About Chapter One

Chapter One is a small but growing charity, working to ensure that every child has 1:1 reading support at the time they need it most.

Our unique Online Reading Volunteers Programme currently supports about 3,500 children a year. It pairs disadvantaged, struggling five to eight-year old (KS1) readers with reading support volunteers who come from over 180 local and national businesses. The volunteer task is very focused: readers commit 30 minutes a week to read with a child using a bespoke digital platform for an entire academic year. The results are transformative, boosting children's reading confidence and ability.

We have set ourselves ambitious targets and want to support 3,900 children by 2026/27, so this role, with responsibility for building new corporate partnerships, will be crucial to ensuring that we have sufficient volunteers to achieve this target. 2026 has been designated by the Government as the National Year of Reading, so we have a great opportunity to capitalise on this and secure business commitment for our work!

About the role

Chapter One is seeking a proactive, energetic and enthusiastic Business Development Officer to be an integral part of a team which aims to both maximise corporate income and take Chapter One into new regions across the UK.

Reporting to our Business Development Manager (BDM), but also working closely with our Corporate Partnerships Team, you’ll help them to deliver our annual volunteer targets. This will involve prospect research and engagement, presentations, networking, pipeline management and lead conversion.

This role within Chapter One is an opportunity for an early career professional or someone looking for a career change to hone their business development and sales skills in a dynamic, fast-growing charity which is flexible and agile.

Key Responsibilities

Corporate Partner Recruitment

• With support from the BDM, proactively ‘sell’ Chapter One programmes to potential new corporate partners to achieve annual new partner/volunteer targets
• Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator and other relevant platforms to identify, research and contact potential new corporate partners
• Prepare and tailor communications for prospective new partners, including research on their CSR/social value strategy and its alignment with Chapter One’s mission and regional presence
• Ensure the prospective new partner pipeline is proactively managed on our Salesforce CRM and work with the BDM to automate the pipeline process where appropriate.
• Identify opportunities for regional expansion and support the BDM to secure commitments in line with launch timetables
• Identify opportunities for expansion in specific sectors or in relation to specific initiatives.
• Post on LinkedIn and develop a network of CSR and Social Value managers and relevant organisations
• Research relevant intermediaries, local authorities and groups with which Chapter One could build ‘broker’ relationships
• Keep up to date with developments in CSR/ESG/Social Value and employer-led volunteering
• Research relevant events and conferences that Chapter One team could attend to network and/or speak
• Ensure Chapter One information on external volunteering and matchmaking platforms is kept up-to-date

Account Management

• Lead the account management of a portfolio of corporate partners (approx. 10–15), delivering against retention, growth, and income targets through regular reviews and proactive relationship building.
• Plan and deliver partnership meetings, volunteer recruitment sessions, and tailored communications aligned to each partner’s CSR strategy and Chapter One’s mission.
• Collaborate with the Corporate Partnerships Team and internal teams to produce high-quality reports, pitches, onboarding experiences, and promotional materials for partners and volunteers.
• Ensure accurate partner administration, including CRM record-keeping (Salesforce), invoicing coordination, and general account management processes.

General

• Oversee, maintain and develop business development processes, including use of Salesforce CRM and exchange of information with the Corporate Partnerships Team
• Conduct administrative duties as required to support the Business Development Manager
• Attend online and in person meetings, conferences and events to represent Chapter One, talk about its work and recruit partners.

We are looking for some of the following attributes, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others:

• A commitment to Chapter One’s mission and values.
• Experience of business development of Corporate Partnerships in a charity or B-2-B environment
• An ability to create compelling written pitches, ensuring messaging and brand are consistent
• Outstanding presentation skills, with the ability to excite and inspire an audience
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with business professionals at all levels
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
• An understanding of CSR/social value and employee engagement/volunteering and/or a commitment to learning more about social value and how it’s interpreted by businesses
• An understanding of social media platforms, particularly LinkedIn.
• Able to take personal accountability for own workload and for delivery of targets
• A ‘can do’ and flexible approach with an ability adapt to changing priorities
• Awareness of the importance of data security best practice and GDPR regulations when processing a range of stakeholder data
• Highly computer literate, particularly in Excel, with hands-on experience of using Google suite and platforms and tools such as Salesforce CRM, Mailchimp, PowerPoint and more.

You’ll be more successful in the role if you have:

• Experience of using social media to develop business relationships
• Experience of achieving annual sales targets
• A background in CSR or social value

Closing date: 25 February

Interview dates:

First round: w/c 9 March
Second round: w/c 16 March