CAWST: Senior Director, Business Development

Customize Consent Preferences

Always Active

We work towards ending poverty and achieving a peaceful and healthy world, with dignity and full participation for all.

We work towards ending poverty and achieving a peaceful and healthy world, with dignity and full participation for all.

CAWST is a Canadian charity and licensed engineering firm. We address the global need for safe drinking water and sanitation by building local knowledge and skills on household solutions people can implement themselves.

At the heart of everything we do is our belief that when people have their basic water and sanitation needs met, they have the opportunity to succeed. This is what drives our dedicated team to work with a global network of more than 1,500 clients and partners. Together, we have reached more than 16 million people since our inception in 2001.

Collectively, we are making a difference at a scale beyond what any of us could do individually. But our job isn’t done yet and we need you to help us expand our reach.

Position: Senior Director, Business Development
Reports to: CEO
Type: Full-time, permanent
Location: Calgary, with est. 20% travel
Compensation: Commensurate with experience

The Senior Director, Business Development plays a key role on CAWST’s Leadership team to accelerate our impact, and exceed our targets of 100 million people with better water, sanitation and hygiene.

This position leads the development and execution of CAWST’s business development strategies, advancing our work in existing and new markets of training partners, funders, and clients.

Success in this role will advance CAWST’s vision and mission by aligning our business strategies to increase global awareness and influence by growing and diversifying our revenue. This position is responsible for leading and developing a Business Development team that engages and works in close collaboration with others from across the entire organisation.
Roles & Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction, by developing and executing on CAWST’s business development strategy and contributing to organisation-wide strategic planning and team activities.
• Set goals and objectives for the business development function, including multi-year targets, resourcing, and performance metrics.
• Actively engage and work with the senior leadership team and Board of Directors to develop and implement a comprehensive fund development strategy. Lead and engage with the Board’s Revenue Strategy Committee.

Business Development 

• Enhance the reputation and generate demand for CAWST and our training partners’ services internationally; and in Canada as a strategic social investment (philanthropy) that achieves results.
• Maintain & strengthen existing relationships and build new ones with strategic partners (clients, collaborators, donors, funders) to achieve impact at scale.
• Generate, qualify, and secure funding within Canada and internationally for CAWST and our partners’ work, with an emphasis on unrestricted and undesignated funding.
• Secure multi-year grants and negotiate contract terms and conditions for proposals and funding arrangements.
• Identify and work with other development agencies and donors to collaborate on funding opportunities.
• Ensure a highly positive experience with CAWST donors and funders through accurate, timely reporting, ad hoc communications, and other creative engagement.

Engage others in our Vision

Lead organisational efforts to:

• Build and steward CAWST’s brand in Canada and internationally.
• Position CAWST as a sector leader in decentralised water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and capacity development, make connections, and build bridges across sectors (eg. leverage water, health, agriculture, energy).
• Find opportunities where others do not to:
  • Increase awareness in Canada of global WASH issues.
  • Accelerate acceptance and adoption internationally of decentralised WASH technologies and approaches for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.

Internal Collaboration

• Lead a cross-functional team with responsibility for partnerships, fund development, marketing, and communications.
• Work collaboratively with the Global Services team to maintain partner relationships, and identify and execute on new partnership and funding opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with the Finance team to develop CAWST’s revenue budgets and forecasts.
• Work collaboratively with the IT team to ensure the Business Development team is utilising tools effectively and efficiently.

Budget Oversight

• Develop, maintain, and be accountable for the Business Development team’s budget
• Develop, maintain, and be accountable for CAWST’s revenue budget
• Provide timely and accurate reports to leadership and periodically to the Board of Directors

• Masters degree or equivalent work experience in a related field.
• Credibility and long standing experience in the WASH sector; or past credentials and ability to establish credibility easily.
• Minimum of 10-years experience in a related field, including business development, international development and/or leading strategic corporate or non-profit programs.
• Basic understanding of the WASH industry and the technical areas of CAWST’s mission, with interest and ability to develop the skills and knowledge; and judgement to draw upon others as appropriate. Ideally the candidate will have work experience in developing countries where CAWST carries out its mission.
• Strong network among current and potential donors/funders, as well as with sector influencers.
• Demonstrated achievement in developing new partnerships and programs, and significantly growing revenue.
• Demonstrated achievement in fundraising, resource mobilisation, grant writing, social investing or related areas.
• Experience in leading and developing diverse teams of high-performing individuals.
• Ability to mobilize cross-functional teams from across the organisation and with partners and collaborators, in-person and virtually.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate to a broad range of technical and non-technical audiences, including peers in our sector, funders, donors and Board.
• Active social media presence with the ability to write and review blogs, vlogs and articles.
• Proficiency with CRM systems and Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and industry-specific analysis software.

Personal Qualities

• A sense of purpose and mission in the field of international development
• Sees opportunities where others do not.
• Enthusiasm for developing and motivating a highly effective team.
• Enthusiasm and passion for problem-solving and innovation
• Ability to strategically plan and execute financial, operational and revenue goals
• Ability to foster positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Ideally, proficiency in two or more languages relevant to countries where CAWST carries out its mission
• Requires a high level of initiative, with limited supervision

Benefits of working at CAWST:

• A meaningful role, making a difference every day for people living without basic water and sanitation
• A workplace culture where collaboration and innovation are fostered
• Rich on-the-job experiences and professional development opportunities
• Strong promotion of work-life balance and flexible work environment

When applying, please include:

• A cover letter that gives an overview of your experience as it applies to this role, and explains why you are excited about joining our team
• Your resume

CAWST values equitable opportunities, sustainable solutions, and collaborative and inclusive processes. CAWST recognizes and accepts differences in cultural, religious, and political processes and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age.