The Director of Strategic Partnerships will engage with the COVE community of businesses and organizations growing Canada’s ocean economy. The Director works directly with COVE’s tenants, partners, and stakeholders to create, adopt, and implement initiatives and programs designed to remove barriers for the commercialization of new products and services enabling a stronger Blue Economy.
The Director will monitor global market trends, generate commercial opportunities, build new strategies to improve revenue streams, and enhance COVE’s business network to generate growth in targeted markets. The Director will work collaboratively with diverse interest groups, cultivating trusted relationships and communicating complex ideas in succinct and compelling ways.
Role & Responsibilities:
- Building trusted relationships with tenants, companies, partners, stakeholders, and ecosystem players locally and internationally to support COVE’s organizational goals.
- Evaluating business strategies and developing plans for new partnerships targeting new markets to enhance revenue and growth.
- Reviewing market reports identifying trends and new developments in the ocean sector to inform new projects, provide market intelligence, and broker new opportunities and connections.
- Working with partner organizations to launch initiatives and navigate opportunities that drive success for COVE and its community.
- Prospecting and leading proposals and negotiating terms and conditions of contracts.
- Promoting and delivering on the financial sustainability of the Stella Maris program, memberships, programs and services offered by COVE.
- Participating in conferences, business development trade shows, exhibitions and events to enhance COVE’s business network.
- Exploring, developing and negotiating international partnership agreements and integrating commitments within business operations.
- Developing and managing government relations in the interest of COVE and its community.
- Developing and managing the budget of the business development/partnership function.
The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate their ability to fulfill the responsibilities below:
- Experience in developing and maintaining strong working relationships, combined with excellent client-facing communication skills, and comfort presenting to a diverse group of stakeholders, including senior executives.
- Highly motivated, analytical, logical thinker with a very strong attention to detail and the ability to meet multiple and/or unexpected deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong initiative, good judgment, a strong work ethic, and demonstrated ability to recognize risk and proactively mitigate.
- Solid team player with advanced personal time management skills with a proven track record in planning, implementing, and managing multiple projects.
- Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills with poise and professionalism to interact with partners and external clients.
- Strong ability to communicate verbally and in writing.
- Strong digital skills, proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, specifically Word, Excel and PowerPoint and strong technical skills with the ability to learn new processes and systems quickly.
Education and Experience
- Post-secondary education in Business, Management, Engineering, Science, or a marine related field.
- A minimum 7-10 years’ experience in a similar business development role.
Assets
- Experience with supervisory responsibilities.
- Experience in sales and account management.
- International trade development or business development experience.
- Direct experience working in the ocean technology or marine sector.
- Second language (e.g. French)
We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible environment where all employees and clients feel valued, respected, and supported. We welcome applications from Indigenous Peoples, African Nova Scotians and other racially visible persons, persons with disabilities, women, and persons of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community. If you are a member of one of these groups, you are encouraged to self-identify.
We are committed to ensuring accommodations are made available to persons with disabilities during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes and will provide reasonable accommodation upon request.
We offer an excellent working environment where life balance is valued. Our people and their commitment to quality work is what drives our success. Salary for this position will be commensurate with experience, note that relocation costs are not supported.
To be considered for this position, please apply online by clicking “Apply”. The deadline for submission is 3:00pm, June 6, 2022. We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.