Assistant jobs in Haywards heath, east sussex

Overview

We’re looking for an Assistant Business Development Officer (Bid Writer) to join our national Business Development Team. This is a great opportunity for an excellent writer to start or grow your bid writing career in a successful team with progression opportunities. 

Location: London, Brighton, Manchester or Leeds. 

Salary: £27,861.26 − £32,002.35 per year. If you’re based in London, you’ll receive an additional £4,133.14 per year as Inner London Weighing. 

Contract: 12 months fixed term. 

Responsibilities

About the role 

Change Grow Live is a health and social care charity. Across the country, we support people to make positive changes in their lives, including around drug and alcohol use, smoking, homelessness and criminal justice. 

As an Assistant Business Development Officer, you’ll play a key part in helping us secure new contracts and deliver high quality services for adults, children and young people. You’ll support the development of bids and proposals by writing, researching and collaborating with colleagues across the organisation. 

Your day-to-day will include: 

• Writing and editing bid responses 
• Working with colleagues across the organisation and our partner agencies 
• Completing online research, analysing data and collating evidence 
• Creating presentations, diagrams and reports 
• Helping improve how we do things. 

This is a developmental role, and you’ll receive ongoing support, guidance and training to help you progress. 

About you 

We’re looking for excellent writers who share our passion for supporting people to make positive changes in their lives. You don’t need previous experience in business development, but experience in health and social care, writing, sales, research, or data is beneficial. 

You are: 

• A clear, concise and engaging writer 
• Motivated to learn and develop, welcoming feedback 
• Collaborative and contribute to a positive culture team 
• Curious and analytical 
• Solution-focused, creative and proactive 
• Ready to work hard to deliver on CGL’s values and mission. 

What we offer 

You’ll be able to access structured training, development and mentoring as part of a supportive team. There’s a clear progression pathway within the team. We have a great record of people quickly progressing to Business Development Officer and Senior Business Development Officer roles as they take on increased volume, complexity, and leadership across proposals. 

We also offer: 

• The option to work from home for some of the week 
• Wellbeing support, including an employee assistance programme and an hour each week for wellbeing activities of your choice (find out more here). 

We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we work with. We pride ourselves on an inclusive and supportive workplace, evidenced through our Investors in People silver status. 

We’re happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that you need to be successful. Please let us know in your application or at any stage of the process if you would like to discuss this. 

Before you apply 

In the application portal, there’s a section called ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’. This is your chance to tell us about why you’re a good fit for this job – we won’t be able to consider your application unless it’s filled in. Please explain how you meet each of the person specification criteria (listed at the end of the job description). Use clear examples of your experience (this link contains some useful guidance). As guidance, written statements should not exceed 1,000 words. You can address multiple criteria together where you think it makes sense. 

Interviews will be held 16th – 23rd February 2026 via MS Teams. We’ll also ask shortlisted candidates to complete a written task online during this timeframe, at a time of your choice. We may hold a pre-qualification stage task (e.g. presentation) depending on the number of applicants. 

We encourage applications from individuals who may not meet every requirement but are excited about the role. We value lived experience of substance use, homelessness, and/or multiple disadvantages. 

We’re a Disability Confident Committed employer. Under our Disability Confident interview scheme, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. Please confirm in the ‘how you meet the criteria for the role’ part of the application if you are applying under this scheme. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed. 

Check the job description and team explainer for more information. You can contact Yasmin Gilders to discuss this role further. 

What our people say 

George, who progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Business Development Officer last year: 

“What was your route into the team? I came into Business Development after starting out in frontline roles in local authorities and then a housing charity, where I realised I wanted to continue having an impact on people’s lives, but on a bigger scale. The Assistant Business Development Officer role was a perfect progression, and after about a year I successfully applied for a Business Development Officer role. This felt really manageable given the space for development as an Assistant Business Development Officer. 

What are your favourite parts of the job? Winning contracts is a really great feeling, especially when I know they’ve been shaped with service users and colleague to make sure we’re designing services that offer the best support to the most people. I also value the constant opportunities to learn, feeling supported in my development, and seeing the decisions I’m involved in having a real impact on people’s lives.

What were your highlights from last year? Our team away day in Liverpool, which was great fun as well as chance to hear from the managers of our new Liverpool service. It was one of the first bids I worked on as an Assistant Business Development Officer, and it was amazing to see our bid come to life, being delivered by a passionate group of people.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? I’d definitely say go for it, and once you start, embrace how much there is to learn! Make the most of a really knowledgeable and supportive team, of managers who genuinely want you to succeed, and of all the opportunities to try new things and develop new skills.” 

Holly, who has progressed from Assistant Business Development Officer to Senior Business Development Officer: 

“What was your route into the team? I was a psychology graduate and teacher training drop out! With my experience of working in schools and academic research into young people’s substance use, I started working as an Education Lead for one of CGL’s young person’s services. After a year I applied to join the Business Development Team, wanting to utilise my experience of working frontline and my love of research and writing. I’ve progressed from Assistant to Officer and then Senior Officer since joining the team in 2022.  

How would you describe the team? Helpful, real and full of knowledge. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and is happy to share their skills, knowledge and learning. I’ve never felt like I’ve asked a silly question, and I don’t feel like I must put a on ‘work mask’.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying? Not to think they can’t do it just because they don’t have experience in bid writing or business development. It’s more important to be able to demonstrate that they’re a confident professional writer and are really passionate about working in the drug and alcohol support sector.” 

Salary Range (pro rata if part time)

CGL points 23 to 28 (£27,861.26 - £32,002.35)

Interview Date

16/2/2026

Closing Date

8/2/2026