About the Role:

Partnerships are one of the most critical elements of Merit America’s growth plan for the next several years. Building the strategy and growing the program is a top priority for the organization. The Business Development Lead will have the white space to shape, build, and grow a new function that will ensure Merit America can reach learners across the country, changing lives for the better.

The primary mission of the Business Development Lead (BDL) is to foster a fertile sales ecosystem by orchestrating a robust pipeline of opportunities, closing strategic partnerships, and helping to build a world class Business Development function from the ground up. The BDL will be responsible for working closely with the MD, Partnerships to close enterprise partnership deals across our existing verticals while also exploring and experimenting with new partnership models and verticals.

The BDL is an exempt role and will report to the Managing Director, Partnerships, and works primarily with the Business Development team at Merit America.

What You’ll be Doing:

The responsibilities of the BDL will include, but are not limited to, the following:

Strategy 25%: Identification and Program Creation:

• Work closely with the MD, Partnerships to develop the overall strategy for Enterprise partnerships at Merit America, identifying target sectors, prioritization, and approach.
• Dynamically adjust partnership strategy to match our organizational growth and goals.
• Partner with the MD, Partnerships and marketing team to develop collateral and messaging for potential partners.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners in operations and product to bring 'first of their kind' partnerships to life.
• Regularly communicate partnership priorities and plans to relevant stakeholders.
• Collaborate with other business development team members to identify opportunities to cross-sell and drive maximum value from the partnership.

Sales: 30%

• Be directly responsible for carrying and hitting ambitious targets for closing partnerships while supporting business development managers to hit their targets
• Identify, evaluate, and prioritize potential opportunities based on Merit America's strategic growth objectives
• Develop and maintain a robust pipeline of partnership opportunities
• Generate and articulate a compelling vision for potential partners
• Define and negotiate key terms of partnerships–from small local pilots to large national engagements–ensuring that any agreements align with Merit America's objectives.
• Work closely with legal counsel and other internal teams to finalize partnership agreements.
• Collaborate with marketing and communications colleagues to promote our partnerships through earned media, speaking engagements, and collaborations.

Sales Enablement: 15%

• Manage creation and maintenance of sales collateral and toolkit, enabling the sales team to communicate our value proposition effectively.
• Monitor and analyze sales performance metrics and dashboards to identify areas of improvement and optimize sales processes.

Data Management and Reporting: 15%

• Ensure accurate and organized data in Salesforce for all prospects, contacts, and partnerships.
• Establish key performance metrics, monitor them rigorously, and provide regular insights to the senior management team.

Process and System Design: 15%

• Play a crucial role in designing and implementing the systems and processes to develop Merit America’s Biz Dev function and ensure a steady employer pipeline.

What Makes a Successful Candidate:

We recognize that individuals from marginalized backgrounds, including women, people of color, and those with disabilities, are often less likely to apply when they don’t meet 100% of the job qualifications. Don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We want to emphasize that your unique skills, experiences, and perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of the skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:

Must Haves:

• Experience selling to organizations and track record of closing deals.
• Proficiency with marketing automation platforms (e.g., Hubspot) and sales engagement tools (e.g., Salesforce, SalesLoft/Outreach, Zoominfo, Gong, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator)
• Exceptional negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated history of successful business development, including closing deals, forging partnerships, and driving growth
• Experience managing a Business Development or Sales team
• Motivation to come up with innovative solutions and new partnership models
• Committed to Merit America’s mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
• Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
• Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
• Committed to continuous learning and growth in understanding and addressing issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity

Nice to Have:

• Experience in talent acquisition or staffing industry
• Management experience in B2B sales, especially with enterprise companies

Other Logistics

• This position is full-time: 4 days/week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Travel requirement: 20-25% (depending on seasonality)
• Location: Remote
• Salary : $137,500 with an incentive of up to a $20k annual bonus to be paid quarterly upon meeting the established goals.

Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach, which means we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.