Development Manager

The Skills Builder Partnership is an award-winning social enterprise. Our mission is to ensure that one day, everyone builds the essential skills to succeed – beyond just a set of qualifications.

We are leading the Skills Builder Partnership, which includes over 450 schools and colleges, 130 skills-building organisations and 100 top employers including hospitals, airports and leading international companies.

Our approach is scaling rapidly as we work towards system change, with backing from sector leading organisations including the CBI and the Careers & Enterprise Company. More than 75% of secondary schools and colleges now have a touchpoint with the Skills Builder approach – and our reach is rapidly growing in other settings too.

To deliver against our mission, we are looking for self-starters with a collaborative, entrepreneurial approach; comfortable influencing stakeholders to make positive change, and with a passion for social impact.

In this role, you will be securing and maintaining the relationships and funding that make our mission possible. You will work with employers and infrastructure organisations to enable them to champion consistent essential skills development within their programmes and generate income through partnership development and wider fundraising activities. You will play a key role in achieving system change, harnessing the collective impact of the partnership by identifying key opportunities for us to scale our impact and reach.

You will be able to speak and write persuasively and be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. To deliver on this, you’ll be highly organised, managing varied workflows to hit deadlines.

We have big ambitions and your scope to grow, learn and achieve matches that. If you want to benefit from working with an inspiring team, with huge potential for learning, growth and development, we want to hear from you.

I'm excited about the new 3-year strategy and the opportunities this will bring to the organisation and to personal development.

My line manager has been brilliant in making sure that our one-to-one sessions are mainly about me and my professional development. This has made me feel even more valued than I already feel as part of the company as a whole.

It’s always an absolute delight for me to work with just about any member of the team.

I'm proud to work for Skills Builder, the impact we have and am privileged to be able to work with such brilliant colleagues.

What it’s like working for Skills Builder – quotes from our Team Survey:

"I'm proud to work for Skills Builder, the impact we have and am privileged to be able to work with such brilliant colleagues."

"My line manager has been brilliant in making sure that our one-to-one sessions are mainly about me and my professional development. This has made me feel even more valued than I already feel as part of the company as a whole."

"I'm excited about the new 3-year strategy and the opportunities this will bring to the organisation and to personal development."

Key Responsibilities

(1) Managing existing partnerships

Maintaining and developing relationships with our existing partners by:

• Acting as the account manager for key relationships with employers, infrastructure bodies (Local Authorities, sector bodies, membership organisations), trusts and foundations.
• Communicating effectively with partners and evolving their engagement with us.
• Reporting to partners on the impact of their work with us and providing stewardship activities to connect them with the impact.

(2) Developing new partnerships

• Creating new partnerships with employers, sector bodies, trusts and foundations, enabling us to work together to further essential skills development.

• Creating bespoke partnership proposals to support partners in embedding the Skills Builder Framework and approach within their internal and external activities.
• Working closely with the Director of Development and Employer Manager to ensure the delivery of partnership activities and bespoke support to each key partner.
• Using systems and processes with precision to manage relationships across the team.

(3) Fundraising

• Having strategic responsibility for the ‘Innovation Fund’: the income pipeline relating to innovation projects and core organisational costs.
• Reviewing, updating and managing the Innovation Fund pipeline and accurately communicating progress.
• Working with the Director of Development and the wider team to scope out new and existing projects to be developed.
• Identifying realistic targets for fundraising proposals and developing relationships towards proposal stage.
• Writing and submitting proposals to potential funders.
• Sharing responsibility with the Director of Development and Head of Growth Fund for achieving financial targets across all income streams.

(4) Supporting the Development team

• Collaborating with the rest of the Development Team to ensure that we achieves our overall goals.

Technical Skills and Experience

• You have demonstrable experience creating and delivering strategic partnerships with a variety of stakeholders.
• Prior experience of providing consultancy or advisory support to employers would be beneficial.

Benefits

Salary: £36,000 - £40,000 subject to review in 12 months

Start Date: As soon as possible

Working hours: Flexible but ideally 40 hours per week. Due to working with partners across England, occasional early starts and evening work will be needed.

Holidays: 25 days per year, plus bank holidays

Location: Primarily London based, with some remote working available. The role will involve some travel to visit partners across the country.

Application Process

Applications should be made via our online form - on completion of the online application please also send your CV by email. This round of applications ends at 9am on Wednesday 17th March 2021 with interviews taking place on weeks commencing 29th March and 5th April. 

Skills Builder Partnership is a Top 100 Employer. We champion equal opportunities, and actively encourage applications from all qualified individuals.