice in development of annual and quarterly budget forecasts and end of year analyses. 
• Track outreach efforts and produce data on the process and its efficacy as needed. (Response and completion rates, changes in types of work over time, etc.).
• Maintain intimate knowledge of the business pipeline and produce data on its status at least monthly and as requested by the Director of Finance & Operations and/or Director of Practice.
• Lead or support client satisfaction surveys to assess what is working and new needs.
• Manage the lead pipeline within Salesforce, IISC’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, ensuring all necessary data and documentation is uploaded and maintained accurately and in a timely fashion.
• Develop, monitor, and implement improved systems for streamlined and efficient scoping of services, budget development, and staffing including maintaining updated templates.
• Ensure all IISC staff are well-informed about business development protocols, systems, and procedures.

10%  - Contracting and Project Start-Up

• Collaborate with the Director of Finance & Operations and appropriate operations stakeholders on the improvement of standard contracts that are aligned with all IISC offerings and IISC’s financial and operational needs and abilities, and determine required terms for situations in which a client’s contract must be used. 
• Maintain all documentation required to support the contracting process
• Facilitate the execution of contracts using IISC’s standard contract whenever possible and when it is not, negotiate a one-off contract that includes IISC’s required terms.
• Transfer new engagements to the appropriate client support partner in a way that helps the IISC team start projects seamlessly.
• Intervene with clients for any major contract changes or conflicts that arise.

15% - IISC Internal Team Member Responsibilities

• Act as integral member of the team that is working on external communications
• Actively participate in all staff meetings and deliverers’  community of practice as well as other teams as assigned. 
• Ensure all required internal administrative tasks are completed in a timely manner
• Complete all other duties as assigned.

The Skills You’ll Need

Success in the Business Development Manager role will require a deep commitment to advancing racial justice as well as to IISC’s mission, vision, and values. Your work should have a demonstrated understanding that collaborative transformation comes from shifting and building power in ways that challenge the underlying drivers of inequity.  

You may be aligned with this role if you see yourself in the following examples:

• Talking with potential partners about their needs and how to best meet them
• Collaborating with teammates to develop proposals that support equity projects
• Making strong proposals and decisions for staffing and scoping of projects
• Leading the development of contracts which are representative of approximately 65% of IISC’s revenue

The ideal candidate will bring the following skills, attributes, and experiences:

• Experience in non-profit business development, especially in a consulting organization
• Experience with client relationship management
• Background in project management
• Skilled at working both collaboratively and independently
• Impeccable written and verbal communication skills for use with diverse audiences
• Connections throughout government and/or not for profit organizations
• Familiarity with Salesforce or similar customer relationship management system (CRM)
• Business development proposal writing and budget development experience
• Skilled at tracking and sharing financial and deliverables data
• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office Suite and other relevant software and tools

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum of five years of experience in non-profit business development or client relationship management

The People

You will report to the Director of Practice and will be part of the external relations team and coordinating with several other teams including the Executive Finance Team, Operations Team, and Practice Team. This role also collaborates cross-functionally across the organization with both full-time and part-time staff and with a variety of consultants to ensure that the business development needs of IISC are met on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

The Organization

We seek to ignite and sustain social transformation, catalyze collaborative action, and build collaborative skills to bring alive our vision of living on a healthy planet where people are thriving, valuing their differences, and working together for peace and justice. We accomplish this by providing network building, consulting, facilitation, and training services designed to build systems designed for racial equity, transform organizations and build the capacity of leaders of social change. 

Part of our “secret sauce” is our people – capacity builders who have experience in communities, progressive organizations, and social justice movements. And the real magic is something we share and teach so that others can do it as well: create the conditions for each of us to bring our full and authentic selves to solve a social challenge through collaboration, transparency around power and decision making, a focus on multiple dimensions of success, and the space to dream. This is what we mean when we talk about an approach grounded in racial equity, network building, and above all…love.  Learn more about us here. 

The Next Steps

This search is being led by an internal team. If you have questions or need support completing the application, please reach out at [email protected].

The above statements are intended to generally describe the nature and level of the work being performed by the individual(s) assigned to this position. They are not intended to be a full or exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills, duties, or expectations of the role. IISC reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. In addition, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

IISC is unequivocally committed to fostering a culture where all people can thrive. People of color, women, transgender, GNCNB, disabled individuals, and others whose identities are protected by state, local, and federal laws have historically faced discriminatory and oppressive hiring processes designed to discourage or eliminate their candidacy entirely. As an equal opportunity employer, IISC looks forward to engaging with candidates of many, and often intersectional, identities so that we can not only support a diverse staff but also foster leadership from marginalized communities.