Job Description – Business Development Assistant Updated 11/2016/NS

Job Title
Business Development Assistant / Reports to
Director / Associate Director
Job Holder / Updated:
November 2016
Job Purpose
The principal purpose of this role is to support senior management colleagues involved in Business Development (BD) activities. The key objectives are to provide active support in sourcing, developing and winning new work streams for the team in national, European and International markets.
The Business Development Assistant will also play a key support role in providing assistance in the delivery of current programmes and projects. This includes existing contracts in Ecorys’ research, evaluation and consultancy markets for International, European and UK clients (including e.g. the Department for International Development, the European Commission, and UK government departments and charities/NGOs).
To assistin helping the team to win new projects:
  • Working with the team’s researchers, experts and consultants, and other administrator(s), to coordinate and administer the production and submission of new tenders and proposals
To provide administrative support in delivering existing projects:
  • Providing inputs into ongoing research and evaluation contracts as appropriate (e.g. formatting documents and reports, providing administrative support to research projects).
  • Supporting the administration of our framework contracts (e.g. issuing and logging subcontracts and invoices, answering client queries)
Excellent organisational, interpersonal skills and MS Word skills are essential to the successful performance of this role, and previous experience of assisting with tendering and bidding processes will be an advantage.

Principle Accountabilities/Tasks

Key tasks include but are not limited to:
  1. Primarily to assist in the process of winning new projects/contracts:
  1. Understand the client’s technical and administrative requirements for a range of tender opportunities, proposals, expressions of interest (EOI) and pre qualification questionnaires (PQQ)
  2. Coordinate and prepare the technical and administrative parts of expressions of interest and proposals for clients.
  3. Source information for Expressions of Interest (EoIs) or bids/proposals and collate sections of bids/proposals as directed,
  4. Format EoIs, bids, proposals, or offers to a high quality and professional looking standard following house style or client guidelines on format and font
  5. Formatting and tailoring CV’s and track record for inclusion in proposals
  6. Liaise with creative services/design team to secure any design inputs to documentse.g. front covers
  7. Collate key administrative, legal and financial company documents to support applications for new work. Liaise with finance, HR, IT to gather latest versions of policies or company information. Ensure that all necessary company documents and forms are accurate, up to date, fully completed and submitted on time
  8. Take responsibility for meeting the legal requirements of complex bidding procedures, under the direction of a senior manager and through liaison with the Company Secretary and finance team
  9. Create PDF’s of documents and CD ROM’s for clients using Adobe, and with support from print room
  10. Help in sourcing, obtaining letters of intent for, and subcontracting with appropriate experts for proposals or contracts
  11. Help to liaise with partnerships and consortia with key organisations to ensure excellent relationships are maintained
  12. Undertake direct client contact on administrative queries, for example on proposals or on framework contracts etc
  13. Prepare mailshots / invitations / mail-merges and documentation and folders for marketing and business development purposes
  14. Assist with organising events, business development or management team meetings with the aim of improving the internal business development process
  15. Proof reading parts of the proposal
  16. Coordinate the submission via a web portal or email; or booking a courier and liaising with print room and reception to meet print room deadlines
  1. In addition, to assist in the delivery of existing projects/contracts:
  1. Formatting of Word documents such as reports, following corporate or client templates and ensuring a professional finish
  1. Creating presentations in Powerpoint or charts and tables in Excel
  2. Issuing subcontracts to contractors, dealing with invoicing
  3. Support for organising events (e.g. sourcing venues, creating agendas, delegate packs, badges etc) or other research tasks
  4. Organising mail-outs (through liaison with print room)
  1. Proof reading documents/reports
  1. Maintain project systems, databases and filing, and follow all internal quality protocols
3. Provide other ad hoc administrative duties as required. These might include:
  1. Coordinating diaries/meetings, booking meeting rooms, or hiring venues
  2. Booking travel and hotels domestically and internationally
  3. Supply financial information to finance team e.g. reconciling credit card statements
  4. Occasional reception cover
  5. Occasional office support tasks including collecting post, refilling printer cartridges occasionally,greeting visitors
  1. Any other reasonable duties that may be required, linked to business needs

Qualifications, Experience and Skills

Essential qualifications, experience and skills:
  • 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) including Maths and English, grades A-C (essential)
  • Good First Degree or equivalent years of relevant experience (essential)
  • Advanced Word skills (essential)
  • Intermediate Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint skills (essential)
  • Relevant professional experience in the consultancy or research sector (minimum 2 years) (essential)
  • Ability to format large, complex Word documents with annexes following corporate and client templates (essential)
  • Excellent organisational skills with a very high degree of accuracy and eye for detail (essential)
  • Excellent organisational and administrative skills and extensive experience of developing and maintaining proposal and contract files (both paper and electronic) (essential)
  • Ability to work to multiple deadlines and prioritise work, with proven experience in a demanding environment (essential)
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and a willingness to work flexibly to meet tight and challenging deadlines (essential)
  • Skilled in understanding and shaping responses to written questions using a clear writing style and excellent English (essential)
  • Able to work on own initiative and as part of a team based across three office locations (essential)
  • Demonstrating excellent co-ordination and organisational skills (essential)
Desirable experience and skills:
  • Interest in the delivery of public sector services
  • Previous experience in supporting bid development and project delivery (desirable)
  • Highly professional, excellent interpersonal and communication skills (desirable)
  • Experience in dealing with tenders/bids/proposals let by the European Commission (desirable)
  • Ability to coordinate tasks with other administrator(s), and other service teams (finance, HR, print room, reception, creative team) to ensure effective delivery (desirable)
  • High standard of written English and excellent telephone manner (desirable)
  • User of MS Visio, Adobe, and/or other word processing or design packages (desirable)
  • Experience of using travel bookings systems or willingness to learn

Dimensions

Financial: No responsibilities.

Staff: No managerial or line management responsibilities.

To work closely with the management team of senior staff who are developing the business, and the wider company. To liaise with internal services like creative services, printroom and finance / HR.To link with staff across the wider Ecorys group regardingbusiness development opportunities.

Additional Information
The post holder may be expected to work outside normal office hours around crucial deadlines.
Training and professional development is provided based on a needs assessment conducted with the line manager.
Twice yearly annual appraisals are undertaken to set objectives and review performance.
The post holder may be expected occasionally to travel to our other offices or to client premises in the UK and Europe.
A DBS check may be required
Team Organisation
The post holder reports to a nominated associate director or director acting as the line manager.
The post holder reports to Project Directors/Project Managers on the delivery of individual business development and project activity.
Job Holder Signature: / Date
Managers Signature: / Date

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