Head of Business Development
Help us create and secure opportunities that change children's lives
At Barnardo's, we believe every child and young person should be safe, happy, healthy and hopeful.
For more than 150 years, we have worked alongside children, young people and families across the UK. Today, our services, partnerships and influencing work help children and families facing some of the toughest challenges.
These include poverty, poor mental health, care experience, exploitation, family support, disadvantage and uncertainty about the future.
We are now looking for a Head of Business Development to lead a function that plays a vital role in making this work possible.
This is a senior leadership role for someone who wants to use their business development, commissioning, bid or partnership experience to create practical routes to impact.
You will help Barnardo's identify, shape and secure high-quality opportunities that improve the lives of children, young people and families.
About the role
As Head of Business Development, you will lead Barnardo's Business Development function. The role is Hybrid working from a Barnardo's Hub/office or home address with regular travel required across the UK.
You will set the standards, systems and ways of working that help us pursue the right opportunities in the right way.
You will:
- Lead a UK wide Business Development function.
- Oversee our commissioned pipeline.
- Strengthen how we qualify and prioritise opportunities.
- Support high-quality bids, tenders and proposals.
- Improve governance, learning and quality assurance.
- Use data, market intelligence and commissioner insight to support better decisions.
- Work across Barnardo's to shape opportunities that are credible, deliverable and sustainable.
You will work closely with senior colleagues across children's services, finance, legal, service design, partnerships, fundraising, policy, data and digital.
Together, you will make sure opportunities are aligned with our strategy, service priorities, financial sustainability and risk appetite.
This role has a clear growth dimension, but the purpose is broader than income.
It is about helping Barnardo's create and secure opportunities that allow more children, young people and families to get the support they need.
You will also help us develop a more connected approach to opportunity development. This includes commissioned services, grant-funded opportunities, strategic partnerships and social investment where these can strengthen our impact.
About you
Are you an experienced business development, commissioning, bid or partnership leader?
We are looking for someone with strong experience in business development, public service commissioning, bid management, partnerships, tendering or a comparable field.
You will understand how to lead opportunities from early intelligence through to decision-making, proposal development and submission.
You will know how to balance ambition with risk, quality, deliverability and financial sustainability.
You will also be able to lead people well. The role requires someone who can set clear expectations, build confidence, support learning and help a skilled team continue to develop its practice.
You do not need to have followed one particular career path.
You may come from children's services, wider public services, health, social care, education, housing, the voluntary sector, local government, consultancy, business development or another relevant environment.
What matters is that you can bring strategic judgement, strong bid and commissioning insight, and a clear commitment to improving children's lives.
Why join Barnardo's?
This is an opportunity to lead business development in an organisation with Uk wide reach, deep local relationships and a clear purpose.
You will be joining Barnardo's at a time when children, young people and families need ambitious, practical and sustainable support.
You will help us work with commissioners, funders, partners and colleagues to shape services and opportunities that make a real difference.
If you want to use your skills to help change childhoods and change lives, we would like to hear from you.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.
Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)
- Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
- Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
- The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
- A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
- Service related sick pay from day 1
- Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
- Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
- Cycle2work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
- 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
- Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
- Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
- Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer
*T&C's apply based on contract
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
- Reference number:23122
- Job Title:Head of Business Development
- Location:Workplace offer: Hybrid working, Barnardo's hub/office or home address
- Contract type:Permanent
- Hours:36.25
- Salary:£73,693 - £82,498 + £312 Office at Home Allowance per annum
- Closing Date:7 July 2026
- Interview Date:TBC