Marketing and Communications Director of Business Development
Job Description
Overview
Youth Communication (YC) is seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of Business Development to expand YC’s impact through sales of our education programs to establish partnerships with schools, districts, government agencies, and community-based youth programs.
YC is currently operating remotely, but in the coming months we anticipate it will require significant in-person work, based out of our Times Square office.
The position requires knowledge of (and the ability to uncover) school and agency funding streams and curriculum adoption timelines. It also requires the ability to cultivate and strengthen relationships with decision-makers at the school, agency, and district levels.
The ideal candidate for this position will be energetic, entrepreneurial, highly self-directed, and hands-on, with a proven track record of securing customers and closing sales. They will possess strong relationship building skills, the capacity to establish a strong rapport with YC’s existing partners, and a deep passion for YC’s mission to amplify youth voice.
Given the complex and hands-on nature of the curriculum adoption process, this job will require frequent meetings with principals and district staff in New York City. Occasional regional and national travel may also be required. S/he will also work closely with our Executive Director, our Senior Director of Strategy and Growth and our external relations and education teams to identify potential school partners and funding sources, determine their needs and how YC’s programs and services can meet them, and enlist them in supporting or purchasing YC programs.
In January 2020, Youth Communication launched a strategic plan to significantly grow our SEL (social emotional learning) education programs in NYC schools by 2024. This role is a crucial element of that plan. The Director of Business Development must be agile and ready to adapt to these new opportunities for growth.
About Youth Communication
YC elevates the power of youth voices to improve the lives of young people who are the furthest from opportunity, including youth of color, youth living in poverty, experiencing housing instability, and in foster care. We provide powerful, teen-written stories and professional development that help educators and youth workers connect with teens and build their social and emotional skills.
Our professional development and curricula are based on true stories written by teens in YC’s intensive writing program. These stories make YC’s professional development programs and services unique in the field and exceptionally engaging for teens.
Youth Communication currently has a $1.7M+ operating budget, with 85% funded through philanthropic support and 15% through earned income from our PD services. We aim to significantly grow the sales of our educational services and position ourselves as a national leader in culturally responsive, social and emotional learning programs. The Director of Business Development will be responsible for helping us to reach this goal.
The ideal candidate will be both highly collaborative and self-directed. We are looking for a teammate who brings an outcomes-oriented approach to providing solutions that authentically center youth voice and lead to the creation of safer, more supportive, and inclusive schools and communities.
Responsibilities
Sales (60%)
- Identify and cultivate new potential partners among schools, community-based organizations (CBOs), and government agencies for YC’s professional development services and curricula.
- Research relevant sources of public funding and identify potential customers for cultivation.
- Cultivate relationships with existing partners and maintain those relationships through a high level of service and professional empathy.
- Research, identify, and lead outreach and sales to third-party payers. (e.g. foundations or intermediary organizations), who will appreciate and support the value YC’s programs and services provide.
- Meet or exceed annual revenue goals.
- Work with YC’s administrative staff to secure payment commitments, manage invoicing, and follow up.
- Ensure maintenance of accurate records of sales and prospecting activities in Salesforce (CRM), tracking sales goals on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.
Program Collaboration (25%)
- Collaborate with YC program directors to:
- ensure that program services are aligned with sales and organizational goals;
- identify new customer needs for which we can develop new programs and services that support our strategic direction.
- Assess reports from program evaluations and customer testimonials and integrate them into sales efforts.
- Work with the education team to ensure that grant-funded partnerships meet anticipated deliverables, and that data is collected for reporting purposes.
- Develop and maintain a working understanding of YC products, their markets, and value add.
- Keep leadership and program staff informed of market trends and product opportunities.
Marketing Collaboration (15%)
- Represent YC to the public in meetings and speaking engagements, marketing our revenue-generating services.
- Organize and lead in-person events to showcase YC programs.
- Work collaboratively and creatively with YC’s marketing and communication staff to create and disseminate messages that convey the value of our programs and services— via YC’s websites, social media, brochures, and other collateral materials.
Qualifications
- Passionate about YC’s mission to elevate the power of youth voice to improve the lives of underserved youth in New York City and beyond. Able to communicate that passion to school-based staff, district leaders, community-based organization decision-makers, city agency leaders, etc.
- Sales and marketing experience and track record of closing sales and/or securing revenue and the ability to represent the organization to a wide range of stakeholders and constituencies.
- Knowledge of the NYC educational, youth development, and philanthropic landscape.
- Knowledge of broad educational trends and the national market for social and emotional programs and services.
- Familiarity with the complex challenges that educators face in their work to support youth who are the furthest from economic and educational opportunity. Service-minded, supportive, and demonstrates care and empathy for students and teachers.
- Adaptive, flexible, and highly focused, demonstrating a readiness to support organizational growth.
- Strong public speaking and presentation skills.
- Comfortable with software systems for managing contacts, projects, and revenue-generation activities (e.g., Google Suite, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom).
- Bachelor’s degree or the equivalent in education and experience.
- 3-5 years of educational sales or similar experience leading communities of educators and/or equivalent experience working in public education and/or youth development in NYC.
