Director of Business Development, Citizen Engagement Lab (Oakland, CA)
William Winters
Director of Business Development
Oakland, CA - Full Time
About Citizen Engagement Lab
CEL is a home for people and projects working to shift culture and transform society. We support, start, consult with and connect individuals and organizations that use technology-fueled approaches to close the gap between the world we live in and the more just and equitable world most of us want.
Our work supports leaders who have the passion for making change, the knack for bringing people together in action, and the capacity for building effective organizations. Using a combination of coaching and direct services in the areas of finance, development, human resources, and technology, we help them achieve near-term impact and build longstanding power.
CEL has a non-traditional management structure that focuses on self-management, rather than a traditional “supervisor / boss” structure. At CEL, leadership and decision-making power are more distributed across the organization; individuals have greater autonomy around how they do their work; and we use Holacracy http://www.holacracy.org/how-it-works/ to govern and manage our organization.
Who We Are Looking For
You have a background in the progressive movement and are passionate about using your people and networking skills to broker new partnerships between CEL and foundations, social change entrepreneurs, and mission-aligned institutions to help create a stronger, more digitally savvy social justice movement. You have enough experience both in online engagement and campaign development to help the team do the work, but your expertise and passion is around building out and sustaining a strong business development practice within the organization.
Responsibilities
Business Development
- Identifying and maintaining a pipeline of new opportunities for strategic consulting, supporting emergent startups through our accelerator program, and internally developed programs that meet revenue, profitability, and impact goals for CEL portfolio
- Developing and maintaining relationships with clients and coordinating with service delivery teams to ensure client satisfaction
- Promoting CEL as leading practitioner of innovative social change tactics, campaigns, and strategies
- Reviewing and signing contracts for new business
Building CEL’s Business Development Practice
- Developing and maintaining systems, workflows, processes, and tools needed for effective and efficient business development outreach and deal-flow management
- Building a greater sense of team and vision among those with roles in Business Development
- Coordinating with internal teams to ensure alignment between sales and delivery
- Providing training and coaching to relevant staff on business development
Service Architecture
Working with CEL’s “Service Architecture team”, which is accountable for:
- Defining CEL's product offerings, partnership models, and support packages
- Communicating service offerings to relevant and stakeholders
- Collaborating with Business Development team to package and promote CEL's service offerings
- Aggregating lessons from completed projects and best practices from the field to inform ongoing service offering design
Qualifications
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in Business Development / Sales / Fundraising or other relevant field
- Finely honed interpersonal skills: you can engage effectively with a spectrum of personalities; you know when to make a hard ask, and when to make a soft pitch
- Demonstrated track record of building and implementing systems
- Background in digital engagement; experience with grassroots organizing or campaigning a plus
- Excellent written and oral communication skills along with ability to present ideas and information clearly.
- Fast-paced and flexible: must be able to keep pace and even get ahead of the daily flow of requests and remain “unflappable” as new challenges arise.
- Strong project management (you have your favorite system), MS Office, Mac OS, and Google email/calendar/doc skills.
- Able to prioritize work assignments under pressure and have quick turnaround while maintaining high standards of flawless execution and attention to detail.
- Excited by the idea of working in an unconventional organizational structure that values self-management, employee empowerment, and distributed decision making.
- Ability to set (and re-set) priorities to effectively manage multiple projects
- Flexible schedule, including availability to work evenings and weekends, and to travel periodically throughout the country.
Salary & Benefits
Salary is determined by experience and qualifications. Competitive benefits package including full health, dental, vision, life, disability and 401k match; vacation, ongoing training and professional opportunities; and unlimited Yerba Mate in our Oakland office.
To Apply
Interested applicants should apply at the link below, attaching a resume, and cover letter. Applications not received at the link or without both a resume and cover letter will not be considered. The position will be open until filled.
Candidates who meet these qualifications are encouraged to apply. CEL is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity as central to our work serving underrepresented communities, and we encourage candidates from a wide range of backgrounds to apply.
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt
PHONE REIMBURSEMENT ELIGIBLE: Yes
WORK LOCATION: Oakland