Business Development Manager

Merit America is a national nonprofit focused on creating pathways to family-sustaining careers for low-wage workers. The Business Development Manager will enhance the Partnerships team's effectiveness by driving strategic prospecting, executive-level outreach, and proposal development to cultivate high-quality partnership opportunities.

Responsibilities:

• Draft executive-level concept notes and partnership proposals for six and seven figure partnerships
• Create and regularly refresh one-pagers, case-studies, and partnerships collateral
• Drive pipeline momentum by tracking deal progress, spotting stalled opportunities, and partnering with MD, Partnerships to drive next steps
• Serve as deal lead for 1-2 smaller partnership opportunities (approximately 10% of time in H2), owning execution from early qualification through launch, with MD guidance and support
• Develop executive briefing memos, research summaries, and meeting agendas
• Attend senior-level partnership conversations and synthesize insights
• Draft follow-up emails and recap communications
• Track action items and proactively advance next steps
• Partner with the MD to refine positioning strategy and tailor messaging for different executive stakeholders (HR, Talent, Operations, CSR, etc.)
• Maintain accurate data and reporting on pipeline health
• Ensure accurate and organized data in Salesforce for all prospects, contacts, and partnerships
• Develop clear transition process and account documentation to ensure seamless handoff to Partner Success Team
• Continuously refine and optimize processes, codifying best practices and insights into a structured, evolving Partnerships BD playbook
• Proactively identify new partnership ideas, sectors, or engagement models
• Analyze industry trends and market signals
• Experiment with improvements to outreach strategy and messaging
• Attend senior-level partnership conversations and synthesize insights to continuously strengthen our enterprise sales approach and playbook

Requirements:

• 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 advancing inclusive excellence and closing gaps across lines of difference
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity
• 5+ years relevant experience in business development, partnerships, consulting, recruiting, or related external-facing roles
• Ability to independently correspond with senior external stakeholders in writing, on calls, and in meetings
• Experience conducting research and building targeted prospect lists
• Strong written communication skills, including drafting executive-level communications and proposals
• Proven ability to manage up effectively and coordinate across senior stakeholders
• Proficiency with Salesforce and sales engagement tools
• Strong organizational and project management skills
• High ownership mindset and ability to operate proactively
• Comfort using AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity) to enhance productivity, research, and content development
• Demonstrated ability to leverage technology to work more efficiently and effectively
• Experience supporting enterprise-level sales or business development efforts
• Experience working in workforce development, talent acquisition, or employer partnerships
• Comfort analyzing market data or job trends
• Experience with AI-assisted research, proposal development, or prospect intelligence