Business Development Associate - Blue State

What to know

Help us land our dream clients — and yours. We are seeking a Business Development Associate to join our Partnerships team to provide support to our business development team to help us grow our business. The ideal candidate will be an excellent writer and will have some sales or account management experience at an agency, consulting, or communications firm.

You will support the Partnerships team in the pursuit of new business opportunities and help develop and manage a sales pipeline. You will work across the agency and with cross-discipline teams to develop proposals, pitches, presentations, and new scopes of work. You will help draft and project manage these deliverables.

This is a rare opportunity to work with a client base that spans across nonprofit, advocacy, corporate, and political sectors. If you want to be a part of driving real change in the progressive space, then this might be the position for you.

The company

Blue State is a purpose-driven agency. We partner with leading causes, brands, and campaigns and create real change. From Google and UNICEF to Amnesty International and Oxfam, we transform how brands and causes raise money, influence policy, build platforms, and grow communities of supporters. Led by the most creative and analytical minds from the political, nonprofit, and brand worlds, Blue State is a part of WPP Digital and has 150+ employees in the US and London.

A day in the life

Provide support across the sales process for proposal development, pitches, and outbound efforts: 

• Draft memos, proposals, pitch decks, and related collateral in collaboration with creative, strategy, and technical teams, delivering first-rate materials that target an audience of C-Suite executives
• Provide logistical support and process management throughout the sales lifecycle — from the proposal and pitch process through contracting 
• Effectively communicate with internal teams to help meet prospective clients' goals and their organizational objectives 
• Help develop and draft collateral
• Support marketing efforts in planning for events, preparing proposals for conference speakerships, and developing lead-gen content to drive new client acquisition 

Work closely with the senior members of Partnerships team to help build, manage, and continually develop a sales pipeline to achieve new business targets:

• Support senior staff in executing sales plans that drive new leads across targeted verticals through traditional and creative approaches to outbound sales
• Conduct research on Blue State leads, prospects, and clients, and clearly communicate findings to senior leadership
• Develop Blue State collateral, and collaborate with the marketing team to generate awareness both internally and externally of Blue State and our offerings

The team

The Partnerships team drives Blue State's growth. We are the face of Blue State to prospective clients. We build new and deepen existing client relationships. We help prospects see opportunities more clearly, and we help Blue State understand the challenges our prospects face. We find solutions to complex business challenges. And we work with our colleagues to persuasively articulate creative, strategic, and technical solutions to executives and practitioners alike.

What we offer

• Unlimited time-off (inclusive of sick, personal, and vacation days)
• $1,000 annually in professional development funds
• Competitive health, dental, and vision insurance
• Inclusive family planning coverage, including fertility, surrogacy, and adoption benefits
• Flexible and health savings accounts
• 401K & employer match
• Generous paid holiday schedule
• 12-week fully-paid parental leave for all parents-to-be
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Remote work flexibility

We approach in-office working with a hybrid model. On-site presence is welcome for US staff who are within commuting distance of the NY or DC office. Managers retain discretion to require in-person attendance for folks on their discipline or client teams as necessary, including for those whose roles require them to be in person. To enter our US offices or attend Blue State events, staff and visitors must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including with a booster shot when eligible. Exceptions for protected grounds will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The salary range for this position is $60,000-$68,250; compensation will be commensurate with experience.

Some things we're looking for

• Minimum of 1-3 years of professional experience, ideally in business development or account management within an agency, consulting, or communications firm, or directly comparable experience working within a corporation or institution
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated mentality and ability to multi-task
• Excellent communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and relationship-building skills
• Clear, concise, and engaging business writing skills
• Comfortable working collaboratively in a team-driven environment alongside colleagues with complementary skills and experience
• Comfortable with a high volume of client interaction, both in-person (when we're safely able to do so) and through phone, email, and Zoom 
• Experience with Google Workspace, SalesForce, and other CRMs are a plus.
• Impeccable ethical standards and professionalism

At Blue State, diversity is a necessity, not a nice-to-have. We encourage those from underrepresented communities — women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, those with disabilities and people at all the intersections in between — to apply. Even if you don't think your current skill set checks every box below, but this role seems to align with your strengths, we want to hear from you.

Blue State is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible application and interview process. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a disability, please contact us at recruiting@bluestate.co with the subject line: Accommodation Request to get started.