Business Development Manager - AO

We are a leading apprenticeship Assessment Organisation dedicated to upholding quality, integrity, and excellence in apprenticeship assessment. To support our ambitious growth strategy, we are creating a new senior leadership role: Apprenticeship Assessment (AA) – Business Development Manager. This role will be central to shaping and driving our commercial assessment strategy. The successful candidate will establish, build, and strengthen relationships with employers, training providers, partners, and industry stakeholders, ensuring our apprenticeship assessment services are positioned as trusted, high-quality, and responsive to sector needs. With a focus on growth and sustainability, this role will combine strategic vision with hands-on delivery, leading sales and business development activity for the ELS AO capability, that increases market presence, expands our portfolio, and drives long-term partnerships. This is a unique opportunity to join an organisation at the forefront of apprenticeship assessment, where you will make a direct impact on how we grow, innovate, and continue to deliver exceptional service to apprentices, employers, and providers. This role will initially report directly to the Managing Director, with a dotted reporting line to the ELS AO Director. The successful candidate will support the ELS AO Director to meet AO departmental and organisational objectives and KPIs and will have experience and a background in the apprenticeship sector. The successful candidate will have a strong track record working with training providers, employers and assessment organisations (originally called EPAOs). This role involves UK travel. The successful candidate will be required to drive to events and meetings around the country and therefore must have a reliable vehicle for the role.

Main Tasks & Responsibilities

• Support with the development and delivery of a clear sales and business development strategy for the ELS Awarding Organisation, aligned to organisational growth objectives.
• Identify new opportunities across apprenticeship standards and emerging markets to expand our apprenticeship assessment portfolio.
• Seek, establish, build, and maintain strong relationships with employers, training providers, industry bodies, and stakeholders.
• Lead on securing new apprenticeship assessment contracts and partnerships, ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction and retention are maintained.
• Represent the organisation at sector/industry events, conferences, and networking forums to raise profile, brand visibility and build new collaborative relationships.
• Oversee the full apprenticeship assessment sales cycle, from lead generation to contract negotiation and onboarding.
• Design, establish and maintain clear and concise recording and reporting mechanisms/tools to ensure the Managing Director and AO Director are always kept up to date on progress.
• Develop and monitor sales pipelines, forecasts, and performance metrics to achieve revenue and growth targets.
• Ensure pricing models and commercial offers are competitive, sustainable, and compliant with the Department of Education, Skills England, and Ofqual requirements.
• Work closely with the AA Delivery Team (Managers, Coordinators, PSA), the AA Quality Team and Quality Manager, and ELS operations and support teams to ensure a seamless customer experience.
• Provide market insights and competitor intelligence to inform organisational strategy.
• Contribute to senior leadership decision-making.
• Conduct presentations to potential and existing customers (employers, training providers, industry and apprentices).
• Provide updates at Managers Meetings, and Quarterly Director Meetings.
• Work with the ELS Digital Learning Team (DLT) and our Multi Channel Marketer to ensure marketing materials are innovatively designed, kept up to date and available for meetings, virtual/remote communications, and events.
• Onboard, train and manage new AA sales and business development staff (if/when needed).
• Carry out any additional tasks requested by the ELS Directors to help support organisational needs and objectives.

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