Strategic Partnership Lead – Look Ahead Care and Support, Islington

We’re looking for a hardworking and determined of Strategic Partnership Lead to join our Business Development Team located at Head Office in Islington.      

£50,000.00 - £70,000.00 (depending on experience) per annum, working 35 hours per week.   

Open to part-time working 

Want to feel in control of your career? You’ll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:

• Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
• A generous pension – we will contribute up to 8% and life assurance cover up to 3x Pensionable Salary (T&Cs apply)
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff’s commitment and contribution
• Free DBS 

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

Look Ahead supports thousands of people across London and the South East with a diverse range of needs, helping them to make individual choices, achieve goals and take control of their own lives by providing tailor-made support, care and accommodation services. We have ambitious plans to grow and develop our services to meet the needs of our existing and new partners over the next three years. To support this, we are seeking a highly motivated Strategic Partnership Lead to take ownership of key business development, partnership and growth activity within a defined geographic area. 

The postholder will be the lead for their area, building and maintaining commissioner and stakeholder relationships, identifying and shaping opportunities, and overseeing the end-to-end business development process from strategic positioning and service design through to bid writing, tender management and commercial assessment. Working closely with operational, finance and corporate colleagues, they will ensure proposals are high quality, deliverable, financially sustainable and aligned to Look Ahead’s Business Development Strategy and business plan. 

What you’ll do: 

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead.

• Area Leadership and Relationship Management: Lead commissioner and stakeholder engagement in a dedicated geographic area, building strong relationships across supported accommodation, health and social care for all relevant client groups, including learning disabilities, mental health, homelessness and young people. 
• Commercial Business Partnering: Act as the business development lead for the designated patch, working with operational colleagues to manage contract extensions, renegotiations and new growth opportunities. 
• Tender Management: Lead, monitor, manage and draft high-quality submissions for local authorities, health trusts, frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems within the designated geographic area, while contributing to wider team tender exercises where required. 
• Strategic Positioning: Lead area-level market analysis, assess evaluation criteria and advise on bid competitiveness and commercial strategy, including presenting proposed models and contract prices at internal risk panels to gain Senior Leadership approval. 
• Service Development: Lead the development of new service models in the geographic area, working with external and internal partners to respond to formal tenders and organic opportunities, build in innovation and enhance client-specific value propositions. 
• Writing & Content: Developing compelling content and working with the operations team to prepare detailed delivery models  
• Financial viability and assessment: work with finance to assess financial viability of the proposed service and support financial modelling  
• Business Intelligence: Lead business intelligence for the geographic area by maintaining a strong understanding of commissioning intentions, local market conditions and feasibility for new commercial models. 
• Sourcing Opportunities: Proactively source and shape business development opportunities within the geographic area, developing creative ideas and service models alongside operational managers and customers. 
• Innovation: Analyses and puts forward business cases and options for different ways of delivering services to meet commissioner needs 

About you:

• A genuine interest in housing and social care and a commitment to Look Ahead’s mission 
• Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills, particularly in terms of working under pressure and responding to multiple and competing demands on your time  
• Imaginative and resourceful – able to contribute to the development of new ideas for services  
• Good interpersonal skills with the ability to work well with internal and external contacts  
• Prefers working as part of a group or team 
• Willingness to spend time in services in order to develop understanding of Look Ahead’s work and mission in order to effectively communicate this to partners and potential partners 
• Has a practical and logical mind 
• Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments  
• Enjoys working with a wide range of people 
• Excellent attention to detail  
• Experience of working in partnership with finance team and able to understand/ willing to learn financial modelling  
• Resilient  

What you’ll bring:

Essential

• Eligible to live and work in the UK  
• Educated to degree level or equivalent work experience  
• Extensive business development, fundraising or sales experience 
• Experience of bid writing  
• Able to write clearly and persuasively 
• Experience of project managing bid submissions 
• Able to think strategically and creatively and articulate innovative ideas 
• Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office, word, excel, PowerPoint and Co-Pilot 
• Able to work flexibly, including assisting other staff in the Business Development Team with their work when priorities dictate.  

Desirable

• A qualification in social care/psychology/policy would be an advantage 
• Specific knowledge of mental health, learning disabilities, homelessness, young people and complex needs would be a distinct advantage 
• Ability to be able to understand complex financial breakdowns would be an advantage. 

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

• We focus on Excellence and innovation.
• We are Caring and Compassionate.
• We are Inclusive and Trusted.
• We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.