Corporate Partnerships - Delivery

As one of the least wooded countries in Europe with only 12% cover compared to 44% elsewhere, the Woodland Trust wants to see a doubling of native woodland cover here in the UK.  Trees transform our landscapes and bring nature to life. This would equate to 20 million trees a year for the next 50 years and so working in partnership with others, if we are to see this vision realised, is imperative and an organisational focus. 

Planting trees and creating new woodland can offer many, many benefits to a business, particularly in responding to climate change and engaging stakeholders whilst securing marketing as well as environmental benefits.  There is much interest in the work of the Trust, especially with regards to carbon, which we feel can contribute significantly to our target of increasing corporate income.

We currently have some excellent existing partnerships with companies like Disney, Dorothy Perkins, IKEA, Sainsbury’s and some that have been in place for over 10 years, all of which act as tangible case studies for developing new partnerships. With a very enthusiastic and well connected group of “friends” we feel we can make a real difference to woodland here in the UK and create even more sustainable and innovative partnerships.

Purpose of role:

Based in the corporate partnerships team you will be required to contribute towards the team’s targets of £3.75m in 2012. A key area is building relationships with people within current corporate partners to deliver, maintain and develop those partnerships. You must possess first class inter-personal skills. You will be required to adopt a creative approach to keep relationships fresh and generate partnership opportunities which deliver marketing and environmental benefits to the company and income for the Trust.

Part of your role will be proactively researching your company portfolio in the current market place and creating additional opportunities for dialogue, putting together propositions to expand on current partnership activity and selling them into your companies. A further part will be reacting to opportunities secured through our external marketing to the business world and taking on new partnerships as they are achieved by your colleagues in the Business development area of the wider Corporate Partnerships team. Cross team working is vital.

Working in a busy team you will be based in Grantham.

Responsibilities:

• develop and maintain your own portfolio of corporate partners, many of which are long term partners
• build relationships with  a number of key current corporate prospects and individuals within those organisations
• prepare professional proposals (usually in PowerPoint, but not exclusively!) and undertake presentations at senior level meetings
• respond to corporate enquiries as required
• networking at appropriate events to help raise the profile of the Trust and secure new introductions
• work collaboratively with others across the organisation
• help identify growth areas and opportunities through the partners you manage and the wider corporate sector
• identify and work with your manager to manage risk as part of our overall risk management programme
• contribute towards agreed performance measures
• work with the Trust’s legal advisors to put together legal agreements
• maintain the appropriate systems & procedures
• represent the team on Trust-wide working groups where the project/campaign emphasis is on securing funds from the corporate sector

The Person:

You will need to be enthusiastic for the cause although we do not expect you to have detailed knowledge on trees and woods as there are lots of people in the Trust who have and for you to work with.

You will work with lots of people so you need to have very good people skills with an ability to connect with people on various levels; you will need to be a good listener and be able to communicate the Trust’s point of view in various ways.  You must have an aptitude for proactively building relationships – this is an increasingly important area for the Trust and this post.

There will be lots and lots of potential opportunities so you will need to be very focused on achieving results and be able to prioritise those tasks which help to reach our targets, working both proactively and reactively.

You will need to be committed and tenacious to developing and creating partnerships that work for both parties, being able to spot opportunities and move them forward quickly and easily.

You will need to be able to think creatively and communicate innovative and new ways for the team to achieve its targets.  You will need to do this WITH people within and external to the Trust so you must be able to demonstrate collaborative working as working with many teams (wider fundraising, partnerships, marketing and woodland creation) will be an integral part of your role.

Being an advocate for the Trust externally will require you to be professional and engaging with an ability to write and give presentations to various external audiences. Personal Authority is important as you will be required to use your highly tuned skills of persuasion and negotiation to deliver agreed ideas and gain buy-in.

Maintaining and developing partnerships with companies will require you to be business savvy to move partnerships forward to help deliver your personal and team targets to the timescales agreed.

Experience and knowledge:

• An ability to demonstrate strong communication skills, both verbally and in writing
• A proven ability to network and negotiate
• First class inter-personal skills
• Knowledge of fundraising, marketing and account management
• Planning, organising and managing multiple companies and tasks
• Prioritising a heavy and demanding workload 
• Delivering your objectives on time
• Good time management skills
• Experience of charitable cultures, including the corporate sector is desirable

The list of tasks shown above is not exclusive not does their order indicate the priority attached to them.  The job holder may, therefore, be required to perform other duties which may reasonably be assigned to them by their manager or supervisor.

We all have a duty to ensure that our acts or omissions at work do not impact on the health and safety of others and ourselves and that we abide by any safety measures as directed and in accordance with the Woodland Trust Health & Safety Policy. 

The Woodland Trust aims to ensure that no job applicant or worker receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, colour, gender orientation, nationality, religion or belief (or lack of belief), ethnic or national origin, age, gender, gender reassignment or marital status, sexual orientation or disability.

Selection criteria and procedures are regularly reviewed to ensure that individuals are treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities.  A copy of our Equal Opportunities Policy is available on request.