Business Development Manager

Hype Merseyside; Birkenhead; Hybrid; GBP 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

HYPE is a community-focused organisation seeking to strengthen its leadership and management capacity to develop new income streams and partnerships. The Business Development Manager will spearhead opportunities across community programmes, commissioned services, social enterprise and trading activity.

Working with the CEO and directors, you will identify growth areas, prepare proposals and business cases, and build a strong pipeline of opportunities.

Qualifications

• Experience of securing significant new income, developing partnerships or growing services is important.
• Initiative, resilience and good judgement are essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of new income, business, funding and partnership opportunities across HYPE.
• Research markets, develop relationships with funders and partners, prepare proposals and business cases, and take opportunities from concept to implementation.
• Contribute to strategic and annual business planning, translating ambitions into growth priorities, financial projections and delivery plans.
• Develop and refine a portfolio of social enterprise opportunities, linking community programmes, international activity and trading operations.
• Monitor budgets, income targets and performance indicators, and provide timely financial and performance reporting.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with funders, commissioners, donor bodies and partners, representing HYPE at meetings and networks.

Job description

HYPE is a community-focused organisation and social enterprise that has developed from grassroots youth provision into a broader portfolio of community programmes, international opportunities and trading activity. Our work is rooted in creating opportunities for children, young people and communities while building a more resilient and sustainable organisation.

As HYPE enters its next stage of growth, we are strengthening our leadership and management capacity to develop new income streams, expand successful services and enterprises, build strategic partnerships and reduce reliance on any single source of funding. The Business Development Manager will be central to this ambition.

The Role

The Business Development Manager will lead the development of new business, funding and partnership opportunities across HYPE. This is a commercially aware, entrepreneurial role within a mission-led organisation. The successful candidate will combine strong relationship-building skills with the ability to turn ideas into credible propositions, business plans, partnerships and sustainable income.

Working closely with the CEO, Directors and operational managers, the postholder will identify areas of opportunity and growth across community programmes, commissioned services, social enterprise and trading activity. They will support HYPE to make well-informed investment decisions, understand markets and performance, and ensure growth remains aligned with our social mission.

A significant measure of success will be the development of a strong pipeline of new opportunities and the conversion of that pipeline into additional income. The role will work towards generating approximately £300,000 of additional annual income as HYPE implements its growth strategy, while ensuring that new activity is realistic, deliverable and capable of producing measurable social value.

Key Responsibilities

The postholder will take a lead role in identifying and securing new income through commissioned services, grants, strategic partnerships, sponsorship, commercial opportunities and social enterprise development. This will include researching markets, developing relationships with funders and partners, preparing proposals and business cases, and taking opportunities from initial concept through to implementation.

They will contribute to HYPE’s strategic and annual business planning, helping to translate organisational ambitions into clear growth priorities, financial projections and delivery plans. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, the Business Development Manager will identify areas of strength, weakness and opportunity, monitor progress against agreed objectives and recommend actions to improve performance.

The role will develop and refine a portfolio of social enterprise opportunities, applying appropriate enterprise-development approaches and identifying connections between HYPE’s community programmes, international activity and trading operations. The postholder will prepare business plans, investment propositions, briefings, presentations and other materials required to secure support and communicate HYPE’s offer professionally.

The Business Development Manager will participate in the planning, implementation and monitoring of key programmes and ventures, ensuring activity is consistent with organisational commitments and relevant funder, lender or partner requirements. They will work with colleagues to monitor budgets, expenditure, income targets and performance indicators and contribute to accurate, consistent and timely financial and performance reporting.

Relationship management will be a major part of the position. The postholder will develop and maintain productive relationships with local and national funders, commissioners, donor institutions, public bodies, businesses, commercial partners and other stakeholders. They will represent HYPE at appropriate meetings, networks and conferences and will actively promote the organisation’s impact, capabilities and future ambitions.

Where new activity moves into delivery, the Business Development Manager will work closely with the Operations Manager and relevant project or enterprise managers to support mobilisation, procurement and logistics. Clear handover, realistic resourcing and strong communication will be essential so that growth strengthens rather than overstretches the organisation.

Financial Sustainability and Performance

The role will support HYPE to build a more balanced and resilient income model. This includes increasing earned and unrestricted income, strengthening commissioned and funded activity, and developing ventures capable of generating sustainable surpluses that can be reinvested into HYPE’s social mission.

The postholder will monitor the performance of new opportunities against agreed assumptions and targets, contribute to financial forecasting and business planning, and provide management with clear information about pipeline value, conversion, risks and expected returns. They will be expected to challenge assumptions constructively and ensure that commercial ambition is matched by sound planning and evidence.

Person Specification

We are looking for an experienced and credible business development professional who is comfortable working across commercial, charitable, public-sector and community environments. The successful candidate will be able to recognise an opportunity, build the relationships required to progress it and create a persuasive proposition supported by realistic financial and delivery planning.

You will need strong written and verbal communication skills, confidence in presenting to senior stakeholders and the ability to develop high-quality proposals, tenders, business plans and funding applications. You should be numerate and commercially aware, with the ability to interpret budgets, forecasts and performance information and use evidence to support decisions.

Experience of securing significant new income, developing partnerships or growing services is important. Experience within social enterprise, youth and community services, sport, education, employability, commissioned services or the voluntary and community sector would be valuable, although we are equally interested in candidates who can demonstrate transferable commercial expertise and a genuine commitment to social impact.

The role requires initiative, resilience and good judgement. You will be expected to manage competing opportunities, maintain momentum over longer development cycles and work collaboratively with operational colleagues. Above all, you will understand that successful growth for HYPE means creating stronger financial sustainability and greater community benefit at the same time

Our Offer

This is an opportunity to join HYPE at an important stage of its development and to have a direct influence on the organisation’s future. The Business Development Manager will work alongside an experienced leadership team and a diverse portfolio of community, international and enterprise activity, with the opportunity to turn strong social impact into a sustainable platform for further growth.

HYPE is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment will be subject to appropriate pre-employment checks relevant to the role.