Wild Solutions Business Development Manager

Job details

College

College of Business, Law and Social Sciences

Responsible to

Senior Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Improvement

Location

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Sandy Hill, Main Street, Middleton, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 4LR

Salary

£30,000 per annum

Closing date

Thursday 2 May 2024

Contract type

Fixed term contract for 22 months

Post type

Full-time

Adaptive working type

Onsite
This role will be based on site, primarily in the named location.

Reference

0164-24

About the role

University of Derby’s College of Business, Law and Social Sciences in partnership with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT) are offering an exciting career-development opportunity to manage and deliver a challenging strategic Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project. Based at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust premises, you will be employed by the University as a KTP Associate but work under the terms and conditions of the company.

Using your knowledge and skills to support the business and achieve specific project aims, you will receive on-going support by a Derbyshire Wildlife Trust Supervisor, Academic Supervisor and Academic Lead from the University of Derby to help you deliver.  A personal training and development budget will also be available for you to access, as well as receiving access to the same training opportunities and facilities as University staff. 

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a project that would transform Derbyshire Wildlife Trust into an agile and entrepreneurial organisation. You will help DWT to discover new business opportunities and develop the strategies, processes and working practices to realise those opportunities. If you believe that you can help DWT to deliver these, this role may be for you. 

As an organisation with over 60 years of experience in managing landscape with a conservation focus, DWT have the opportunity to leverage their expertise to do more conservation and provide sustainable ecosystem services in a profit-oriented and commercial way that will simultaneously enable them to continue to achieve their charitable objectives.

Therefore, we are looking for an individual who is capable of working with others to facilitate transformation in this interesting setting and enable DWT to become agile, professional and entrepreneurial to realise business opportunities. A fast learner with the calibre to engage and persuade internal and external stakeholders and embed the business model will be ideal.

About Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is a charity whose main function is creating spaces for people and nature with over 50 years' experience. Within Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Wild Solutions operates as a consultancy that provides end-to-end nature-based solutions to clients, partners and stakeholders. Wild Solutions specialises in the delivery of high nature, low carbon habitats providing a broad spectrum of essential ecosystem services.

We are forming a Centre of Excellence to enable us to lead the way to a wilder future, rewilding our uplands and our cities, expanding and protecting spaces for nature, campaigning for local and national change, and reintroducing key species. 

At the heart of this Centre of Excellence are three strategic projects, one of which, is this Business Development Project that would enable Wild Solutions to develop a holistic business model that will transform our business capabilities and working practices to establish us at the forefront of ecosystem services provision. Such ecosystem services include biodiversity net gain, health and wellbeing improvement, carbon sequestration and nutrient neutrality, will enable us to become the leading provider of nature-based solutions in the county, with a national reputation for innovation excellence.

To find out more about Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Wild Solutions' latest projects go to:

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust | Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Wild Solutions (wildsolutionsdwt.co.uk)

Or contact Pip Chappell, Deputy Director of Innovation & Enterprise at [email protected]

About University of Derby

University of Derby is an extraordinary educational environment and because we specialise in identifying and developing individual potential, you can be confident you'll receive all the help and encouragement you need to succeed in your role. We offer some of the best university facilities in the UK, investing more than £200 million in facilities in the last 10 years. Financially strong and seriously ambitious, achieving outstanding results for our teaching and research and with more than 34,000 people choosing to study with us every year, we depend on the dedication of a team of 2,200 academic and professional services staff.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships 

This full-time post is part-funded by the UK Government’s KTP programme. A KTP is a three-way project between a graduate, an organisation and a university. KTP is one of the UK’s largest graduate recruitment programmes and has been placing graduates on challenging, high profile projects for almost 45 years.  In addition to a competitive salary and core KTP development training, you will have a dedicated budget of £4,000 for further training and career development. To find out more about the scheme visit: ktp-uk.org/graduates 

For further information and informal enquiries regarding the role, please contact Tony Anosike, Senior Lecturer in Logistics and Supply Chain Improvement via [email protected]

For enquiries regarding your application and for sponsorship eligibility, please contact the recruitment team via [email protected]

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers under the Skilled Worker route for this role; however, applications are welcome from candidates who are able to demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Please visit Applying from Overseas - How to apply for a job at the University of Derby - University of Derby  for more information.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect everyone who works for us to also share this commitment and to treat people with courtesy and respect.

Principal accountabilities

Explore and engage with external stakeholders such as landowners, housing developers, infrastructure companies, local authorities etc. to identify and develop new business opportunities.

Identify internal stakeholders such as the staff team, Board of Trustees, members, and volunteers to build on what is already in progress and plan how each of them would be engaged throughout this project and beyond.

As part of developing an appropriate business model and operating model, you will develop and implement business processes, business practices, policies, cost structure.

These developments and changes need to be well communicated within DWT, working towards an appropriate cultural change towards commercialisation and professionalisation, starting with Wild Solutions as the role models.

Operating procedures, guidelines and training materials will be developed for each aspect of the new business and operating models which will be used to train the DWT staff, embedding them into the organisation.

As the project progresses, there would be regular updates in the form of reports and presentations to the management team and other relevant stakeholders at key milestones in the project.

At these milestones, decisions on the direction of the project would be made as well as authorisations to proceed to the next stages of the project.

Person specification
Essential Criteria
Qualifications

• Minimum of second-class degree in Business and/ or Environmental Management or a related field.

Experience

• Experience in the development or use of business models, business processes, costing/cost modelling and project management.
• Experience in business problem solving.
• Experience in delivering projects on time.
• Experience in developing new ideas.

Skills, knowledge and abilities

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Presentation skills.
• Ability to build rapport and effect cultural change
• Self-motivated.

Desirable Criteria
Experience

• Natural Capital and/or Green Finance
• Ability to think creatively.

Skills, knowledge and abilities

• Eco-system services and land conservation.
• Entrepreneurial capability.

Benefits

Whilst you will be employed by University of Derby, your terms and conditions will be that of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

How to apply

You can apply by submitting an online application. Once you have signed in or registered with us you will be able to begin your application. If you are creating an account for the first time, please ensure you provide an email address that you access regularly as this will be our main means of contacting you regarding your application.

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If you require any assistance, including the provision of any documentation in an alternative format, please contact the Recruitment team at [email protected] .

Please note all applications must be submitted online by Midnight GMT on the closing date of the vacancy.

Important information

The University is unable to sponsor the employment of international workers under the Skilled Worker route for this role; however, applications are welcome from candidates who are able to demonstrate an alternative right to work in the UK.

Please visit Applying from Overseas for more information.

What is Adaptive Working?

Adaptive working is about enabling a high-performing, flexible, and responsive work culture where the place, time, and manner of working are tailored to the specific work activity. This approach ensures that the working environment, including both physical and social surroundings, supports employees to perform at their best and meet the university's evolving needs.

In addition, adaptive working involves intentionally designing workspaces to support a range of activities and disciplines, providing the right environment for meaningful in-person connections and effective collaboration. This includes ensuring that employees have access to the necessary equipment and resources from their first day at the university.

Adaptive working encompasses different modes of working such as site-based, remote or hybrid working. It is a broad framework within which all staff can operate effectively according to their role.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

The University of Derby is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. However you identify, we actively celebrate the knowledge, experience and talents each person brings. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds; therefore we are particularly interested to hear from applicants who will help our leaders and teams be more reflective of our student population.

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Further details

Download Wild Solutions Business Development Manager job descriptionDownload Wild Solutions Business Development Manager job description

Why join Derby?

Challenging, interesting and constantly changing, the University of Derby is an extraordinary place to learn and an incredibly rewarding place to work.

Find out more about working at the UniversityFind out more about working at the University

The University of Derby is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our staff, students and children. At the University of Derby, safeguarding is everybody's concern.