Business Development Manager - Building Markets

Business Development Manager

About Building Markets

Building Markets’ mission is to build inclusive economies for small businesses so that all people have the opportunity to rise. We do this by opening opportunities for small business owners affected by crises or marginalization to transform their lives and communities.

Building Markets addresses inequality around the world by advancing inclusive economies that work for all. We do this by opening opportunities for small business owners — who fuel more than 70% of the world’s jobs — to transform their lives and communities. Since 2004, Building Markets has combined its deep local knowledge, comprehensive data, and global networks to build confidence and strength in more than 27,000 small business owners affected by crises and marginalization. From securing $1.4 billion in contracts or loans to creating more than 74,000 full-time jobs in places where they’re needed most, Building Markets is elevating small businesses as engines of enduring social impact and economic growth.

To achieve our mission, we concentrate our efforts on four primary outcomes:

  • Increased revenue for small businesses from communities affected by marginalization.
  • Increased buyer confidence in our target small businesses.
  • Job creation for people held back by marginalization.
  • Secured working capital for our target small businesses.

As we move ahead, we will use four primary channels to deliver impact:

  • Digital, online marketplace: Building Markets’ existing digital services (business directory, tender directory, and export platform) have provided a critical connection point between small businesses and potential buyers.
  • Bespoke small business data: We will build on our current data capture processes and quality controls to ensure that our data is a high-quality resource for buyers and suppliers and a rigorous source of evidence for policy development.
  • Market-access training: Building Markets’ bid training has been proven to be highly effective in enabling small businesses to win procurement opportunities. We will standardize and develop this training service so that it can be delivered directly to small businesses and create an offering to corporations and governments needing implementation support for their procurement programs.
  • Access to necessary working capital: Many of the small businesses we interact with are looking for working capital. This capital represents a binding constraint to small business growth as it reduces their ability to bid on larger volumes of work.

The Business Development Manager Position

As part of Building Markets’ 2023-2028 organizational strategy, we have an ambitious agenda to accelerate impact for small businesses in Latin America, the Middle East, West Africa, Asia, and the US.

We seek the support of a business development professional to help strengthen and expand our fundraising and pipeline development activities. We seek someone with a solid background in international development who has engaged a variety of donors in business development activities (donor outreach, EOI/RFP analysis, pipeline management, and proposal management). The ideal Business Development Manager will be interested in taking an entrepreneurial approach to their work. They will not only support existing processes within Building Markets but also aim to expand and improve how we conduct business development and program management activities.

Job Duties:

Pipeline Development

  • Conduct comprehensive weekly prospect research and analysis to identify diverse funding opportunities from donors, including governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, corporations, and other relevant institutions.
  • Maintain a strong understanding of BuMa’s capabilities, market differentiation, and program expertise in order to help inform pipeline development.
  • Monitor all relevant procurement sites and foundation directories for new opportunities and manage/track BuMa’s pipeline in Salesforce.
  • Continuously update and maintain a robust Salesforce pipeline of prospective projects, contacts, and funding sources.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align project ideas with potential donor priorities and funding criteria.

Market Analysis and Business Development Strategy

  • Monitor and analyze trends in the international development sector, donor landscape, and funding priorities.
  • Identify emerging needs and gaps in development areas, and share with program and impact teams to inform future programming decisions.
  • Support development and implementation of a comprehensive business development strategy that drives sustainable revenue growth and diversification of funding sources.
  • Research and explore new markets, partnerships, and opportunities to expand the organization’s reach and impact.

Proposal Management

  • Create proposal management plans and coordinate proposal development timelines with BuMa team members and external partners.
  • Lead the end-to-end proposal development process, ensuring high-quality, compelling, and tailored proposals are submitted to potential donors.
  • Collaborate with technical experts, program managers, and finance teams to create comprehensive project proposals that (1) meet donor requirements, (2) align with the organization’s mission and objectives, and (3) present high editorial quality.

Process Improvement

  • Continuously assess and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the business development process.
  • Streamline proposal development workflows and enhance internal communication, including the development of capabilities statements and templates and CV databases that can be used across proposal development.
  • Lead in the development of a past performance database that provides the proposal process with readily available text that can be used across proposal development.

Program Support

  • Support Research and Impact team to develop program resources and tools, cataloging lessons and best practices.
  • Support development of program case studies and reports for external publication and sharing.

Qualifications:

  • A minimum of 4 years of progressive experience in business development, ideally in the international development or non-profit sector.
  • Proactive, multitasking, self-starter; able to work well autonomously, with minimal supervision
  • Team player with high accountability and integrity in all decision making; a collaborative communicator
  • Excellent project management skills with very high attention to detail, and ability to coordinate multiple deadlines simultaneously
  • Excellent technical skills in writing, editing, formatting, and research
  • PowerPoint design skills preferred
  • Comfortable working virtually
  • Excellent technology skills; proficient in Salesforce, Google Suite, Adobe, Asana, Slack, Microsoft Office
  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Experience in proposal management with multiple donors and a track-record of success

Location:

The Business Development Manager position is a full-time, remote position based in the US.

Compensation: 
Annual Salary Range: $60,000 – 85,000 depending on experience.

Interested candidates should email their CV and cover letter to [email protected]. The position will remain open until filled.