HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & GROWTH

OTHER DUTIES

• Uphold the Trust’s policies, procedures, and professional standards at all times, including safeguarding, equality, diversity, and inclusion, data protection, and appropriate professional boundaries.
• Take responsibility for reporting concerns through the correct channels and maintaining all training, checks, accreditations, and qualifications required for the role.

ESSENTIAL

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Relevant degree, professional qualification, or equivalent senior-level experience.
• Significant experience in business development, income generation, commissioning, fundraising, or strategic growth within the charity, sport, community, public, or related sector.
• Demonstrable track record of identifying opportunities and converting them into new income, investment, contracts, or funded activity.
• Proven experience of developing successful bids, tenders, grant applications, business cases, or investment proposals.
• Experience of building influential relationships with funders, commissioners, businesses, public bodies, and strategic stakeholders.
• Experience of developing new services, propositions, or income streams in response to external priorities and organizational ambition.
• Experience of managing a new-business pipeline and delivering against income, growth, or return-on-investment targets.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Strategic and commercially minded, with the ability to identify how emerging policy, market, and sector developments can create opportunities for the Trust.
• Strong business development capability, including lead generation, opportunity qualification, proposition development, and conversion.
• Exceptional written communication skills, with the ability to produce compelling bids, tenders, funding applications, business cases, and proposals.
• Strong financial and commercial judgement, including an understanding of pricing, budgets, income forecasting, risk, and return on investment.
• Highly effective relationship-building, influencing, and negotiation skills across senior and diverse stakeholder groups.
• Ability to translate community need, organizational strengths, and external priorities into clear, credible, and deliverable propositions.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to interpret intelligence, assess opportunities, and make evidence-based recommendations.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to represent the Trust at senior local, regional, and national levels.
• Strong planning and pipeline-management skills, with the ability to balance competing priorities and progress multiple opportunities simultaneously.
• Collaborative leadership style, with the ability to work across programmes, finance, impact, marketing, and Nottingham Forest Football Club.
• Clear focus on outcomes, income growth, performance, and continuous improvement.
• Strong alignment with the Trust’s vision, mission, and values, and commitment to safeguarding, equality, diversity, and inclusion.

DESIRABLE

• Experience within professional sport, a football club charity, or another purpose-led organization.
• Experience of working with government departments, combined authorities, commissioners, or regional bodies.
• Experience of developing opportunities across different sectors, markets, or geographic areas.
• Knowledge of the community sport, charity, and professional football landscape.
• Understanding of local and regional priorities, socioeconomic challenges, and the role of sport in improving health, wellbeing, and opportunity.
• Experience of collaborative bids, commissioning processes, or cross-sector partnership models.

TIMELINES AND PROCESS

• Application deadline: Sunday 26th July 2026.
• Initial telephone conversation: Week commencing 3rd August.
• Interview round 1 (face to face in Nottingham): Week commencing 10th August 2026.
• Interview round 2 (face to face in Nottingham): Week commencing 17th August 2026.

All applicants must diligently fill out the application form. As an integral part of the application process, all candidates must possess the right to work in the UK, undergo an enhanced DBS check, and provide two professional references.

FOREST FOR EVERYONE

We aim to create a culture which embraces and celebrates difference, enables individuals to feel comfortable, maximize their potential, and eliminates discrimination. Nottingham Forest Community Trust is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.

PRIVACY NOTICE

Nottingham Forest Community Trust is committed to being transparent about how it handles your personal information, to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information, and meeting its obligation under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

SAFEGUARDING

At Nottingham Forest Community Trust, we have a holistic and person-centred approach to safeguarding.

Where concerns about any child or adult at risk are raised, NFCT staff will always act with the best interests of the individual at the forefront of all actions. We accept and acknowledge our responsibility for the wellbeing and safety of all participants engaged in NFCT programmes and activities. It is the duty of our staff and volunteers at NFCT to ensure that all participants are safeguarded by creating and maintaining activities and environments that protect them from harm. Safeguarding is the responsibility of all.