Business Development Manager

How to apply

To apply, please send your CV (no more than four pages, including two references who can be contacted if successful) and either:

A covering letter of no more than two sides of A4 (Arial, size 12)

Or a video of no more than four minutes.

Please explain why you want this role and how your experience meets the person specification.

Shortlisting: 07 September. Interviews week beginning 14 September.

NEYDL is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and particularly encourage applications from people with lived experience relevant to the communities we serve.

The Role

This is a new post and a significant one. As Business Development Manager, you will be the first dedicated commercial function in NEYDL, the only person in the organisation with responsibility for sales and income generation from commissioned services and traded products. You will report directly to the CEO and sit on the senior management team.

Your core mission is to grow NEYDL's earned income across two distinct strands: securing commissioned services and contracts with local authorities and other organisations in the North East; and developing a national market for NEYDL's training products and DigiDAD platform, enabling professionals and organisations across the UK to improve the support available to young dads in their communities.

There is no pipeline to inherit. You will need to identify the right routes to market, build relationships from scratch with commissioners and buyers, and develop the BD function as you go. The CEO will provide strategic direction and support, but you will need to be confident operating with autonomy, exercising commercial judgement independently, and getting on with it.

What you will do

Identify and pursue opportunities for commissioned services and contracts in the North East with local authorities, NHS commissioners, family hubs, children's services and other public and voluntary sector organisations
Develop a national market for NEYDL's training products and, in time, licensing offer, working across both statutory and voluntary sector audiences. This will include selling training directly to local authorities, NHS bodies and VCSE organisations; testing demand from VCSE organisations for a licensing model that enables them to deliver NEYDL's approach locally; and exploring whether local authorities would fund or commission a local VCSE partner to do so.

A key part of this role in year one/two is testing assumptions about which funding and delivery models have most traction.
Promote DigiDAD as a free resource to professional audiences, growing registrations and building relationships with organisations that can champion it with young dads
Develop and manage a BD pipeline, setting targets and reporting progress to the CEO and board
Represent NEYDL at sector events, networks and conferences nationally to build profile and relationships
Develop proposals, tenders and partnership bids, working closely with the CEO and programme team
Work closely with the DigiDAD Engagement Officer to share leads and coordinate activity via an agreed tracker, and with the DigiDAD Programme Manager to ensure BD and digital growth strategies remain aligned
Contribute to marketing and communications activity that supports commercial growth, including supporting the launch of our new national brand
Play an active role as a member of the senior management team, contributing to strategy, planning and organisational leadership.
What we are looking for

We need someone with commercial experience in winning commissioned services, contracts or selling products and services to public and voluntary sector organisations. You will be relationship-focused, self-directed, and comfortable building a function without established infrastructure or a team behind you.

You will need to understand the professional landscape in which NEYDL operates: family support, early help, children's services, family hubs. You don't need to be an expert in young dads, but you will need to speak credibly to the people who commission and deliver family support, and to understand what drives their decisions.

What we offer

NEYDL is a close, inclusive and supportive team that actively invests in the development of its staff. We are a non-judgmental organisation built on mutual trust, respect and honesty. We listen to young dads and respond to what they actually need, working with them voluntarily to find long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes. If you join us, you will be part of a team that genuinely believes in what it does, and that belief comes through in everything we produce and every relationship we build.

In addition, we offer:

7.2 weeks' annual leave per year, inclusive of statutory and public holidays
5% employer pension contribution
A flexible hybrid working arrangement
Funded professional development and training
Mileage paid at 55p per mile for business travel
The opportunity to shape a new function in a growing,…