Director, Strategic Partnerships and New Ventures (SP&NV) at Land O'Lakes, Inc. in Washington, Washington DC

Job Description:

Join Land O'Lakes, and you join boundless thinkers and doers from all walks of life working together to feed the world. Take pride in working with some of America's favorite brands, including Purina Animal Nutrition, WinField United, Vermont Creamery and KozyShack, and more.

You'll be joining a team committed to e verything from the seeds that go into the ground, to the technology that improves crop yields and sustainability, to the grain that animals eat to produce milk, to marketing the final product, like our many legendary products.

We're looking for audacious optimists and innovative thinkers to help us meet food's toughest challenges.

Director, Strategic Partnerships and New Ventures (SP&NV)

Land O'Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening local agriculture, helping agribusinesses create jobs and linking farmers to markets. Since 1981, it has implemented over 315 integrated dairy, livestock and crops development programs in nearly 80 countries - creating lasting impact by linking farmers, businesses, and the public and private sector in local and global contexts. Land O'Lakes Venture37's long-standing affiliation with Land O'Lakes, Inc. sets it apart. Land O'Lakes, Inc. is one of America's largest farmer-owned cooperatives. It supports Land O'Lakes Venture37 project implementation with nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights and technologies. This gives Land O'Lakes Venture37 development projects a unique global view of agriculture, food and the power of well-functioning market systems. Land O'Lakes, Inc. supports these efforts as part of its enterprise purpose of Feeding Human Progress at home and around the world.

The Director, SP&NV will play an important role in supporting the objectives of Land O'Lakes Venture37's Plan for Growth (P4G) organizational strategy. The Director is an experienced business development leader with well-established relationships with agricultural development donors including foundations, non-USG bilateral agencies, and corporates. The Director's primary focus will be leveraging and forging connections to expand V37's relationships with these non-USG customers (donors), deepening these relationships, and bringing in new business from these customers. The Director will supervise the SP&NV Manager. Representative responsibilities include:

Customer and partner relationship development

• Leverage, cultivate and deepen relationships with contacts globally for key existing and new customers, including private foundations, corporations and non-USG bilateral agencies; leverage networks and deep understanding of key influencers to strengthen institutional relationships and create pathways to new funding opportunities


• Contribute to the development and execution of customer development strategies; retain strong working knowledge of strategies to guide capture efforts and deepen institutional knowledge base


• Draw on technical acumen to serve as informed representative of V37 in key customer meetings


• Leverage, cultivate and expand relationships with implementation partners including international NGOs, businesses and academic institutions

Strategy and pipeline development

• Leverage and contribute to P4G fact base, ensuring early intel capture and targeted pursuit of priority customers and procurements


• Identify funding trends and track funding opportunities across multiple customers, contribute to bid analyses and capture plans to position V37 competitively


• Manage and update opportunities and contacts in Salesforce

Marketing

• Work with V37 colleagues and partners to develop customer-appropriate pitch decks, technical papers and other marketing collateral that showcase V37's work and thought leadership


• Lead pitch delivery with executive presence and poise to inspire confidence and interest among key customers and partners


• Conduct marketing trips to meet with key customers and lead customer visits to Land O'Lakes to influence program design


• Position V37 for new business opportunities through speaking engagements and attendance at industry events

Proposal Development

• Oversight, mentorship and support to staff and partners contributing to proposals


• Fill key proposal roles as needed, particularly leader and technical writer


• Conduct in-country reconnaissance to collect/analyze data informing proposal design


• Participate in, and when appropriate, lead proposal design sessions

Required Experience/Knowledge

• Master's Degree in International Development, Business Administration, Agriculture, Economics or related field plus a minimum of ten years relevant work experience, or combination of additional education and experience to total ten years


• Demonstrated understanding of emerging trends in international agriculture/economic development


• Well-established network of contacts and business relationships within the agriculture donor community and development organizations


• Outstanding relationship-building skills and client-centered approach to partnership development; demonstrated success securing new business from foundations, non-USG bilateral agencies, and corporates


• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills; demonstrated ability to effectively interface with senior-level foundation, government and corporate leaders


• Experience effectively managing staff


• Experience overseeing and leading teams to design competitive bids for donor funding, with expertise in designing programs underpinned by causal models, technical writing, partnership development/management and budget development


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, with emphasis on proposals, executive level presentations and marketing materials


• Experience living and/or working in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia


• Ability to lead multiple concurrent work streams effectively in a team environment and work with people of diverse backgrounds in various cultural settings


• Ability to envision new initiatives, exercise innovation, lead with focus and guide others in accomplishing time-sensitive work


• Ability to travel and work effectively in developing countries

Land O'Lakes, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) M/F/Vets/Disabled. The company maintains a drug-free workforce, including pre- and post-employment substance abuse testing pursuant to a Drug and Alcohol Policy.

Neither Land O'Lakes, nor its search firms, will ever contact you and ask for confidential information over the phone or in email. If you receive a call or email like this, please do not provide the information being requested.

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