Business Development Manager

Position Description

Business Development Manager

October 2026

Position Overview

The Partnerships and Business Development Team builds the relationships, collaborations, and financial opportunities necessary for RNS to deliver on its mandate. The team works across Nova Scotia's research and innovation ecosystem to strengthen research capacity, mobilize resources, and enable research that contributes to economic growth and productivity in the Province's priority sectors. The team plays a central role in developing and implementing RNS's strategic direction. It builds and maintains relationships with government, including elected officials, senior public servants, and departments and agencies, to ensure alignment with government priorities and a shared understanding of RNS's mandate, activities, and contributions. It also connects researchers, universities, industry, philanthropic organizations, and other partners around shared objectives, identifying opportunities to organize, coordinate and support research, address emerging needs, and attract additional investment.

Under the leadership of the Vice President, the team comprises two complementary functions:

• Partnerships: Develops and stewards strategic relationships, manages government and stakeholder engagement, builds networks and consortia, and strengthens RNS's position as a trusted and effective partner within Nova Scotia's research ecosystem.
• Business Development: Identifies and advances opportunities for new research initiatives, develops funding and revenue partnerships, works with internal and external partners to translate opportunities into viable programs and investments, and expands and improves the connections between RNS partners (including both researchers and research end users) and RNS research funding and support programs.

Working collaboratively across RNS, the team contributes to ongoing organizational strategy development by gathering intelligence, identifying emerging opportunities and challenges, and recommending improvements to RNS's programs, partnerships, and approaches. It works seamlessly with the operations team that is charged with executing RNS program offerings. It helps guide and coordinate organizational communications, ensuring that public and partner engagement is focused on RNS's mandate, strategic priorities, activities, and results.

The Business Development Manager leads the Business Development Activities of RNS and is responsible for driving new partnerships, diversifying revenue, and identifying new or modified approaches to organizing, coordinating, and supporting research in Nova Scotia.

Key Responsibilities

A. Pipeline and Revenue Development

• In support of RNS external relations plans, develop and manage a pipeline of new opportunities across the researcher community, government funders, institutes of higher education, industry partners, and philanthropic donors
• Support the development of strategy and tactics to identify new partnership revenue models, including co-funding, co-delivery, and contracted activity
• Establish new relationships with industry partners and philanthropic organizations
• Negotiate contracts to create positive benefit for RNS

B. Business Development

• Lead new business development and improvements to existing activity with external partners and collaboratively with the RNS team
• Create and maintain a culture of continuous quality improvement to ensure that RNS offerings are meeting the needs of both current and potential partners

C. Planning and Performance

• Develop and maintain an annual plan for stakeholder engagement, targeted partnership growth, revenue forecasts, conversion progress, and programmatic enhancement
• Perform against established (or agreed upon) targets and metrics for enhancing partnerships and related outcomes
• Gather sector intelligence and synthesize data from multiple sources for making recommendations to Senior Staff or Management

D. Communications

• Support and execute organizational communication plans and related public relations

E. Other duties

• Travel to meet with stakeholders and partners as needed
• Perform other duties consistent with the role as assigned

Qualifications and Requirements

Education

• Bachelor's degree in a related field required
• Graduate degree an asset

Experience

• More than 5 years of progressive experience in partnership management, fundraising, business development, or strategic sourcing
• Experience managing database and CRM-related tools

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Familiarity with the research sector in Nova Scotia and associated stakeholder groups
• High degree of comfort with negotiation, proposal writing, and financial modelling
• Comfort negotiating agreements and securing favourable terms
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including spelling and grammar
• Competence in program management and independent activity scheduling
• Comfort navigating emerging technology, including generative AI tools

Core Competencies

• Business development - builds a pipeline of opportunities and converts them into partnerships and revenue
• Negotiation - negotiates contracts and agreements that secure favourable terms for RNS
• Financial acumen - applies financial modelling and revenue forecasting to partnership opportunities
• Relationship management - builds relationships and resolves problems effectively with partners and stakeholders
• Service orientation - demonstrates exceptional commitment to partner needs
• Strategic alignment - aligns plans to broader organizational strategic goals
• Organization - manages multiple activities simultaneously and schedules work independently
• Continuous improvement - ensures RNS offerings meet partner needs as well as possible