Business Development Specialist, Research

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Canada.

📋 Description

• Assist with outbound business development efforts by researching potential funders, identifying key contacts, and creating customized outreach lists.

• Help in composing outreach messages, briefing notes, and follow-up communications to engage prospective partners and funders.

• Organize meetings with potential funders, including scheduling, preparing agendas and background materials, and documenting follow-up actions.

• Keep accurate and current records of interactions, activities, and opportunities in the CRM to enhance pipeline visibility across Knowledge Areas.

• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration with Knowledge Areas by collecting information, streamlining communication flows, and coordinating internal alignment on opportunities.

• Aid in the preparation of introductory materials and other business development resources.

• Oversee the proposal development process, ensuring that timelines, inputs, and approvals are clearly monitored and adhered to.

• Analyze RFPs to identify requirements, eligibility criteria, timelines, and expectations for deliverables.

• Assist in the preparation, formatting, and submission of proposals, pitch decks, letters of intent, and other application materials.

• Create proposal calendars, draft sections of proposals, and ensure all components adhere to submission standards.

• Support quality control checks for submissions to ensure completeness, accuracy, and consistency.

• Maintain well-organized proposal files, template libraries, bios, project references, and supporting documentation.

• Monitor active and upcoming RFPs and funding opportunities; prepare summaries and inform relevant Knowledge Areas.

• Coordinate internal meetings related to proposal development and gather input from research staff, subject matter experts, and leadership.

• Update the CRM with proposal activities, status changes, deadlines, and results.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of three years of experience in proposal coordination and business development support, sales support, or fundraising coordination.

• Post-secondary education in business administration, communications, marketing, public policy, social sciences, or a related discipline.

• Experience in supporting proposal and RFP processes, which includes reviewing requirements, coordinating inputs, organizing timelines, preparing submission packages, and ensuring compliance.

• Robust business development support experience, such as assisting with outreach, researching prospects, preparing briefing materials, and coordinating meetings or follow-ups.

• Exceptional organizational and project coordination skills, with a proven ability to manage multiple tasks, deadlines, and stakeholders simultaneously.

• Strong written communication abilities, including proofreading, formatting proposals, drafting basic sections, and generating summaries or outreach materials.

• Proactive research skills, capable of gathering funder information, identifying key contacts, scanning for pertinent funding opportunities, and compiling background notes.

• Comfortable utilizing CRM systems to log activities, track pipelines, update opportunity stages, and maintain accurate records (experience with Microsoft Dynamics is an asset).

• Detail-oriented, ensuring that proposals, documents, and data entries are complete, accurate, and in compliance with guidelines.

• Professional communication and interpersonal skills, with an ability to foster business relationships with funders, partners, and internal contributors.

• Collaborative and adaptable, able to work across various Knowledge Areas and quickly assimilate new information across policy and research domains.

• Bilingual proficiency in English and French is an asset.

• Willingness to travel within Canada.

🏝️ Benefits

• Virtual First – work from anywhere in Canada with a budget to establish your home office.

• A workplace where your efforts are not only recognized but actively celebrated.

• Healthcare benefits from Day One to support your physical and mental wellbeing, which includes a $2,500 benefit for services from Psychologists, Social Workers, or Psychotherapists.

• Work/Life Balance: In addition to 20 days of annual vacation, we close between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, observe 13 holidays per year, and offer Friday afternoon closures.

• A modern, defined benefit (DB) pension plan: We care about your future and provide a pension plan with a 5% match starting from Day One.

• Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP): We recognize that life can be unpredictable and challenging, and EFAP is here to support you and your family during tough times.

• Maternity and parental leave top-up plan.