Head of Business Development

Foundervine; Water; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

3% commission on revenue from sales

Discounted Childcare

25 days of annual leave in addition to

Birthday Off

Career Advancement Opportunities

Private Medical Care

Penfold Pension Scheme

Job summary

Foundervine in Water, England, seeks an ambitious Head of Business Development to drive our next growth phase. You will own the BD pipeline, lead strategies and close major deals with senior stakeholders. This senior role combines leadership with hands-on selling.

You will manage the BD Manager and Associate, work with Marketing and Programme teams, and build recurring revenue. We value performance, accountability and continuous learning, plus a generous benefits package including 25 days leave,

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of business development or sales experience.
• Proven track record of closing B2B or institutional deals.
• Experience managing revenue targets and complex pipelines.
• Able to build senior relationships quickly with credibility.

Responsibilities

• Own the BD pipeline, conversion, and strategy.
• Close significant new opportunities without reliance on CEO/COO.
• Build a high-quality pipeline across corporate, government, institutions and partners.
• Deliver £500k of new business wins and £1m pipeline in 12 months.
• Develop recurring revenue through renewals and partnerships.
• Manage and coach the BD Manager and BD Associate.
• Collaborate with Marketing on campaigns and content.
• Provide market insight to shape products and propositions.
• Build relationships with senior decision-makers and represent Foundervine.

Skills

New business development

Major account management

CRM proficiency

Sales pipeline management

Negotiation skills

Relationship building

Leadership

Tools

CRM software

Job description

About Foundervine

Foundervine is an entrepreneurship organisation helping founders build and grow successful businesses. Since 2018, we have supported more than 1,600 founders and entrepreneurs through our programmes, partnerships and wider ecosystem.

About Foundervine

Foundervine is an entrepreneurship organisation helping founders build and grow successful businesses. Since 2018, we have supported more than 1,600 founders and entrepreneurs through our programmes, partnerships and wider ecosystem.

We work with some of the UK's and world's leading organisations to design and deliver programmes that support entrepreneurship, innovation and business growth. Our clients and partners have included Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, Google, Sainsbury's, Campari and local government, alongside investors, universities and organisations across the startup ecosystem.

Our work has been recognised externally, including being named by the Financial Times and Statista as one of Europe's Leading Startup Hubs in both 2025 and 2026.

Foundervine is now growing beyond our core programme business. Foundervine Spaces, our coworking and community hub in Canada Water, gives us a physical home for founders and creates new opportunities across memberships, events, partnerships and programming.

We are entering our next stage of commercial growth. We want to deepen relationships with existing clients, win new partners, grow recurring revenue and develop new commercial opportunities across Foundervine and Foundervine Spaces.

The Head of Business Development will play a central role in that growth. This is a senior commercial position for someone who can originate opportunities, build relationships with senior decision makers, understand the numbers behind a deal and turn opportunities into sustainable revenue.

A Culture of Support and Development

At Foundervine, we’re an ambitious, high-performing team that cares deeply about the people we work with. We set high standards for ourselves, take ownership of our work and are motivated by delivering meaningful results. At the same time, we believe people do their best work when they feel supported, valued and able to bring their best selves to work.

Our culture is built around performance, accountability, collaboration and continuous learning, alongside a genuine commitment to wellbeing. We encourage people to take initiative, challenge ideas, learn from one another and work together to achieve shared goals. Through regular check-ins, cross-team collaboration and knowledge sharing, we create an environment where people can grow while being trusted to deliver.

We recognise that life exists beyond work, and we aim to provide flexibility and support where possible. For us, wellbeing isn’t about lowering expectations — it’s about creating the conditions for people to perform at their best, sustain high performance and build a career they’re proud of.

At Foundervine, you’ll be part of a team that is ambitious about what we can achieve, accountable for the results we deliver, and intentional about how we work together.

The Role

We're looking for an ambitious and commercially driven Head of Business Development to lead our next phase of growth.

This is our most senior dedicated business development role and combines leadership with hands-on selling. You will own Foundervine's business development pipeline, lead our approach to winning new business and build the systems, relationships and team capability required to generate sustainable, recurring revenue.

You will manage our Business Development Manager and work closely with Marketing and Programme teams to ensure that what we take to market responds to what clients need.

This is a player-coach role. We are looking for someone who can lead a commercial function while continuing to originate opportunities, build relationships and personally close significant deals.

What You'll Do

• Own Foundervine's overall new-business pipeline, conversion performance and BD strategy.
• Generate and personally close significant new opportunities without relying on the CEO or COO to lead the sale.
• Build a high-quality pipeline across corporate, government, institutions and strategic partners.
• Deliver at least £500k of new business wins and £1m of new pipeline within the first 12 months.
• Build recurring and sustainable revenue through renewals, account growth and longer-term partnerships.
• Establish excellent account management practices that strengthen retention and identify opportunities for expansion.
• Manage, coach and set clear performance expectations for the Business Development Manager and Business Development Associate.
• Work closely with Marketing to create coordinated campaigns, propositions, content and lead-generation activity.
• Bring market insight into Foundervine, helping shape our products, services, pricing and propositions alongside senior leadership and delivery teams.
• Build strong relationships with senior decision-makers and represent Foundervine confidently at meetings, events and across the wider ecosystem.
• Maintain rigorous pipeline management, CRM discipline, forecasting and follow-up so commercial performance is visible and predictable.
• Develop a credible external profile as a senior representative and advocate for Foundervine.

Requirements

You will ideally bring 5–8+ years of business development or sales experience, with evidence of progressing towards or already operating at Head-of-Function level.

More Importantly, You Can Demonstrate That You Have

• Personally originated and closed significant B2B or institutional deals.
• Owned substantial revenue targets and managed complex sales pipelines.
• Converted relationships into revenue rather than simply opening doors.
• Built senior relationships quickly and credibly, even without an existing network.
• Led, coached and held commercial team members accountable for results.
• Developed repeat, renewal or recurring revenue from existing clients.
• Worked effectively across Marketing and other teams to generate and convert demand.
• Used CRM, pipeline data and conversion metrics to manage commercial performance.
• Contributed market insight to the development or improvement of products and propositions.
• Strong negotiation, communication, proposal and presentation skills.
• The confidence and presence to represent Foundervine with senior corporate, government and institutional stakeholders.

Experience in entrepreneurship, innovation, accelerators or social impact is welcome but not essential. We are more interested in exceptional commercial operators who can understand our market quickly and turn opportunity into sustainable revenue.

Benefits

What we offer:

At Foundervine, we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable environment where every team member feels valued and supported. We prioritise the wellbeing and growth of our people, offering a range of benefits designed to support you both professionally and personally, including 3% commission on revenue from sales generated, Discounted Childcare, 25 days of annual leave in addition to UK bank holidays, Birthday Off, Career Advancement Opportunities, Private Medical Care via Medicash, Penfold Pension Scheme and many more.