Business Development & Partnerships Specialist

Remote | Part-time | Base + Commission | Long-term Growth Potential
I’m building the commercial function of a founder-led personal development company working with accomplished women navigating significant personal and professional transitions.
I’m looking for someone who is exceptionally good at finding the right people, the right rooms and the right opportunities, and understanding why they matter commercially.
This is not a traditional administrative support role.
It is also not a high-volume lead-generation role where success is measured by how many names you can scrape into a spreadsheet.
Initially, this is a small, highly focused position involving approximately 8–10 hours per month.
But I want to be transparent about the longer-term opportunity:
I am building a commercial team, not simply hiring a researcher.
For the right person, there is potential to grow from opportunity research and business development into greater responsibility for prospect relationships, commercial conversations and eventually sales.
So while much of the initial work involves research, I am particularly interested in someone who is commercially minded and ultimately interested in developing further in business development and sales.
THE ROLE
You will help me identify high-quality commercial opportunities across several areas.
Business Development & Prospect Research
You’ll research carefully selected prospective clients, particularly accomplished women in leadership, entrepreneurship and other senior professional environments.
I’m not interested in receiving hundreds of vaguely relevant LinkedIn profiles.
I’d rather receive three exceptional prospects and understand exactly why you chose them.
Good research goes beyond someone’s job title.
I want you to be curious about the human being and the business context:
What is happening in her world?
What has she been talking about publicly?
Has something changed professionally?
Is there evidence of transition, expansion, disruption or a new direction?
Is there a credible reason for us to know one another?
And most importantly:
Why this person? Why now?
Partnerships, Podcasts & Strategic Visibility
You’ll also identify places where the right women already gather and conversations worth entering.
This may include:
podcasts and interview shows;
women’s leadership and founder communities;
summits and events;
speaking and expert-panel opportunities;
strategic partnerships and collaborations;
relevant professional communities;
carefully selected media opportunities;
and other trusted environments that could create meaningful commercial relationships.
Again, audience size alone doesn’t impress me.
A private community of 300 exceptionally aligned women may be commercially more interesting than an audience of 30,000.
A small podcast whose host has extraordinary trust with precisely the women we serve may matter more than a famous show with the wrong audience.
You need to enjoy figuring out the difference.
OPPORTUNITY EXECUTION
Once we decide something is worth pursuing, I don’t want the research sitting forgotten in a document.
Depending on the opportunity, you may:
identify the correct person to approach;
prepare or submit approved pitches and applications;
coordinate biographies, links and supporting material;
conduct appropriate initial outreach;
follow up;
track conversations and responses;
maintain accurate CRM records;
coordinate logistical communication;
and make sure valuable opportunities continue moving.
You will not be expected to impersonate me.
Initially, high-trust relationship conversations, personal connections, fit conversations and sales conversations remain with me.
Your job is to create:
Access. Context. Momentum.
Over time, that boundary may change as your understanding of the business, our clients and our work deepens.
WHO I’M LOOKING FOR
Your current or previous experience may be in:
Business Development
Partnerships
Sales Development (SDR/BDR)
Lead Generation
Founder Prospecting
Strategic Outreach
Podcast or Media Outreach
PR Research
Influencer/Creator Partnerships
Community or Event Partnerships
Appointment Setting
Sales
or another commercially accountable role.
Your exact title matters less to me than how you think.
I’m looking for someone who:
is naturally curious and enjoys the hunt;
can distinguish an interesting person from a genuinely valuable commercial opportunity;
researches beyond superficial criteria;
notices patterns, changes and opportunities other people miss;
understands the psychology of sales and doesn’t collapse when someone says no;
can distinguish evidence from assumption;
communicates confidently and naturally in English;
can work independently without needing every step prescribed;
follows through consistently;
understands that relationships matter;
and is comfortable being measured against commercial outcomes.
Experience with commission, bonuses, pay-per-appointment, revenue targets or other performance-based compensation is strongly preferred.
THIS ROLE PROBABLY ISN’T FOR YOU IF...
Your primary professional strengths are inbox management, diary organisation, Canva, data entry or general administrative support.
It also won’t suit you if your preferred approach to prospecting is:
scrape 500 names → send 500 identical messages → hope somebody responds.
That has its place.
It isn’t what I’m building.
I want someone who would rather find five extraordinary opportunities than 500 irrelevant ones.
COMPENSATION & HOURS
This role intentionally begins small:
Approximately 8–10 hours per month
US$8–$10/hour, depending on experience
plus
5% commission on qualifying revenue directly attributable to prospects or opportunities you originate.
The initial hours are not intended to represent a full-time income.
However, I am looking for someone with whom I can build a longer-term working relationship.
If you consistently identify strong opportunities, demonstrate excellent commercial judgment and contribute to revenue, there is potential for the role, hours, responsibility and earning opportunity to grow.
HOW TO APPLY
Please don’t send me a generic cover letter.
I’m much more interested in how you think than how beautifully you can describe yourself.
Please answer the following four questions.
1. Tell me about ONE prospect, partnership or commercial opportunity you personally discovered that someone else might have overlooked.
What did you notice?
Why did you think it was worth pursuing?
What did you do?
What happened?
Maximum 200 words.
2. Tell me about a time you received a “no”, rejection or non-response while doing sales, business development or outreach.
What did you do next?
And, importantly, why did you make that decision?
Maximum 150 words.
3. Tell me about the most commercially accountable role you’ve held.
How were you measured?
Was any of your compensation based on commission, bonuses, appointments, conversions, revenue or another performance measure?
What did you personally have to achieve?
Maximum 150 words.
4. A small research exercise
Imagine you discover these three possible opportunities for my business:
A. A well-known entrepreneurship podcast with 70,000 monthly downloads. It interviews successful founders and has featured several major names. Recent episodes are predominantly about marketing, scaling and investment.
B. A private paid community of 450 senior women executives, founders and consultants aged approximately 40–60. It hosts monthly intimate expert conversations. There is little public information about guest applications.
C. A women’s personal-development summit with 15,000 registered attendees. It accepts speaker applications and promotes themes including confidence, wellness, relationships, spirituality and business.
I only have time for you to investigate ONE of these further this week.
Which one would you investigate first?
Tell me:
what caught your attention;
what you would investigate next;
what concerns you;
and, importantly, what you do not yet know.
There is no hidden correct answer.
I want to see how you think.
Maximum 250 words.
A NOTE ABOUT AI
AI use is welcome.
I use AI extensively in my own business, so I’m certainly not interested in pretending it doesn’t exist.
However, anything you submit must reflect your own judgment and your actual experience.
Shortlisted candidates will discuss their answers with me live, without advance preparation.
Please finish your application with this exact sentence:
Opportunity first. Evidence second. Relationship always.
If that sentence is missing, I’ll assume you haven’t read the complete advertisement.
Elle Nagy
Founder, Elle Nagy Limited

Work arrangement
Yes