Inspire Education Business Partnership
Head of Income Generation and Partnerships
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Salary: £58,000 - £60,000 per annum depending on experience
Benefits:
- 29 days annual leave per year plus Bank Holidays
- Family-friendly working arrangements
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Tickets for Good and other charity discounts
- 3 volunteer days per year
About us
Inspire believes that all young people should have access to the opportunities and inspiration they need to achieve their potential.
Each year, Inspire supports around 22,000 children and young people across London and beyond. Working with thousands of employers and volunteers, we use data to understand the barriers young people face and connect them with experiences and opportunities that open doors to their success.
Our guiding principles are:
- Work with integrity – doing the right thing for young people
- Be bold – using challenges to drive innovation
- Drive equity – challenging our thinking to increase diversity
- In partnership – working with others to achieve goals
The Opportunity
This is an opportunity to shape Inspire's next phase of growth. As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will lead our organisation-wide income generation and partnerships strategy, strengthen the systems and relationships that sustain our work, and personally secure significant income through an agreed portfolio of strategic, high-value and complex opportunities.
It is a hands-on leadership role: combining strategy, team leadership and organisation-wide coordination with direct business development, partnership growth, bids and fundraising. You will work alongside a dedicated Senior Business Development and Partnerships Manager, experienced service and programme leaders, an established Senior Leadership Team and engaged trustees.
Income generation is shared across Inspire. Service leaders retain accountability for established service-specific contracts, renewals and customer relationships. This role owns the organisation-wide strategy and consolidated view of secured and forecast income, pipeline and risk, and ensures business development, programme design and delivery are aligned.
Priorities for the first six months
- Review partners, prospects, live opportunities, renewals and relationship risks; confirm ownership, next actions and complementary portfolios across the team.
- Agree an organisation-wide income generation and partnerships strategy and annual plan, with realistic stream targets and a clear, stretching personal target.
- Introduce consistent CRM-based pipeline, forecasting, conversion and performance reporting.
- Protect and grow Inspire’s most important partnerships through clear relationship management plans.
- With service leaders, identify the strongest opportunities for retention, renewal and sustainable growth, aligned with delivery capacity.
Key responsibilities
Leadership, strategy and performance
- Lead and regularly review Inspire's income generation and partnerships strategy and annual plan, with clear priorities, targets, owners and measurable activity across income streams.
- Maintain the organisation-wide view of secured and forecast income, pipeline, renewals and risk; provide clear performance reporting and advice to the Chief Executive Officer, Senior Leadership Team, Board and Income Generation Committee.
- Lead portfolio and growth reviews with service leaders, helping Inspire focus investment and resources on opportunities that meet need, deliver impact and generate sustainable income.
- Contribute to organisational strategy, budgeting, risk management and culture, building shared ownership of income generation across Inspire.
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Income generation and business development
- Personally secure and grow significant income through an agreed portfolio of strategic partnerships, business development, stewardship and collaborations, delivering a clear and stretching personal target.
- Drive sustainable income growth and diversification, developing a balanced portfolio with a particular focus on increasing multi-year and unrestricted income. This may include corporate partnerships, commissioned services, trusts and foundations, statutory funding, tenders and major bids, strategic collaborations, fundraising initiatives and philanthropic giving.
- Lead or contribute directly to major proposals, pitches, tenders, bids and applications, drawing together programme, impact, finance and operational expertise and providing high-quality writing and editorial input.
- Maintain an organisation-wide pipeline and funding calendar, identifying and prioritising opportunities that align with Inspire's mission, capacity, financial sustainability and potential impact.
Partnerships, stewardship and growth
- Act as relationship owner or executive lead for a portfolio of important partners, funders, customers and prospects, building trusted senior relationships and understanding their priorities.
- Strengthen and grow key partnerships through effective relationship management, identifying opportunities to expand successful programmes and re-engage former partners where appropriate.
- Work with the Chief Executive Officer, trustees and senior colleagues to cultivate senior contacts, philanthropic supporters, major donors and high-net-worth individuals where appropriate.
- Represent Inspire at relevant senior meetings, events and networks, maintaining insight into employer, education, skills, social mobility and funding priorities.
Programme development and sustainability
- Work with service, programme, impact and finance colleagues to develop fundable and commercially viable propositions based on need and outcomes, while protecting charitable purpose and quality.
- Coordinate reviews of products, pricing and partnership offers, including full-cost recovery, ensuring budgets are accurate, risks understood and commitments achievable.
- Ensure transitions from business development through contracting, delivery, reporting, renewal and account development are clearly owned and managed.
- Explore scalable offers, consortia and repeatable partnership models that improve quality, reach, impact or financial sustainability.
People, systems and profile
- Lead and develop the Senior Business Development and Partnerships Manager and future team roles, setting complementary portfolios, clear objectives and stretching but realistic targets while preserving the Manager's proactive new-business remit.
- Ensure consistent CRM use, accurate records and concise reporting; manage the income generation budget and monitor return on investment.
- Ensure marketing and communications activity effectively supports income generation, partnership development and Inspire’s profile, working with colleagues and external support as appropriate to develop compelling cases for support, proposals, presentations, campaigns and partner communications.
- Maintain appropriate due diligence and compliance with data protection, fundraising standards, contractual requirements and Inspire policies.
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Person specification
Essential experience and knowledge
- A strong track record of personally securing significant five- and six-figure income and retaining or growing important relationships, with experience across more than one relevant income stream and particular strength in strategic partnerships or other relationship-led income.
- Significant senior-level experience in income generation, business development and/or strategic partnerships in the charity, social enterprise, education, employability, youth or a related social-impact sector, including delivery of an organisation-wide strategy with measurable results.
- Experience of trusts and foundations fundraising and successful applications, plus leading or contributing substantially to major bids, tenders, commissioned opportunities or complex proposals.
- Experience of leading and developing people and creating clear accountability and a strong performance culture.
- Excellent senior stakeholder management, negotiation and influencing experience, with the ability to build trust across organisational boundaries.
- Strong commercial and financial understanding, including opportunity selection, pricing, budgets, restricted funding, contract risk and full-cost recovery.
- Experience of managing an income pipeline, using a CRM and producing reliable forecasts and performance reports, with sound knowledge of fundraising practice, due diligence and data protection requirements.
- Knowledge of youth employment, education, careers, employability, skills or social mobility.
Essential skills and behaviours
- A credible, visible and practical senior leader, able to move between strategy, people leadership, external representation and direct income generation.
- Excellent relationship-building, influencing, negotiation, writing, presentation and public-speaking skills.
- A disciplined and transparent approach to targets, pipeline data, follow-up, forecasting and accountability.
- Collaborative, resilient and adaptable, with a strong commitment to safeguarding, equity and inclusion, young people's opportunities and Inspire's guiding principles.
Desirable
- Experience of philanthropic supporters, major donors or high-net-worth individuals.
- Experience of local-authority commissioning, public-sector tenders, consortium bids or earned-income models.
- Experience of marketing and communications activity that supports income growth and external profile.
- Experience in an organisation combining charitable funding, corporate partnerships, commissioned services and earned income.
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