Find It. Unlock It. Fund It.
Black Country Together CIO is looking for an ambitious and connected leader to identify opportunities, unlock partnerships and secure investment that benefits communities across the Black Country.
Strategic Partnerships Director – Consultancy Contract
Black Country Together is looking for an exceptional strategic leader, relationship-builder and deal-maker to help secure investment and shape future infrastructure support for the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Black Country Together brings organisations together, attracts investment, builds influential partnerships and helps ensure communities benefit from stronger collaboration and greater resources.
We are now seeking a Strategic Partnerships Director to lead the next phase of our development and ambition. This is not a traditional management role. It is a role for someone who can search and find opportunities, unlock possibilities, and broker partnerships and funding deals that bring investment and influence into the Black Country.
The Opportunity
The landscape is changing rapidly. New funding streams, devolution, integrated public services and system-wide partnerships are creating major opportunities for the VCSE sector. We need someone who can identify where those opportunities are emerging, bring people together around a shared vision, and turn potential into tangible investment and impact.
As Strategic Partnerships Director, you will:
- Build influential relationships with regional leaders, funders and decision-makers
- Identify and secure new funding and investment opportunities
- Shape compelling propositions and investment cases
- Strengthen Black Country Together’s profile, influence and strategic reach
- Broker partnerships that create opportunities for collaboration across the Black Country
Success in this role will be measured not by activity alone, but by your ability to create opportunities, convert them into partnerships, and secure meaningful investment that benefits both VCSE infrastructure organisations and frontline community activity.
Who We’re Looking For
We’re looking for a highly credible, entrepreneurial and politically astute individual with a proven track record of securing funding, influencing senior stakeholders and developing strategic partnerships.
You may currently be working in the VCSE sector, public sector, health system, social enterprise, philanthropy or economic development. What matters most is your ability to:
- Spot opportunities before others see them
- Open doors and create conversations
- Build trust across complex partnerships
- Navigate challenging political and organisational environments
- Develop compelling cases for investment
- Turn ideas into funded programmes that work at ground level with tangible outcomes
You will be equally comfortable in a boardroom, with funders, in partnership discussions or leading strategic conversations across organisations with different interests and priorities.
Why Join Black Country Together?
This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of one of the UK’s most significant sub-regional VCSE partnerships. We offer the opportunity for:
- Influence
Play a central role in shaping how the Black Country’s VCSE sector engages with regional leaders, funders and system partners
- Impact
Directly influence investment into communities and help strengthen the long-term sustainability of the voluntary sector across the Black Country
- Flexibility
A consultancy contract requiring approximately 135 days per year, offering flexibility in how the role is delivered
- Success
The chance to build on an established track record of securing major investment and partnerships while helping shape Black Country Together’s second decade of development
If you are a natural connector and influencer with a proven ability to broker strategic partnerships, secure investment, and turn opportunities into action, and you are passionate about strengthening communities and the VCSE sector, we’d love to hear from you.
Full details of the role, responsibilities and person specification can be found in this consultancy brief.