An opportunity to contribute to the economic prosperity of the West Midlands region and its residents, at the same time as helping to build a sector capable of solving the world’s carbon challenges. 

WMGC's Inward Investment team promote the West Midlands as a location in which global organisations can invest, grow and thrive. The Senior Business Development Manager – Low Carbon role will be to promote the West Midlands region’s Low Carbon sector nationally and internationally, attracting job-creating and transformative investment into the region. The purpose of all of this is to support low carbon businesses to set up in the West Midlands and create employment here, as well as supporting the growth of businesses already here. 

This role works actively with stakeholders across the region, developing and maintaining a strong grasp of the influencing technology, business landscape and policy. The successful candidate will play an active role in the Growth Company’s inward investment team, and indeed will be a key figurehead for the Low Carbon economy within the business and beyond. 

The successful candidate will have an ability to quickly get into the weeds of what makes a business tick, understanding how investment decisions are made, and crucially, be able to communicate why and how the West Midlands offer supports that investment. Building and fostering great relationships will be key, as well as being able to work to individual goals in a collaborative, friendly and high performing team. Aside from working through specific, investor-led projects, this role will also require a level of broad, strategic thinking about how the West Midlands can be promoted on a global scale, and a candidate who can think creatively and differently about ambitious business development and investment promotion strategies is sought.

What do we mean by “Low Carbon?”
Reference to the “Low Carbon sector” or “Low Carbon economy” relate to businesses operating in, for instance, the energy, built environment and utility/water sectors, or the manufacturing of low carbon technologies such as heat pumps. The purpose of this role is to increase investment and employment across businesses who identify as forming part of that sector. This is distinct from active encouragement of decarbonisation of businesses, homes and public spaces across the West Midlands, which is beyond the scope of this role.
 

Main responsibilities and key activities

• Identify and translate the strengths of, and opportunities within, the West Midlands into a compelling value proposition to attract job-creating investment within the Low Carbon sector, from key global and domestic investment markets.
• Have a high-quality working knowledge of, and be able to effectively deliver, the macro-economic pitch for the region and the high-level overview of key sectors.
• Develop and implement a focussed, internationally significant business development and marketing strategy to promote Low Carbon inward investment in the region, with the objective of securing successful new investment and expansion projects in the West Midlands region.
• Take ownership of the creation and maintenance of WMGC marketing collateral and internal information documents for the Low Carbon sector, working closely with the sector marketing and digital content teams.
• Undertake planned marketing and lead generation activities both nationally and internationally (trade fairs, exhibitions etc) to showcase the regional WMCA geography offer. Play a leading and active role in devising content for the Low Carbon sector in WMGC-led events and delegation hosting.
• Generate and manage a pipeline of inward investment enquiries involving new and expansion projects with key measures around investment projects influenced/generated and secured, and associated new direct jobs created.
• Take a lead role in engaging and account managing strategic businesses specific to the sector across the West Midlands geography in collaboration with local partners, with the aim of generating business growth and securing expansion projects. This includes delivering under the Department for Business & Trade’s Key Account Management (DBT KAM) programme.
• Provide consultative support and sector expertise to other teams within WMGC when they are engaged on projects that contain a Low Carbon dimension.
• Identify commercial and revenue-generating opportunities for Partners West Midlands (PWM) members within the Low Carbon sector and engage them where appropriate to support with pipeline projects, events and marketing. Deliver at least one sector dinner a year in conjunction with a member of PWM.
• Forge and develop effective relationships across and between the public, private and academic sectors within the West Midlands, including across all relevant local authorities, WMGC partner Universities and the Combined Authority. Foster an excellent relationship with Energy Capital, regularly updating them on WMGC-led projects and providing support on their programmes. Attend Energy Capital working groups and events as required.
• Make efficient use of CRM systems and processes to record, monitor, review and refine business development strategies, together with marketing and communications programmes to fully exploit business opportunities both for the business and for the wider benefit of the region.
• Build influence across the sector for WMGC through its inward investment programmes within Midlands Engine, DBT and other relevant national and international organisations and intermediaries to ensure the WMCA geography is perceived as a priority region for them to direct inward investment opportunities to.
• Mentor and support other team members to ensure the Low Carbon sector is understood and support is provided to develop specialist knowledge across other service delivery teams where appropriate.
• Effectively manage and coach a business development manager within the Advanced Manufacturing team.
• Actively keep up to date with news and advances in the Low Carbon sector, across business, technology and policy. Where relevant, actively seek to understand regional positions and to meet with stakeholders where necessary. Seek professional development opportunities

You can view the full job description including key skills and competency requirements, here

If you are interested in applying for the role, please send your CV to claire.rogers@wmgrowth.com