Business Development Manager (US or UK based)

Business Development Manager (US or UK based)

We’re looking for an exceptional Business Development Manager to help drive forward Lightful’s mission to build the resilience of thousands of nonprofits around the world. This role is focused on developing new funding partnerships for our award winning BRIDGE programme by identifying, cultivating, and converting new philanthropic, foundation and corporate funders. You’ll need to be energised by building a pipeline from the ground up, proactively seeking out opportunities, opening doors, and creating momentum. If you're a strategic Business Development Manager who thrives on turning great conversations into long-term collaborations, we want to hear from you.

You’ll report to the Head of Partnerships and work closely with Lightful’s dynamic Partnerships team, CEO, and senior colleagues across Programmes, Finance, Development, and Design.

Who we are

Lightful is a
B-Corp and a technology company on a mission to help nonprofits become better storytellers, diversify income streams, build trust and raise more money. Our vision is a future where nonprofits have the power to create more equitable communities and a healthier planet.

Lightful’s BRIDGE programme equips charities with the digital tools and capabilities to become more resilient and deliver greater impact. It generates incredible results for participating organisations, helping them to build trust with their stakeholders by having a stronger digital presence. 

Lightful’s work has been funded by Trusts, Foundations and Philanthropists all over the world such as the Gates Foundation, the Malala Fund, Comic Relief, Jessie Ball duPont Fund, GlobalGiving, UBS Optimus Foundation and JP Morgan Foundation. Thanks to these collaborative partnerships we have been able to support over 3,000 organisations in more than 100 countries across the world.

As we rapidly expand our reach and impact, this important role will help unlock the next wave of partnerships and scale our impact. 

You can read more about our programmes as well as our purpose, mission and values on our website and Linkedin page.

You should apply if you bring most of the following qualities: 

• A self-starter mindset - you're proactive, motivated, and love opening doors, spotting new business opportunities, and building pipelines from scratch
• A confident communicator - you’re persuasive and able to build trust quickly across a range of stakeholders
• Commercially minded and instinctively understand how to position value and align partnership offers with funder priorities
• Skilled at making complex ideas clear and compelling with the instincts of a great storyteller rather than a hard seller
• Calm and focused under pressure with strong prioritisation and time management skills to meet deadlines and juggle competing opportunities
• Meticulous attention to detail whether drafting a tailored proposal or negotiating a contract
• Proven ability to work independently while staying connected, collaborative, and communicative across a cross-functional team
• Comfortable in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment and you’re energised by building something new
• Deep commitment to social and environmental change and a genuine belief in the power of charities and philanthropy to drive that change

You should apply if you have most of the following experience: 

• Significant experience identifying and securing new funding partnerships (e.g. trusts, foundations, institutions, or corporate funders and building multi-year contracts, particularly in the US)
• At least five years experience in fundraising, partnerships or business development 
• A natural drive for new business meaning that you’re comfortable picking up the phone, starting conversations from scratch, and turning cold leads into long-term partnerships
• Deep expertise in researching and identifying potential new partners
• Significant experience building and managing relationships with different partners 
• Comfortable engaging with C-suite and senior leaders, internally and externally
• Experience with Salesforce or other CRM systems to manage leads, opportunities and pipeline reporting
• Experience attending conferences and sector events to build new partnerships and strengthen existing relationships
• Knowledge of fundraising information sources and familiarity with research techniques for prospect research

Extra points for: 

• Deep knowledge of the nonprofit sector and main challenges of local nonprofits (especially within the US)
• Knowledge of fundraising information sources and familiarity with research techniques for prospect research 
• An existing network of trust & foundation relationships that you’re able to introduce to Lightful
• Understanding of philanthropic trends and funder motivations
• Ability to extract and analyse CRM prospect data to make effective, efficient decisions about prospect strategy and process
• Volunteering or experience supporting nonprofits informally or professionally

Every day will be different, but some of the things you’ll be involved in are:

New business development:

• Researching and identifying prospective funders aligned with Lightful’s mission
• Crafting tailored outreach plans and engagement strategies to align with each funder’s mission
• Leading initial conversations and cultivating strong early relationships
• Actively generating leads, initiating outreach, and not waiting for opportunities to come to you
• Picking up the phone, sending the first email, and opening doors with energy, confidence, and persistence
• Representing Lightful at relevant sector events and meetings
• Adapting to non-standard or ad hoc proposal formats with creativity and flexibility, producing compelling content for each funder

Pipeline & stakeholder management:

• Maintaining accurate records in Salesforce of all potential funding partners, touch points, and stage of engagement
• Manage regular reports for leadership on pipeline health, conversion metrics, and emerging trends
• Working closely with programme teams to align potential partnerships with capacity and mission

Collaboration & enablement:

• Partnering with colleagues across the organisation to ensure alignment on priorities, delivery capabilities and new product innovations
• Supporting team wide learning and improvement by sharing insight and funder feedback

Partner Development and Relationship Management:

• Contributing to income generation by igniting new partnerships conversations and building multi-year collaborations with existing funders
• Maintaining a close relationship with funders throughout the partnership and supporting internal reporting needs by reviewing insight reports and managing funder communications
• Coordinating internal events and engagement opportunities with current and prospective partners to strengthen relationships and explore new opportunities
• Ensuring a smooth transition from partnership development to programme delivery, providing the delivery team with the necessary context, information, and funder expectations to deliver an exceptional experience

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive benefits package adapted for the world of remote working:

• Highly competitive salary
• 35 days of bookable annual leave (book a bank holiday off, or not)
• Your birthday off (paid) plus day off to move house (paid)
• Simply Health cash back plan (UK only)
• Free, independent financial coaching from Octopus MoneyCoach (UK only)
• Lightful Pension provided by Legal & General  (UK only)
• Free access to Asana Rebel (yoga) and Headspace apps
• Tax free contribution to additional home-working costs (UK only)
• Cycle to work scheme (UK only)
• Workplace Nursery (Salary sacrifice scheme providing NI/Tax savings on nursery fees) (UK only)
• Charitable Payroll Giving (Salary sacrifice - UK only)
• Long Service awards
• Personal development programme
• Thorough onboarding experience, supported by a buddy to support your integration to the team
• Default work from home, with optional access to our London office
• Varied and excellent opportunities for skills/career progression
• Be part of a business that has an impact all over the world!

Need a flexible way of working?

At Lightful, we embrace flexibility, whether you're based in the UK or the US. We understand that everyone works differently, and we aim to support a range of working patterns, including part-time and flexible hours.

For UK based colleagues, our 'Lightful Flex' initiative supports a variety of working patterns - whether that’s part time work or flexible hours during the week, typically within our core hours of 10am - 4pm UK time.

For this role, which is focused on US based funders and stakeholders, we’re open to candidates located in either the US or UK. While you’ll need to be available for meetings in US time zones, we encourage some overlap with UK hours to collaborate effectively with our wider team. We’re open to conversations around how this works for you and committed to finding ways to support you and the team.

Equal opportunities 

A diverse range of opinions and perspectives is core to Lightful’s open culture and ongoing success. As an equal opportunity employer, all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, veteran, neurodiversity status or disability status.

Location & Eligibility

This is a remote first role and we're open to applicants based in either the US or the UK:

• For US based applicants: You must have the right to work in the US without visa sponsorship and be comfortable working UK facing hours to collaborate with the team. We are open to remote applicants based anywhere in the country
  
  
• For UK based applicants: You must have the right to work in the UK without visa sponsorship, and be comfortable working US facing hours

Compensation£50-60k