Business Development Manager

Intent: Pathway Group is a dynamic and forward-thinking organisation dedicated to Changing Lives Through Skills and Work. Our mission is to make a meaningful and impactful difference to clients and learners by fostering excellent relationships with funding bodies, employers, learners, and other stakeholders. We are committed to delivering outstanding education, apprenticeships, and adult education programs. Pathway Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and requires all staff and volunteers to share and demonstrate this commitment. We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Business Development Manager to grow the business across all funding streams and to develop a commercial offer appropriate to the needs of employers and learners as appropriate. You will be working with the Contract Managers and Performance Team to meet performance and financial KPI’s, as well as building excellent relationships with stakeholders, employers’, and referral agencies, to support the growth of all contracts and Pathway’s footprint within your area. As Business Development, you will support the Company’s regular operations to ensure the smooth and effective running of the department, to the highest possible standards. Liaising with partners, colleagues, and learners in a courteous and timely fashion to provide a high level of customer service and maintain our reputation as a leading training provider. We expect you to: Have excellent people skills and the ability to own a room, with a commercial awareness to be able to grow our provision outside of the funded skill sector. You must possess a high-level of expertise with supply chain, lead retention and networking and will establish yourself as a thought leader and influencer in our marketplace and be widely recognised an excellent business development lead, optimising performance, and delivering stakeholder care with business integration and customer excellence. You will be a customer and business development champion, involved in stakeholder management through carious streams with a proven track record of meeting targets, as well your proficiency to use IT software and reporting tools regarding lead generation and retention. Requirements of the Role * Identify and pursue new business opportunities, develop, and implement strategies to secure new clients and partnerships. Implement data-driven strategies to optimise sales and marketing and business growth. * Accountable for meeting performance targets and thus subsequently meeting financial expectations monthly, with the intent to grow the business through various funding streams including but not limited to advance learner loans, AEB, Skills Bootcamps, apprenticeship and traineeships. * Champion customer excellence across all sales and marketing activities. Address customer concerns promptly, ensuring a positive customer experience. * Ability to interpret and leverage data analytics to derive actionable insights that directly align with the company’s strategic goals. Communicate these insights clearly to stakeholders, ensuring they inform and drive the broader business development strategy. * Own the recruitment of learners to the various programmes available as well as build and maintain local relationships with employers, stakeholders, and referral agencies to further enhance Pathway’s performance and footprint. * Collaborate with the marketing team to create and execute comprehensive marketing strategies. * Utilise digital marketing tools and platforms to enhance brand visibility and lead generation. * Develop, implement, and utilise statistical analysis and CRM strategy to measure and improve sales and outcomes. Other Duties * Provide accurate and timely repots to your Line Manager * Ensure that all activity you are involved with is of high quality and the learner and employer experience is good in line with the education inspection framework and/or other stakeholder standards * Have an eye for detail ensuring compliance expectations are always met * Ensure companies policies and procedures are followed * Be a proactive team player, possessing effective organisational and planning skills, including the ability to manage your own diary and caseload * Ability to communicate in written form at the correct level to potential new leads * Analyse trends and improve our performance * Identify, initiate and implement commercial revenue opportunities relevant to our aspirations * Focus on lead production and the management of new potential business, with targets and results in mind * Create new business contacts whilst nurturing existing relationships in the aim of securing future opportunities Knowledge and Skills Previous experience of selling services and working to targets and other KPI structures Excellent people skills with the ability to ‘own a room’ Understanding & experience of Ofsted and ESFA funding streams Strong commercial acumen with the ability to make decisions Resilient, relentless, and the drive to succeed Have a commercial awareness to be able to grow our provision outside of the funded skill sector Ability to work to tight deadlines and budgets, with attention to detail Ability to work calmly under pressure, self-motivated and use own initiative Ability to build strong working relationships with other departments An excellent work ethic and positive attitude to work Excellent written and oral communication skills Experience in selling a service Experience of the learner journey Experience working in a quality-driven environment Thorough working proficiency with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, learning platforms as well as KPI trackers The successful candidate will have to meet the requirements of the person specification and will be subject to pre-employment checks including an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references. You must have eligibility to work in the UK. Please note, only suitable applicants will be contacted. If your address and contact details are not on your CV, you will not be considered. Some final words from our CEO: “As a new team member, you are expected to hit the ground running and be competent with dealing with Business Development swiftly in a way that is lean, agile and responsive