About Spindle Design
Spindle Design is an innovation, design and research firm working with organisations across Africa to create products, services and programmes grounded in how people live, make decisions and use services in practice.
We combine research, human-centred design, business strategy and systems thinking to help organisations understand the people they serve, test new ideas, improve existing solutions and turn insight into action.
Our work spans health, agriculture, financial inclusion and the responsible application of AI in African contexts.
https://spindledesign.co/
About the role
Spindle is looking for a Business Development & Partnerships Manager to support our growth.
You will lead the business development cycle. We need someone who can understand what prospective clients care about, identify where Spindle can add value and create a path to working together.
In your first year, success will mean building a more focused and disciplined business development function, developing relationships within priority organisations and converting qualified opportunities into well-scoped projects.
Key responsibilities
1. Business development and relationship management
- Build a strong pipeline of opportunities aligned with Spindle’s capabilities, priorities and areas of focus.
- Develop and sustain relationships with organisations, programmes, funders and partners whose priorities align with Spindle’s work
- Identify and shape opportunities by understanding what organisations are trying to achieve and where Spindle can add meaningful value.
- Create opportunities through targeted outreach.
- Lead from early conversations to a clear decision, while maintaining momentum and making sound judgements about where Spindle should invest its time.
- Represent Spindle in relevant industry conversations and events.
2. Opportunity development & management
- Lead effective discovery conversations to understand prospective clients’ priorities, needs, budgets, timelines and decision-making processes.
- Clearly communicate Spindle’s capabilities, methods and experience in ways that connect to each client’s context.
- Lead the development of compelling proposals, expressions of interest, concept notes and other materials