Business Development Adviser

Department: Business Development

Reporting line: Director of Business Development

Salary Grade: UK Grade E or equivalent according to location / type of contract

Contract Type: Permanent, Full Time

About HelpAge

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 170 organisations in over 90 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified, and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age.

About the Job

We are looking for an exceptional individual who will bring an entrepreneurial mindset, confidence in our mission, and an expert understanding of how global funding works. HelpAge International offers you an inclusive workplace and innovative environment where you will work with other talented colleagues to bring about global impact at a systemic scale.

We are looking for you to:

1. Act as account manager for a portfolio of key new donors, developing strategies to engage them with our work and our issues, and moving those relationships towards core and flexible funding.
2. Identify new strategic funders and key influencers through your external network and scanning of our landscape to help diversify our funding base.
3. Develop compelling pitches and proposals that secure core or flexible funding.
4. Work with regional representatives to develop knowledge and expertise in one of the emerging (non-DAC) donor regions.
5. Develop an expert understanding of global ageing and using your voice and growing network to stimulate interest in ageing among funders and influencers.

We work across the organisation, and especially with the organisation’s technical leadership teams (“the portfolios”), advocacy champions and regional representation teams.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities

The Business Development Adviser will: -

• Build strategic relationships with an assigned group of major donors (governments, foundations), key partners and influencers.
• Develop and deliver engagement plans that lead to invited pitches and proposals for strategic funding which you will coordinate.
• Design and deliver strategic donor engagement events such as webinars, special events, hybrid meetings etc that develop shared knowledge and commitment to responding on population ageing and older people’s rights.
• Identify new potential donors and areas of strategic match.
• Monitor formal opportunities for funding (e.g. calls for proposals) from your assigned group of funders, and work with relevant HelpAge technical leadership teams (the portfolios) and regional representations to identify how to present core, flexible, convening or thought leadership work for these opportunities.
• Provide strategic advice for portfolio or country level opportunities with your group of assigned donors.
• Enhance HelpAge’s profile, access, and influence with regular engagements with select partner/prospect groups, or key conferences, in collaboration with advocacy leads and technical specialists.
• Contribute to team work to build the capacity of others in the organisation to deliver the business development roadmap.
• Collaborate with the Communications team and Advocacy champions to develop and harness engaging content to support our donor journeys.
• Provide strategic advice on your assigned group of donors to grant and project managers to support their oversight.
• Contribute to grant oversight work and donor communications in the project cycle, to ensure that HelpAge produces compelling reports, learning products and evidence of impact that support donor journeys towards more strategic funding.
• Coordinate with one or more assigned Supporting Members (HelpAge network organisations in major donor countries) regarding relationship building and donor intelligence in relation to funders who can create strategic funding opportunities.
• With the Director, set and monitor three year and annual workplans for your assigned group of government and foundation donors, with objectives and targets negotiated with portfolio teams and regional representation.

Skills and experience required

Essential

• Strong verbal and written persuasive communication skills
• Sensitivity to the needs and priorities of diverse stakeholders
• Expert knowledge of some aspects of global development funding
• Experience in building strategic donor relationships with governments or major foundations
• Experience in developing successful large and complex proposals
• Strong negotiation skills
• Confidence in the subject matter of international development and/or humanitarian assistance and/or human rights.
• Experience developing and/or critically reviewing budgets
• Results focused, strong delivery skills
• Assertive and diplomatic
• Intercultural competence and familiarity with working in international contexts
• Commitment to learning and professional development in a business development context.

Desirable

• Fluency in a language other than English used in the HelpAge network: ideally Arabic, Spanish or French
• Experience opening up new donor markets in unfamiliar regions or funding segments
• Knowledge and experience in working with foundations in the USA
• Other entrepreneurial experience

Key Behavioural Competencies

At HelpAge International, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every day to identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as an HelpAge employee you are expected to:

Working Collaboratively with Others: Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organisations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work we do together.

Adaptability and Flexibility: Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organisation and in our work area; being flexible in our role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.

Supporting and Facilitating Change: Lead behavioural and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged.

Extend HelpAge’s Reach and Impact: Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.

Diversity and Inclusion: Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering and highly inclusive of those marginalised by gender, economic status, disability and other factors of discrimination.

Leading Others (for managers): Demonstrate strong leadership to own unit/department and manage people in a well and reputable manner. Create an atmosphere of trust and an enabling environment where staff can contribute their best and develop their potential.

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with. The post holder will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work.
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism.
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices.
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.

SAFER RECRUITMENT

All employments at HelpAge International will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include misconduct disclosure schemes and terrorism finance checks.