Strategic Partnerships Manager

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Strategic Partnerships Manager

Reports to: Head of Partnerships

Location: Currently operating hybrid working in our West London Office

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am - 5.30pm)

Closing date: 01/11/2024 at 10am

Interviews: Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised

Salary: £35,000 to £40,000 (depending on experience)

About the role:

T he Strategic Partnerships Manager will lead new school partnership subscriptions to our Mastery programmes and provides account management to key Academy Trust partners. As the Strategic Partnerships Manager you will create and manage a sales pipeline and develop relationships with partner schools and Multi Academy Trusts (MAT) to increase the reach of our Mastery programmes.

You will be responsible for growing and maintaining relationships across an area of England, recruiting schools and MATs to our programmes from these areas, and retaining our current partner schools and MATs. This role will involve prospecting and qualifying new sales opportunities within schools and larger networks like MATs, teaching school alliances and local authorities. You will build connections with senior leaders including Headteachers and Education Directors to grow our partnership network and the reach of our programmes.

You will also handle a large volume of incoming leads, identifying those which would most benefit from our programmes and support their journey to joining us. We are looking for someone highly motivated, who thrives in problem solving, can work well under pressure, and is passionate about being able to support our mission to make a positive impact in education.

We also have members in our team with no direct experience in a sales position, but who have other experience in the education sector in England, having worked as a teacher or subject leader. We welcome applicants with these experiences. You will be joining an ambitious team, offering opportunities to develop and learn, and to shape the ways we expand our reach and impact to even more schools in a phase of sustained growth for the organisation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively prospecting new, high value sales opportunities and handling inbound leads and sales queries from schools
• Working closely with the Marketing team to develop tactical campaigns to grow the number of partnerships with new and existing customers
• Arranging meetings, delivering sales presentations, and programme demonstrations, both virtually and face-to-face with prospective customers
• Using a consultative sales approach to connect with prospective customers and match our products and services to their needs
• Owning the account management of nominated key partners and school groups
• Monitoring programme engagement and usage to provide value for money analysis for key account partners to drive up engagement and renewal
• Using market insight data to continuously improve the experience of partner schools joining for the first time, throughout their onboarding, and renewal processes
• You will lead and contribute to cross team projects that focus on the school experience of joining and renewing our programmes

Key Requirements:

• Right to work in the UK
• Experience of selling to schools and Multi-Academy Trust leaders (desirable)
• Experience teaching in UK school(s) (desirable)
• Experience of devising and implementing customer-focused solutions
• Adept at maintaining and developing prospect databases and sales pipelines, reporting on critical success factors
• Ability to use and analyse data to drive performance
• Excellent influencing and negotiating skills
• Good IT skills, with specific skill in using Microsoft office applications and other cloud-based systems (e.g. Zoom, Calendly, Teams, Office365, etc)
• Demonstrates resilience, creativity, motivation and commitment
• Collaborative working style and strong team player
• Personable, with the ability to develop long-term relationships with school and MAT senior leaders
• Can apply effective operational understanding and implementation to strategic thought

View the full job description and person specification here

About Ark Curriculum Plus

Ark Curriculum Plus is a not-for-profit education venture. Our mission is to empower teachers to give every young person, regardless of their background, the subject knowledge and skills that will allow them to succeed.

Grown out of Ark Schools Multi Academy Trust, Ark Curriculum Plus (AC+) is dedicated to supporting teachers in providing consistent, high-quality education, that raises attainment across the school.

We are a team of highly skilled education professionals who have worked with our schools to design and trial curriculum, lesson design and training in the development of our AC+ subject improvement programmes.

We know that to achieve powerful teaching that changes lives, teachers need to have strong subject knowledge, the best evidence-based subject pedagogies, rigorous assessment and effective planning, all working together. That's why we developed the AC+ Subject Excellence Programmes that follow a 5-Step Improvement Process, based on over a decade's experience of transforming subject results in one of the most respected MATs. Our programmes are now used by over 1000 schools in the UK, including the 39 schools in the Ark network.

We are proud of the impact we have had and are having in the schools we partner with. The Education Endowment Foundation found students using Mathematics Mastery Primary made 2 months additional progress.

Benefits

• Our hybrid working model aims to offer the best of both worlds, striking the right balance between in-person collaboration and remote working. You will work a minimum of two days per week in our state-of-the-art office in West London allowing you to connect with colleagues, with the flexibility to work remotely, or in the office over the remaining days
• In addition to our current hybrid working arrangements, employees can request to work fully remotely for up to 10 working days a year, whether this be in the UK or abroad
• Our flexitime policy allows you to work your hours around our core hours of 10.00 - 16.00, helping you prioritise your work-life balance and personal commitments
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years' service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Friday 1 st November 2024 at 10am but please note : we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark's safer recruitment process, please click this link .

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone - staff and students - can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark's diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.