VisionSpring Latest Job Recruitment

VisionSpring, an international social enterprise, seeks a Business Development Manager to develop new customer relationships and drive the business growth of the business across various market sectors.

While the BD Manager will pursue sales directly by approaching hospitals, eye hospitals, clinics, NGOs, and other healthcare providers, s/he also will increase the depth and breadth of eyeglass distribution channels by growing a national network of channel partners across many sectors, soliciting CSR and government funding, uncovering untapped customer demand for eyeglasses, and working with partners that serve low-income communities..

The successful candidate will report to the Africa Region Director who is based in Ghana and to the Senior Management team in USA.

This role is a contract-based, full-time position, for the initial period of one year. As with other contractors with whom we have worked for many years, we expect the successful candidate to be willing to be a long-term contractor for VisionSpring.

About You

• You are an entrepreneur at heart and want to build a socially oriented business. The prospect of becoming an expert in the optics industry excites you.
• You are strategic in your approach to new business, actively networking and doing research to identify new partners and nurture relationships. You are constantly seeking new and creative ways to reach your target market and go above and beyond what is required to do it.
• You are accustomed to being a top performer in a high-growth environment. Achieving targets fills you with a sense of drive and satisfaction.
• You are self-motivated and deliver excellent results without the daily direct supervision of an on-site manager.
• You are adept at business-to-business and institutional sales and fully understand all aspects of the sales cycle. 
• You have the experience, maturity, and confidence, as well as the communication skills, to interact with people in senior positions.
• You can get others excited about what they are going to make possible by working with VisionSpring.

About Us

• We are creating access to affordable eyewear, everywhere. Clear vision creates opportunities for increased learning, work, safety, civic participation, and quality of life.
• As a social enterprise, social change motivates us first. Our focus on sales and revenue targets serves and advances our mission objective—to increase functioning, productivity, and income earning potential for our low-income consumers by correcting refractive error with eyeglasses.
• We are working to transform the systemic dysfunction of an optical market that has failed to deliver eyeglasses—a 700-year-old technology—to 2.5 billion consumers in need of vision correction, most of whom live on less than $4 a day.
• We serve low-income consumers, not as beneficiaries but as customers. Our customers expect a high-quality and affordable product, and they will spend limited discretionary income for the immediate and tangible benefits of vision correction.
• By selling eyeglasses, we awaken new demand and seed a viable market. By selling new eyeglasses we can serve four times as many people per dollar input than the alternative of donating recycled ones. To efficiently scale, we must deliver each new unit with lower cost.
• We run our business on both sales metrics and social impact measures. We exploit a range of organizational forms and practices to get the job done.
• We believe in scaling our impact, not our organization. We are a lean team of doers.

What You’ll Do

Market Strategy 

• Lead Ghana-based team of sales professionals, technical advisors, and operations personnel in Ghana market to identify the business development opportunities that will yield year-over-year growth.
• Track relevant funding trends in Ghana and identify philanthropic and public donor opportunities. Work with the development team to produce high quality, timely Vision Access Program proposals for potential donors.
• Co-lead the development and execution of programs with the Ghana team, ensuring monitoring and timely reporting of program outcomes.
• Collaborate with the Africa Director to assure best practices for sales and program design are used across market activities.
• Provide the Africa Director, communications, and development teams with timely, relevant, and accurate information about achievements against goals and key learnings.

New Business Development with Institutional Partners

• Conduct research, network, and cold call to proactively identify and pursue new opportunities to grow partnerships with hospitals (government, mission, and private); clinics; NGOs; and other health service providers that offer or want to offer eyecare services. Assist them in introducing or expanding their optical services.
• Meet and surpass monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets by winning new and repeat orders.
• Grow and manage the channel partner network. Use your creativity to find new paths, and expand existing ones, to bring eyeglasses to our target population.
• Contact and consistently follow up with existing and new accounts; deliver the highest levels of customer service and engagement.
• Work as a player -coach with your team of BD specialists and help them grow in their careers.
• Ensure that the entire team accurately enter all sales activity—calls, conversations, emails, meetings, WhatsApp, SMS, etc.—into Salesforce, a customer relations management system provided by VisionSpring.
• Explore the possibility of expanding into mass market retail channels that serve our target population.
• Represent VisionSpring at local industry forums and in peer groups. Attend educational and market development events, such as partner workshops, seminars, conferences, trainings, etc.

Account Management

• Map and manage all customer accounts. Maintain existing relationships and assure that we are building new relationships that will last.
• Strengthen relationships with all key opinion makers and stakeholders.
• Periodically affirm that we are reaching our target population by reviewing customer data and key performance indicators.
• Liaise with the supply chain team in New York/Lagos, as well as our local warehousing partner, for seamless placement, production, and dispatch of orders.
• Regularly follow up with customers for pre- and post-sale documentation and payments.
• Solicit feedback and gather testimonials from customers so that their words can inform our marketing collateral.

New Business Development with CSR Donors and Governments

• Identify potential sources of funding for VisionSpring community outreach activities. Pitch to various corporates in their Corporate Social Responsibility groups. 
• Build deep relationships with the Ministry of Health and identify ways of government partnerships, with jointly run programs or by being a provider of eyeglasses to government run programs.
• Actively engage in bidding for RFPs with governments, hospitals and private entities.

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in business. Priority consideration will be given to those with a master’s degree in business or public health.
• Minimum of seven years of professional experience in business-to-business and institutional sales.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% of the time withinGhana to locations that include deeply rural areas.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English, other government-sponsored languages.
• Experience creating and delivering sales presentations using PowerPoint.
• Computer software skills, especially Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Experience using Salesforce or other CRM tools.
• Priority consideration will be given to candidates with these areas of experience and assets: institutional sales within the healthcare or pharmaceutical sectors; knowledge of vision care and/ or optical services; existing network of contacts in healthcare/pharma/vision care sectors, experience working with the Ministry. 

Compensation

• Salary range is $22,000 – 26,000 annually based on experience and education.
• Commission of 10% based on annual achieved target.
• We offer comprehensive benefits, including health insurance.

Method Of Application

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Closing Date: Ongoing