Job Description

Senior Manager – Business Development, Talent Solutions

Location: South Delhi | In-person, Monday–Friday

Employment Type: Full-time

Reports To: Founder

Experience: 8–10+ years

Compensation: Competitive, commensurate with experience, with a meaningful variable/incentive component

About Arthan

Better leaders. Bolder missions. Bigger change.

Arthan exists to unlock the potential of those who advance the world. We partner with social-impact organisations to build the leadership, structures, and ecosystems that turn ambition into outcomes — across education, climate, health, and beyond.

Our work spans strategy, talent, and ecosystems: helping mission-driven organisations attract, hire, and develop the leaders who will define the next decade, while designing the systems and culture that enable them to scale without losing what makes them work.

Our work is not transactional recruitment; it is long-term partnership with organisations navigating growth, transition, and complexity.

Over the last 10 years and 3,000+ placements, we have become a trusted partner to leading organisations across INGOs, foundations, social enterprises, climate organisations, and government-adjacent institutions — helping them make one of the decisions they can least afford to get wrong: who leads their work.

The Opportunity

Arthan's Talent Solutions team has the capacity to deliver 240 roles a year. Today, the volume, seniority, and value of mandates are still significantly driven by founder-led relationships and inbound demand.

This role exists to change that.

As the Senior Manager – Business Development, you will own the front end of our Talent Solutions business — building a consistent flow of high-quality mandates while increasing the value and seniority of the work we take on.

You will work closely with the Director, Talent Solutions, who leads delivery, while you take ownership of demand generation, new business, client relationships, and revenue growth.

Over time, you will build a repeatable BD engine and a team that can scale it.

Your priorities for the first 18 months

1. Build the pipeline

Develop a systematic new-business pipeline capable of feeding 300+ roles annually across our three verticals, ensuring delivery capacity is never the constraint on growth.

1. Build a scalable BD function

Move client acquisition from founder-led and relationship-driven inbound to a repeatable, structured process — with the playbook, systems, and eventually the team to run it.

1. Move upmarket

Increase average revenue per mandate and the proportion of senior/CXO assignments, working closely with the Talent Solutions leadership team to build a stronger executive search practice alongside volume recruitment.

What You Will Own

1. New Business & Pipeline Generation

• Identify, prospect, and build relationships with HR leaders, CEOs, Executive Directors, and senior decision-makers across INGOs, foundations, climate organisations, CSR functions, and social enterprises.
• Build, manage, and report on a qualified pipeline from the first conversation through to signed contract.
• Own quarterly and annual targets for new mandates and revenue.
• Build an outbound business-development engine rather than relying primarily on inbound or founder introductions.

2. Pitching, Closing & Account Growth

• Lead pitches, proposals, negotiations, and mandate closures.
• Own relationships with existing clients and identify opportunities for repeat business and account expansion.
• Grow single-role engagements into retainers and multi-role mandates.
• Represent Arthan at relevant sector events, conferences, and networks.

3. Pricing & Deal Strategy

• Work with the Director, Talent Solutions and Founder on pricing, commercial strategy, and deal discipline.
• Assess which opportunities are strategically valuable and worth pursuing.
• Exercise sound judgement on which mandates to accept, negotiate, or walk away from.

4. Delivery Partnership & Team Building

• Ensure a smooth handover of won mandates to the Director, Talent Solutions and vertical leads, providing the scope, brief, and client context required for effective delivery.
• Regularly align pipeline with delivery capacity to ensure commitments are realistic and achievable.
• As the function grows, hire, onboard, and manage 1–2 BD executives/associates.

5. Founder Partnership

• Act as the Founder's operating partner on the demand side, taking end-to-end ownership of business development.
• Represent Arthan externally at the level and seniority previously handled by the Founder for new business.
• Reduce dependence on the Founder for day-to-day client acquisition and relationship management.

What This Role Is — and Is Not

This is the role

• A builder: Someone who can take the demand pipeline from founder-led relationships to a repeatable system.
• A closer: Someone comfortable negotiating scope, pricing, and terms with senior stakeholders.
• A future team leader: Someone who can eventually build and lead a BD team.
• A partner to delivery: Someone who sells well-scoped, winnable mandates and ensures delivery teams are set up for success.
• A mission-aligned commercial leader: Someone with a genuine and growing interest in the social-impact sector.

This is not the role

• A relationship manager who relies primarily on inbound leads and founder introductions.
• Someone who needs the Founder in every pitch.
• A pure lead-generation professional without closing responsibility.
• Someone who oversells what the delivery team cannot deliver.
• A purely numbers-driven salesperson without interest in the sector or its mission.

Who We're Looking For

Experience

• 8–10+ years of experience in business development, client acquisition, or key account management within staffing, executive search, RPO, professional services, or consulting.
• A proven track record of personally owning and delivering against new-business or revenue targets.
• Experience building or running an outbound demand-generation process, including prospecting and pipeline management.
• Experience selling into or working closely with the social-impact or development sector is a strong advantage.
• Genuine interest in the social-impact sector is essential.

Core Capabilities

Consultative selling

Comfortable selling a leadership-hiring solution to CEOs, HR leaders, and senior decision-makers — not simply networking and maintaining relationships.

Commercial judgement

Able to understand what a mandate is worth, structure the right deal, and identify which opportunities are worth pursuing.

Hunter + farmer mindset

Able to generate new business while also developing and expanding existing client relationships.

Resilience

Able to maintain a consistent business-development cadence through inevitable rejections and setbacks.

Communication

Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to create compelling proposals and confidently present to senior stakeholders.

Collaboration

Works closely with delivery teams, with a low-ego approach to handovers and a strong focus on setting teams up to succeed.

Integrity & discretion

Demonstrates sound judgement and maintains confidentiality when handling sensitive client and commercial information.

Tools & Technology

• Strong CRM proficiency for pipeline tracking, forecasting, and reporting — e.g., Zoho, HubSpot, or similar.
• Advanced knowledge of LinkedIn Sales Navigator and other prospecting tools.
• Working familiarity with ATS platforms such as Manatal or Zoho Recruit.
• Strong Google Sheets/Excel skills for pipeline, target, and revenue tracking.
• Comfortable creating pitch decks and proposals using PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva, or similar tools.

Compensation

Competitive CTC, commensurate with experience, with a meaningful variable/incentive component linked to new mandates signed and revenue closed.

Compensation details will be discussed with shortlisted candidates.

Equal Opportunity

Arthan is an equal-opportunity employer. Candidates from underrepresented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.