Description
VisionSpring is a pioneering hybrid non-profit/social enterprise recognized by philanthropic leaders as one of the world’s most innovative high-impact social enterprises. In fact, we are nearing the $2 billion impact mark, having corrected the vision of over 8.6 million people, and we are growing at a rate of ~20-25% per year. With a robust portfolio of leading national and international foundations, governments, and corporations as supporters, including the Skoll Foundation, Mulago Foundation, Jasmine Social Investments, USAID, an innovative partnership with Warby Parker, and a growing cadre of long-term, major donors, VisionSpring is poised for significant expansion.
VisionSpring seeks a Business Development Manager for Nigeria region to join our team and build strategic partnerships with a growing portfolio of dynamic, sophisticated funders. Reporting to the Country Manager Nigeria, this role will lead fundraising and business development efforts with corporations, governments, and philanthropic investors (individual and foundation).
The person in this role will work as part of an entrepreneurial team to raise the philanthropic capital needed to augment our earned revenue and will collaborate closely with program teams in all African countries where VisionSpring is active as well as program and business development teams based in the U.S. and Asia.
About You
- You love generating funds for great missions.
- You enjoy the teamwork and project management associated with developing (and managing) large, programmatically complex grant proposals for corporations, foundations, and governments.
- You are deeply curious about social enterprise models, field operations, and the experience of partners and customers. That makes you an exceptional organizational ambassador.
- You view funders as integral partners and foster rich relationships with donors that are much more than transactional.
- You shine when communicating with funders, derive satisfaction in finding a shared agenda with others, are upbeat, and can get others excited about what they are going to do.
- You enjoy creating structure, have exceptional focus and follow-through, and prioritize before you act.
- You operate with integrity; you take pride in going above and beyond even when no one is watching. Nothing feels better than exceeding fundraising targets.
About Us
- VisionSpring is creating access to affordable eyewear, everywhere. Clear vision creates opportunities for increased learning, work, safety, civic participation, and quality of life.
- As a social enterprise, social change motivates us first. Our focus on sales and revenue targets serves and advances our mission objective—to increase functioning, productivity, and income-earning potential for our low-income consumers by correcting refractive error with eyeglasses.
- We are working to transform the systemic dysfunction of an optical market that has failed to deliver eyeglasses—a 700-year-old technology—to over 1 billion consumers in need of vision correction, most of whom live on less than $4 a day.
- We serve low-income consumers, not as beneficiaries but as customers. Our customers expect a high-quality and affordable product, and they will spend limited discretionary income for the immediate and tangible benefits of vision correction.
- By selling eyeglasses, we awaken new demand and seed a viable market. By selling new eyeglasses we are able to serve four times as many people per dollar input than the alternative of donating recycled ones. To efficiently scale, we must deliver each new unit with lower cost.
- We run our business on both sales metrics and social impact measures. We exploit a range of organizational forms and practices to get the job done.
- We believe in scaling our impact, not our organization. We are a lean team of doers.
What You'll Do
Donor Engagement & Fundraising
- Cultivate and nurture a portfolio of funders, including governments, institutional foundations, corporate and individual donors, by expanding long-term relationships with VisionSpring’s philanthropic investors and building new partnerships with prospective donors.
- Support the continual improvement of our organizational donor stewardship practices to maintain the effectiveness and integrity of VisionSpring collaborations. Proactively communicate with donors and look for ways to engage philanthropic investors in order to keep them connected to our work.
- Ensure donors receive timely, comprehensive, and accurate reports.
- Prepare thoughtfully what can be complex and multi-layered proposals and requests for renewal funding, working collaboratively with program/field staff on proposal writing, objectives, indicator development, and budgeting.
- Develop and monitor the opportunity pipeline and calendar for punctual execution of proposals, reports, trips to the field, and other forms of engagement.
- Leverage VisionSpring’s Salesforce customer relationship management system to track written communications, meetings, submissions, and gift processing, with strict attention to data integrity.
- Process incoming donations (via check and online giving) and ensure all donors receive a timely acknowledgment.
Strategic Planning
- Actively participate in departmental strategy development and execution.
- Work with the Africa team and Global development team to design and implement annual business development plans and budgets.
- Report on key metrics to the VisionSpring executive leadership and other stakeholders.
Requirements
- A minimum of 10 - 15 years of professional experience.
- Demonstrated success managing a portfolio of funders with increasing responsibility and revenue performance.
- Prior experience with relationship management, including working with diverse and sophisticated thinkers.
- Prior experience with programmatically complex proposal writing (preferably international development proposals focused on Africa), pitch deck development, or business plan writing.
- Demonstrated interest in social enterprise models and desire to learn how to articulate and share VisionSpring’s unique approach.
- Extraordinary follow-through, attention to detail and deadlines, and a strong personal sense of accountability.
- Must meet the highest standards of ethics, with a demonstrated capacity for discretion and for handling sensitive information with care.
- A strong commitment to respectful collaboration with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
- Experience developing budgets.
- Aptitude in Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- The ability to travel 30-40% of your time, across Africa and occasionally globally.
- Experience synthesizing program updates to generate evocative and compelling reports.
- Proficiency with CRMs such as Salesforce.
Compensation
- Salary range is based on experience, education, and location.
- We offer comprehensive benefits, including health insurance and generous vacation time.
To Apply
- We want to know more than just what you have done. We want to know who you are. What are the passions and talents that draw you to this role?
- Please submit your application materials, comprising a thoughtful cover letter and CV/résumé, saved as a single document.
- Please note, only candidates invited to interview will be contacted.
- At VisionSpring, diversity, equity, and inclusion are directly aligned with our core value to advance equity. Our mission is predicated on removing a fundamental barrier to full economic and social participation—uncorrected blurry vision. The values that underpin our mission energize our commitment to a diverse and inclusive team. A diverse team also allows VisionSpring to approach problems with nuance and develop unique insights that drive an outsized positive impact in the world. We actively recruit, develop, and retain talented people from diverse backgrounds and support everyone in being exactly who they are. VisionSpring is an equal-opportunity employer and welcomes people from all experiences, abilities, and perspectives to apply.
