Business Development Lead, Shift At Save the Children

The Opportunity

Background of this role :

Save the Children believes that young people across the globe should have access to the tools, skills, networks and resources they need to be able to influence the world around them. With this in mind, we created Shift – a campaign accelerator built through consultation with young people themselves. Following a successful trial in Myanmar, Shift is now ready to be scaled globally across our network of over 120 countries.

In mid-2021, a small Shift team was established within the Global Centre of Excellence in Innovation, a new division within Save the Children that is designated to support the scale up of innovations. The Shift team will be responsible for the further development and delivery of the Shift model, including the building of technology products which enhance our ability to co-create ideas with young people, as well as supporting country offices to integrate use of the Shift model to bring about change.

To see Shift in action, watch these films:

Shift Air Pollution

Shift Waste Management

Shift Street Harassment

How Shift impacts our Shifters

Objective of Consultancy

In a perfect world, well-meaning billionaires would write us cheques that allow us to support young people deliver campaigns for change around the world! That clearly isn’t going to happen … and this is where you step in!

So, are you …

Someone who watches one of our films and gets a little lump in your throat?
A savvy business guru with the heart and passion to bringing a little bit of light into an often-bleak world? (We’d love and probably need a realist, but we’re also dreamers who want to create something positive).
Someone who knows how agencies and donors work, but also how they don’t!? You therefore want to innovate and do things a little differently to keep up with an ever changing world!
Someone who knows how to develop business models for caused related ‘start-ups’ or similar independent entities within a larger organization?
Someone who understands what donors want and how to win grants, but also someone who knows the importance of finding the right donor? (We want to ensure that our Shift model always lives up to our values which are always based around maximizing power to young people)
Someone who can sell, in person and through written proposals?

Over the next few years, Shift needs business. We think we have a great product to sell – and we’re working all the time to make it even better. Your primary role will be to sell Shift internally (within Save the Children) and generate new opportunities for Shift across our network. This exciting new role isn’t just about driving the business side of things and securing us future funding, it’s also about nurturing us through our creation phase. How quickly can we or should we scale? What team is required to scale it? Is our business proposition everything it could be?

Don’t want to work full time? That’s ok with us! This consultancy is for up to 80 days, spent from now until 30th June 2022. And who knows what the future holds after then.

Key Responsibilities

Develop a business model for the sustainable scaling of Shift over next 1-3 years. This includes cost structure and overall budget guidelines for the integration of our Shift model into future grant opportunities.
Work closely with the Shift Director to outreach to potential Shift adopters and potential partners.
Develop a Shift ‘template’ for proposal writers that can easily be adapted and integrated into future funding opportunities.
When required, support/lead country offices, regions, or members to write Shift into proposals, securing new business.
Seek and try to secure grant opportunities for Shift, especially targeting Foundations and niche donors whose values and goals align well with ours.
Be a key member of our small team, which is responsible for making Shift as good as it can be!

Requirements:

At least 7 years’ experience in business development, proposal writing or project management with evidence of bringing small projects to scale.
Experience in resource mobilization for campaigning and advocacy projects, or for similar innovation labs, accelerators, or incubators.
Existing knowledge and networks to easily identify a donor ‘hit list’
Experience in building business models, including overall program cost structures.
Experience in proposal writing
Experience working across multiple cultural contexts

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information

Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. In your cover letter, please include details:

How your experience and skills meet the consultancy requirements/profile
Your daily/hourly rate
Your current base location (as well as if that location will change in 2021)
Your earliest start date

A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers

Closing Date for Application: 16 August 2021

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.