Title:
Reports to:
Location:
Salary:
Terms:
Hours:
Business Development and Sales Manager
Board of Directors
Home-based with travel between Oxford and Little Wittenham
£30,000 per annum (pro-rata).
6 month fixed-term, with possibility to extend subject to funding.
Full-time
Overview of the organisation
Cultivate is an ambitious co-operative not-for-profit social enterprise with a
mission to be a catalyst for growth in Oxfordshire’s local food economy. In just
2½ years we have established our own 10 acre market garden, and three routes
to market for our produce and that of other small-scale local producers with
whom we’ve developed good working relationships.
Since 2012 we have been running a mobile shop - the VegVan - selling fresh,
local, seasonal fruit and vegetables. In late 2014 we launched Cultivate Online an
online shop offering a fuller selection of local and ethical products including
meat, dairy, dried goods and household products such as cleaning. We also have
a small element of wholesale to local restaurants and cafes.
Our challenge for 2015 is to grow sales to both increase profitability and reach
many more customers not currently accessing local food, capitalising on the huge
unmet demand for local and sustainable food in Oxfordshire. Our vision is for
10% of Oxford’s food to come from local sources, compared to less than 1%
today.
Purpose of the role
The Business Development and Sales Manager is a newly-funded post created to
build on the work to date and identify how to scale up the organisation to make
local food retail as convenient as mainstream retail, and truly find a new way to
feed a City and a County.
The new recruit will lead a phase of business development to identify and
implement plans for how our retail operation can grow significantly to bring the
business to break-even point and beyond. The role is supported by a team of
funded external business advisors. The role also includes ongoing managerial
sales operations as fully detailed below.
Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities
Business Development
 To lead on business development activities to identify a fully-tested
scaleable model with support from Cultivate’s funded external business
development advisors
 To work with the board and Cultivate’s management team to draw up a 5
year business plan
 To develop and start implementing a sales and marketing strategy for the
next 12 months that will deliver against planned growth
 To participate in any business development fundraising as required
Operational Responsibilities
 To build and manage an appropriate staff team to deliver the new
business plan and corresponding sales and marketing strategy
 To deliver against the marketing strategy including regular customer
communications and social media promotion, Cultivate brand
development, an active website and up-to-date marketing collateral.
 To establish and manage good-working relationships with suppliers and
our routes to market: VegVan stops/Farmers Markets/POD ‘hosts’
 To ensure ethical principles are maintained in sourcing and
communicated well to staff and customers
 To maintain good customer focus and ensure the team achieve agreed
standards of service at all times
 To set the pricing and waste strategy and ensure this is delivered by the
team
 To ensure compliance with Health & Safety and Food Safety and other
relevant legislation at all times
 To ensure that all the management information and financial systems are
fit for purpose and supporting the team to work within these systems.
 To monitor performance and report to the board on a regular basis
 To participate in adhoc warehouse and sales work such as produce
ordering and stock management, some of which can be physically
demanding
Person Specification
Essential
Experience
Qualifications
Knowledge
Skills
Desirable
 Experience in at least one of the
following sectors: food, retail,
farming, sustainability, social
enterprise, cooperatives, business
consulting.
 Experience in a business development
role or a relevant qualification
 Experience of working at a strategic
level.
 Proven track record in growing sales
 Experience of marketing
 Experience of effectively managing
projects &/or budgets.
 Experience of managing people and
teams.
 Demonstrable commitment to
working within a values-led
organisation.
 Higher level qualifications are not
essential if sufficient experience
and/or vocational training can be
demonstrated.
 Demonstrable understanding of
working within the community
sector.
 Good working knowledge of Word,
Excel, PowerPoint.
 Good knowledge of budgets and
project management.
 Experience of online retail.
 Experience of logistics management.
 Experience of managing computerised
systems.
 Experience of writing fundraising bids and
managing grants/investment
 Knowledge of online sales within the retail
sector.
 Demonstrable relationship,
networking and partnership skills.
 Able to work to deadlines.
 Financially literate and able to meet
financial targets.
 Highly organised and efficient.
 Ability to work autonomously and
work as part of a team.
 Excellent communication skills both
written and verbal.
 Ability to write compellingly and
ability to tailor written content to suit
different audiences.
 Ability to think strategically.
 Creative problem-solving skills.
 Flexible approach to work.
 Good attention to detail.
 A confident and safe driver with a full,
 Excellent presentation skills.
 Ability to drive a van.
 Web-management skills.
 Business degree or higher qualification in
a relevant field.
 Project management qualifications.
 Knowledge of and passion for good food.
 Knowledge of Food Safety and Health and
Safety legislation.
 Knowledge of Wordpress website
management.
Other
clean driving licence.
 Willing to work some non-standard
hours, subject to negotiation.
 Entrepreneurial attitude.

Application Process
Please submit a CV and covering letter to [email protected]. The covering
letter should detail:
1/ Why you want the job, and
2/ How you meet the person specification.
Please submit these materials by 5pm on Monday 15th June 2015.
Find out more about the role by coming to our open day on Thursday 4th June.
For more details of this open day and anything else about the role, please e-mail
[email protected]
Applicants will be scored against how they meet the above criteria. Highest
scoring applicants will be invited to an interview.
Interviews will be held on Monday 22nd June 2015. The successful candidate will
begin as soon as possible after this date.
Please note that Cultivate is committed to Equal Opportunity principles and
practices in all of our activities, including in recruitment. We are also committed
to tailoring the post to the successful applicant’s skillset and career development
goals, as well as to Cultivate’s needs, whenever possible.