Business Development Manager (Wilder Marches)

Location: Home based – Some travel to Shrewsbury office and other locations within the
project area will be required.  
Part Time, 21 hours per week
Fixed Term – 8-month duration, likely commencing June 2024

The ‘Wilder Marches’ is an iconic cultural and ecological landscape straddling the English
Welsh border, broadly defined by the Radnorshire Hills and Clun & NW Herefordshire national
landscape character areas. Wilder Marches is also the name of a new initiative to bring about
nature’s recovery by creating and restoring habitat at scale in partnership with land managers
and other agencies.

The project is currently in a development phase, with the aim of this phase is to create
specific projects, to secure funding for expansion, and to begin building a team of land
management, green finance advisors, and project officers. One of these workstreams is the
establishment of a business model that will be sustainable in the long term. This will be the
primary responsibility of the successful candidate to further develop and deliver.

Due to upcoming maternity leave, there is an opportunity to join the Wilder Marches team as
Business Development Manager on a fixed term basis.

The successful candidate will be primarily responsible for developing new business models
leveraging emerging green finance 2 approaches to support nature’s recovery to enable long term
programme sustainability and delivery.

The candidate will be expected to research and identify new business opportunities – including
new markets, growth areas, trends, customers, partnerships, products and services. They will
develop business models and plans to enable sustainable revenue for the programme. The
candidate will present findings to the steering board for approval, and then provide a detailed
road map to enable delivery of this. Some operational work including establishment of legal
structures, development of a customer base and contract management may be required as part of
the role.

What we’re looking for:

• Commercial acumen with proven experience within the private, public, or charitable sector;
  especially regarding designing and implementing sustainable business models.
• Financial budgeting experience, with the ability to forecast, analyse and model income and
  expenditure.
• Motivated entrepreneurial mindset, with the ability to manage own time effectively to deliver
  results.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong
  relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong planning and project management skills.
• An understanding of emerging green finance mechanisms, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Carbon
  and Nutrient Neutrality, or ability to effectively upskill in this area.

Please note some evening and weekend work may be required from time to time. Time off in lieu
of hours worked will be given if requested.

The rate for full time per annum is £39,024-£41,427 for this role, please note as this role is
for an 8-month period the salary is: £26,016 – £27,618 dependant on experience FTE

We will consider those who would prefer to work on a consultancy basis. Please state this in
your application if this is the case.

Why work for us – benefits we offer:

We value passion, respect, trust, integrity, strength in diversity, and pragmatic activism.
Whilst we are passionate in promoting our aims, we are not judgemental and are inclusive. We
want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from
people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds
and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly
values individual differences and identities.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to offering an interview to anyone with a
disability that meets all the essential criteria for the post. Please let us know if you
require any adjustments to make our recruitment process more accessible.

No enquiries from agencies or for further advertising will be taken.

About us:

Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) has a vision of a thriving natural world, where Shropshire’s
wildlife and natural habitats play a valued role in addressing the climate and ecological
emergencies, and people are inspired and empowered to take action for nature. We combine
projects across Shropshire (including Telford & Wrekin) with advocacy and campaigning to
restore nature and to engage people. We manage over 40 nature reserves and have almost 50
staff, 300 volunteers, and over 9000 members. SWT is an autonomous charity, but we are
increasingly working collectively, as part of The Wildlife Trusts (TWT), to ensure that our
local actions have a national impact and help to address global issues.

Closing Date: 28th March 2024

1st Interviews: WC 8th April 2024