We are recruiting a Business Development Manager in a relationship led role focused on building, managing and growing high quality employer and skills partnerships that support lifelong learning, apprenticeships and CPD.
The role's primary emphasis is on developing trusted, long term partnerships, acting as the first point of contact for employers and sector stakeholders, and supporting employers through engagement, programme alignment and learner on-boarding. The post-holder will ensure an excellent partner experience, drive enquiry to enrolment conversion, and enable successful delivery through close coordination with internal teams.

Key Accountabilities

1. Partnership Management & Relationship Building (Primary Focus)

• Act as the main relationship lead for employers, sector bodies, local authorities, FE colleges and skills partners.
• Build, sustain and grow long term, trust based relationships that support repeat activity and strategic collaboration.
• Serve as the first point of contact for external partners, ensuring responsive, professional and consistent engagement.
• Respond to employer enquiries, coordinate meetings, visits and engagement activity, and ensure a high quality partner journey.
• Maintain accurate, up to date records of partner engagement, interactions and outcomes within CRM systems.
• Strengthen existing relationships to maximise opportunities for collaboration, work based learning and co investment.

2. Skills, Apprenticeship & CPD Engagement (Primary Focus)

• Provide clear, practical advice and guidance to employers on apprenticeship standards, levy utilisation, CPD options and programme suitability.
• Support employers in understanding how University provision aligns to their workforce development and skills needs.
• Manage employer engagement pipelines from initial enquiry through to learner on-boarding and conversion.
• Coordinate closely with the Project Manager to support employer involvement in:
  • Co creation workshops
  • Curriculum engagement
  • Employer led events and panels
• Work with the Compliance and Quality Manager to ensure smooth on-boarding of employers, apprentices and CPD learners, meeting regulatory and contractual requirements.
• Act as a problem solver for employers, addressing questions and barriers to engagement.