Business Development Manager - London

Business Development Manager - LondonPermanent£44,588

Want to be part of a team that helps Forward win and retain contracts to deliver life-changing services?

We are recruiting a Business Development Manager to join our highly motivated and committed team. You will build on our recent success in winning publicly funded contracts across prison and community settings, supporting the growth of provision in substance misuse, mental health, employment, offender management, housing, and family services .

“Business Development gives you the opportunity to work with wonderful people at all levels of the organisation, feeding their voices into the work we do. It’s an expert team with a wealth of diverse experience where everyone’s valued contribution goes into growing and developing our services. The team is hungry to win new contracts but uncompromising in selecting only the opportunities where we feel we can make a real difference in supporting people.”
— James Edmondson, Business Development Manager

About You

We are looking for a highly organised team player with excellent skills in:

• Bid and proposal writing

• Project management

• Relationship management

• Financial modelling

You will be confident managing multiple priorities and working collaboratively across the organisation.

Your Responsibilities

• Manage and coordinate bids and proposals from initial service modelling to final submission .

• Manage the bid budgeting process .

• Evaluate and assess new opportunities, partners, and emerging markets .

• Write high-quality tender responses, internal and external briefing notes, and correspondence .

• Collaborate with Head Office teams and operational services to produce bids and implement successful tenders.

• Research best practice and innovation to inform service development.

• Represent Forward at market engagement and industry events .

• Develop and manage relationships with commissioners, partners, and stakeholders .

• Pursue ad-hoc development opportunities , both assigned and self-identified.

• Line manage team members.

What You’ll Bring

• Essential: Experience of successful bid writing and knowledge of the contract tendering process, including costing a service model.

• Desirable: Knowledge of health, criminal justice, or related service areas (not a pre-requisite).

This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to Forward’s mission, helping us grow and develop services that make a real difference in people’s lives.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact:
Emma Coulson, Head of Business Development
Email: [email protected]

About Us

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits -

• Flexible working
• Training and development opportunities
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)
  
  
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary)
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Diversity at Forward Trust

The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness.


When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

To find out more about Forward’s commitment to being an inclusive employer and our current EDI strategy click here .

Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work

We recognise the importance of safeguarding, dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.


If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements.