Business Development Specialist

Summary

Join FINN Partners' Global Consumer Practice as a Business Development Specialist! This remote, full-time position, based in the NYC metro area or US Eastern Time Zone, supports the team's growth across various consumer sectors. You'll collaborate with senior leadership, managing information for RFPs, RFIs, and prospecting. Responsibilities include drafting responses, conducting research, managing case studies, and creating internal resources. The ideal candidate possesses up to 3 years of PR agency experience, a Bachelor's degree, and strong communication and organizational skills. FINN Partners offers a comprehensive benefits package including generous paid time off, wellness subsidies, a 401k plan, and excellent insurance.

Requirements

• Up to 3 years of prior PR agency experience working with RFP or RFI documents is highly preferred. (Applicants with 3 years of PR agency-based progressive job titles and work history who have desire to redirect their career focus to the business side of public relations may also be considered.)
• Bachelor’s degree in public relations, communications or related field is required

Responsibilities

• Support the Global Consumer Practice’s responses to a high-volume of in-bound new business opportunities, work with Practice Lead (and/or designated pitch drivers) to support all aspects of response development efforts, and partner with the New Business & Marketing Manager to coordinate the design and packaging of each response
• Spearhead effort to draft responses and assemble capabilities for Requests For Information (RFIs) and provide designers with the information they need to package our response; coordinate and lead outreach efforts to other Practices to gather relevant or required information for RFI responses
• Serve as project manager for new business pitches, requesting templates, preparing timelines, scheduling team huddles and rehearsals, and pulling together information to address the opportunity
• Build response frameworks and create first drafts of proposals for fast-turn new business opportunities
• Conduct thorough research on prospects and conduct competitive audits to support new business pitches
• Gather, create, and organize all necessary information to support the Practice’s new business initiatives. Take the lead in accessing and utilizing this information for new opportunities. Use downtime to proactively update and maintain relevant materials to ensure they remain current and accurate
• Maintain and manage FINN’s library of consumer case studies. Collaborate with client teams to develop case studies upon the completion of major projects. Ensure consistency by updating existing case studies, transforming project recaps into compelling narratives, and repurposing award entries into detailed case studies
• Curate and organize work samples (beyond case studies) to highlight expertise in areas that include, but are not limited to executive visibility, content creation, media relations, and issues management
• Develop and maintain a well-organized library of staff bios, ensuring consistency in style and length. Proactively gather bios for new team members and ensure each bio is accompanied by a high-resolution, professional headshot
• Establish and manage a comprehensive library of approved answers to frequently asked RFI questions. Ensure a copy of each RFI is archived, extracting and updating any new information based on the specific requests
• Maintain a curated list of strategic questions to guide teams during qualification and exploration calls with new business prospects. This ensures a thoughtful and informed approach to understanding client needs and project scope
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive, go-to capabilities deck for the Global Consumer Practice. This deck should serve as the cornerstone for introducing the Practice to new business prospects, showcasing our most current and impactful work. Ensure it remains updated with fresh examples that highlight our expertise and successes
• Maintain a curated list of client contacts available for reference. Collaborate with client account leads to streamline the process for obtaining approvals and adding new contacts, ensuring the list remains accurate and up to date
• Monitor and document all new business activities, including the number of opportunities, sources, competitive vs. non-competitive pursuits, and scope of work. Regularly analyze this data to calculate and report the win rate, providing insights to optimize future efforts and outcomes
• Maintain an up-to-date client roster, updating it on an ongoing basis. Distribute the latest version to Consumer Practice leaders at least quarterly to ensure alignment and visibility
• Collaborate with the Global Consumer Practice to lead to design, schedule, coordinate, and promote a series of virtual new business training sessions. Host up to six sessions annually, each focused on key aspects of the new business process, to enhance team skills and knowledge

Preferred Qualifications

• A Detail-Oriented Problem Solver: You can juggle multiple priorities and find creative solutions to ensure projects are delivered without a hitch
• A Dependable and Organized Collaborator: You’re someone who people describe as reliable and always on top of the details
• An Effective Communicator: You have excellent written and verbal communications skills
• An Excellent Listener: You actively listen to colleagues, making sure everyone’s voice is heard and feedback is acted upon. Your strong communication skills foster positive relationships and keep teams engaged
• A Flexible and Adaptive Teammate: Not in a yoga way—you’re open to learning new approaches and adjusting your plans when the unexpected happens

Benefits

• Generous vacation, personal, holiday, and sick days off, plus up to 5 Winter Break paid days off between Christmas and New Year's Day, plus up to 5 paid Summer Days Off
• Travel and consumer discounts (from rental cars to cell phones and more)
• Wellness subsidy
• 401K Plan
• Outstanding insurance and employee benefits package
• Career mentorship from some of the best PR pros in the business
• Professional growth opportunities within our award-winning global PR agency