Business Development Specialist (Consumer Public Relations Agency)

Business Development Specialist (Consumer Public Relations Agency)
LOCATION: The Global Consumer Practice is headquartered in the FINN Partners NY, NY Office. We seek qualified current NYC metropolitan area candidates -or- qualified current USA Eastern time zone-based candidates for this remote work, full-time position. 
WHAT DOES THIS ROLE DO?
The ideal Business Development Specialist applicant is a rising PR or marketing communications professional with up to 3 years of public relations agency-based work history, who has a strong desire to learn the fundamentals of business development and play a critical role in supporting the Global Consumer Practice’s growth efforts across retail, beauty, food & beverage, restaurants, CPG, automotive, gaming, consumer electronics, and more.
You will report to the Global Consumer Practice Lead, and you’ll be working with senior leadership across our agency in this newly developed role that actively supports the team’s responses to Requests for Information (RFI), Requests for Proposals (RFP), and Business Development Prospecting activities. You will be responsible for updating, creating, and managing all the information that is used to support the team’s business development efforts.
You are:

• 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.

FINN PARTNERS’ GLOBAL CONSUMER PRACTICE:
FINN Partners is an award-winning, fast-growing global agency with a diverse roster of industry leading clients. Our department, the Global Consumer Practice, develops, builds, and implements public relations and integrated marketing communications programs for a diverse range of clients. Our client portfolio includes brands and industry leaders such as: 2K Games, Bausch + Lomb, Bridgestone, CarMax, Darden Restaurants, Denny’s, Dollar Shave Club, Hormel Foods, Jack Daniel’s, Life Time, Mazda, National Women’s Soccer League, Oatly, Roborock, Tempur-Sealy, Tractor Supply Co., and more.
PERKS AND 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

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.

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.

New York, NY #LI-Remote #LI-KM1
Anticipated Salary: $60,000 - $80,000 annually. Salary is commensurate with applicant’s experience and is dependent upon the role’s location.
TO APPLY:
Please upload your resume and cover letter detailing your prior work experience and indicate your desired hourly salary in $US Dollars (within the salary budget range indicated above). Within your Cover Letter, please include a link to your Writing Samples. While we appreciate the interest of all candidates, we will only respond to those with whom we have a greater interest.
ABOUT FINN PARTNERS:
FINN Partners was launched in 2011 to realize Peter Finn's vision to create a leading communications agency dedicated to shaping a bold new future in which innovation and partnership are strong drivers of the brand. Finn Partners specializes in the full spectrum of communications services, including digital and social media. Practice areas include arts, consumer lifestyle & sports, corporate social responsibility, education, health, manufacturing, technology, travel, and public affairs. We are entrepreneurial-minded, global, and focused on integrated programs that bring to life our clients' world-changing technologies, products, and services. Our company culture celebrates delighting our clients with innovative and creative campaigns and programs, and we provide opportunities for our employees to conduct meaningful work in a creative, fast-paced, collaborative, and fun environment.
Headquartered in New York City, the agency has 1,300+ employees with offices in 32 cities around the world: Atlanta, Bangalore, Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Delhi, Denver, Detroit, Dublin, Frankfurt, Fort Lauderdale, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Jerusalem, Kuala Lumpur, London, Los Angeles, Madison (Wisc.), Manila, Mumbai, Munich, Nashville, Paris, Portland (Ore.), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, Singapore, Tamuning (Guam), Vancouver (Wash.) and Washington D.C.