This is an exciting time to join Association of Colleges (AoC) as government, employers and communities look to our members – further education (FE) colleges – to help people and businesses recover from the pandemic and to address the country’s need for skilled workers. Our work to support our members covers a wide range of subjects such as sustainability, adult learning, sport and health, and apprenticeships and provides a range of opportunities to develop valuable commercial partnerships.
The role of Business Partnerships Executive reports to the Head of External Partnerships and Relationships, working closely with colleagues across the organisation to identify and maintain relationships with new and existing business partners to generate additional revenue and to enhance AoC’s profile and reputation.
This role is pivotal in building and maintaining income generation for the organisation. The successful candidate will be responsible for identifying new partnership opportunities and maintaining and maximising existing relationships through effective account management. Additionally, you will have responsibility for creating and implementing delivery plans for successful partnership activation campaigns, supporting the creation of new AoC products and services to maximise growth opportunities, and evaluating success.
This role would really suit someone with experience in account management and partnership work, looking to own and maintain their own relationships and to play a part in developing the future AoC partnerships plan. Exceptional customer service and stewardship is key as well as excellent communication and presentation skills and a creative approach to solving problems.
No week will be the same in this role but you can expect to do some of the following: create new and exciting proposals for prospective partners, meet with existing partners to ensure they are getting return on investment from their account, work with our Annual Conference team to deliver excellent partnership benefits at our flagship conference, identify new sectors to work with and make the initial approach to key stakeholders, and work with colleagues to develop new partnership opportunities for our sporting events.
The ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience in generating income through relationships, excellent relationship management, interpersonal skills, and the ability to plan and manage their own work. We are looking for someone who is capable of working effectively using their initiative, who is adaptable and able to work collaboratively across teams. Some travel within the UK will be required.