Business Development Manager

The University

At Durham University we are proud of our people.  A globally outstanding centre of educational excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other. We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things professionally and personally.  
Across the University we have a huge variety of roles and career opportunities, which together make us a large and successful community, which is a key hub of activity within our region and nationally.  We would be thrilled if you would consider joining our thriving University. Further information about the University can be found here  
 

The Role and Department

Durham Law School is a leading law school. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 nationally and Top 50 globally, it has been growing strongly over the past few years and now comprises a community of over 100 academics and professional support staff. Durham Law School fosters innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to legal research and wishes to attract scholars with strong backgrounds in these areas. The Law School provides a supportive environment for its community of Professional services staff and academics, which comprises a very generous sabbatical policy and an infrastructure of high-profile research centres that brings together colleagues for collaborative projects.  The school is housed in the iconic Palatine Centre overlooking Durham Cathedral in the heart of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the main East Coast trainline connecting to London and Edinburgh and also within convenient reach of Newcastle Airport. The school has an extensive network of leading international partner institutions and close ties with the City of London and the Inns of Court. It counts among its alumni two Supreme Court Justices.

Our top-ranked global law courses are very competitive with an excellent and diverse student population from across the world delivering a cutting-edge, research-led curriculum with a commitment to small group teaching through seminars and tutorials much prized by employers.

Our School’s strategic objectives put EDI at the heart of everything that we do. We are committed to Equality Diversity and Inclusion and actively develop our policies and procedures to ensure that everyone within our community is treated fairly and is provided with the same opportunities. This applies to our everyday working in teaching, research and administration, including academic progression and promotion processes. Our Law School is also proud to hold the Athena Swan Bronze award.

Role Purpose

The Business Development Manager is a newly formed role due to the potential we as a school have towards income generation from other sources and the ability to increase our current income streams. The Business Development Manager will provide both strategic and operational support to the School Manager and the Dean of the Law School, as well as other members of the academic management team.

This highly varied role will manage, maintain, and enhance our commercial, engagement and outreach profile regionally, nationally, and internationally, ensuring that the Law School is promoted and represented. The role will work closely with our key stakeholders maintaining and enhancing the school’s relationships with them, while increasing and securing the generous financial contributions provided by them, to enable the school to undertake a range of activities from offering scholarships, funding prizes, infrastructure projects and hardship funds to name but a few.

Diversifying our income streams is a strategic priority of the school and this role will play a significant part in supporting the Dean and School Manager deliver on this key priority. This is the time for the school to diversify its activities and capitalise on its expertise, innovation, reputation and relationships with key partners and the Business Development Manager will be central to this work. 

The Business Development Manager should be target driven, confident and have a good understanding of commercial activity and ways to diversify income streams, preferably within the higher education sector.

This role will be part of the professional services team at the school, reporting directly into the School Manager.

Service Delivery/Development

·       Show a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and the University’s values.

·       Manage operational service activities to ensure excellence in the stakeholder experience.

·       Review and look for ways to improve systems and procedures that are relevant to your area of work in line with the University’s frameworks and regulations.

·       Development of our existing and new degree programmes, working with key academic leads to make degree programmes sustainable.

·       Provide specialist advice and guidance relating to your professional area of expertise, in line with the University’s policies, regulations and values.

·       Manage the delivery of services and processes relating to your role to a high standard, including the school’s merchandise activities, prizes process and scholarships.

·       Provide the best possible service by continually reviewing what is required from staff, students and others who you work with and contribute to ideas and service improvements.

·       Provide specialist knowledge and support when interpreting and analysing complex data and information sources.

·       Look for ways to improve processes, techniques and outputs/results across all areas of your work.

Planning and Organisation

·       Contribute to operational leadership teams to influence the type and level of services that are provided

·       Contribute to and support the Dean and School Manager with strategic objectives and initiatives relating to engagement, outreach and commercial activities, working with colleagues to inform planning and developments in line with the school’s strategy.

·       Manage strategic and operational project delivery both internally and externally to develop and enhance engagement, outreach and commercial activities.

·       Oversee and support the delivery of open events, recruitment fairs, and visits.

·       Seek feedback from staff, students and other key stakeholders so that business development activities are being adapted to meet customer expectations and to plan future requirements.

·       Analyse data on the level of service being provided by your area to recommend areas for future improvement.

·       Manage budgets and expenditure including buying (and returning) goods and services.

Communication/Liaison and Income Generation

·       Actively engage and promote the law school on the regional, national, and international stage.

·       Lead on increasing our visibility and reputation both domestically and internationally.

·       Be a recognised source of expertise, providing advice and guidance with your stakeholders to ensure that the University’s policies, procedures and regulations are complied with.

·       Undertake market research activities to provide business opportunities to diversify income streams and actively seek new funding sources.

·       Use your operational expertise to lead and participate in business meetings, working groups and sub-committees.

·       Coordinate and organise committees and other business meetings and deal with any related complaints.

·       Update policies and procedures in response to any internal or external changes.

·       Use your expertise to provide training or guidance to other stakeholders.

·       Create positive working relationships, including internal and external relationship development and partnership working, networking and participation to engage and influence future services and the University reputation.

·       Be the main point of contact for all our law firm partners, maintaining and improving these relationships.

·       Improve and enhance our relationships and financial contributions from our key business partners within the industry, including key donors and law firm partners.

Specific Role Requirements

·       Be prepared to travel regionally, nationally, and internationally to support the school’s interests and business opportunities.

·       Work outside normal office hours during peak periods.

·       Any other reasonable duties.

Working at Durham 

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits: 

•    30 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year – a total of 42 days per year.  
•    The University closes between Christmas and New Year
•    We offer a generous pension scheme, As a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS).
•    No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered.  We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.
•    There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally.  There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University.  All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities. 
•    Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state of the art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.
•    On site nursery is available and access to holiday camps for children aged 5-16 throughout the year.
•    Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).
•    The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community
•    Discounts are available via our benefits portal including; money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions. 
•    A salary sacrifice scheme is also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits. 
•    If you are moving to Durham, we can help with removal costs and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools.  If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.

Durham University is committed to equality,  diversity and inclusion 

Our collective aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and we believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  As a University equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key part of the University’s Strategy and a central part of everything we do.  We also live by our values and our Staff Code of Conduct.  At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It’s important to us that all of our colleagues are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.  If you have taken time out of your career, and you feel it relevant, let us know about it in your application.  If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

What you need to demonstrate when you apply/Person Specification  
  
When you apply it is important that you let us know what skills/experience you have from a similar role and/or what skills/experience you have which would make you right for this role.  Further information about the role and responsibilities is at the end of this job description.  Where a criteria has an asterisk* next to it, it may be given additional weighting when your application is considered.    
  
Your application should cover the following criteria:  

Essential Criteria

Qualifications/Experience

1.Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience).

2.Experience of providing specialist advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues.

3. Experience of implementing policy and procedures and to contribute to the delivery and development of services, events and activities within the organisation.

4. Proven project management, planning and organisational experience.

5. Demonstrable evidence of securing external funding to support business activities.

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge

6. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally.

7. Highly developed IT skills, including a detailed working knowledge Microsoft Office package, as well as University software and programs.

8. Strong business acumen and experience of developing and maintaining a network of contacts.

9. Highly developed negotiating skills with proven experience and ability to confidently persuade senior business partners to invest in business activities.

10. Excellent organisational skills, combined with the ability to act calmly and meet financial targets

11. Self-motivated with a passion for continual improvement and adapting own skills to new circumstances.

Desirable Criteria

12. Experience of working in a higher education environment.

13. Prince 2 Project Management Qualification

How to Apply   

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification above. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.  Please don’t forget to check if there is any weighted criteria (see above).

While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.   
  
Submitting your application 

We prefer to receive applications online.   We will update you about your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not missed any of our updates.
  
What you need to submit   

•    A CV
•    A supporting statement or covering letter which outlines how you meet all of the criteria within the Person Specification.    

Contact details   
  
If you feel confident that you meet the essential criteria for the role and would like further information or a chat about the role, please contact the Durham Law School Manager: Mr Richard Gwalchmai on [email protected]

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Privacy Notices – Durham University  which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.   

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.