Strategic Partnerships & Funding Manager

At Focus, we’re looking for a proactive and commercially minded Strategic Partnerships and Funding Manager to help us grow our impact across the skills, education and employment landscape. This is a highly outward-facing role where you’ll build strong relationships with commissioners, local and combined authorities, employers, providers and other strategic partners. You’ll spot emerging funding and partnership opportunities, develop them into compelling bids and proposals, and take ownership through to mobilisation, delivery and performance.

You’ll be at the heart of our growth strategy – connecting people, intelligence and opportunities and ensuring Focus is well positioned to respond to changing regional and national priorities.

What you’ll do

• Build strategic partnerships — develop and maintain strong, trusted relationships with commissioners, local and combined authorities, employers, funding bodies, provider networks and other strategic partners.
• Represent Focus externally — attend meetings, events, conferences and stakeholder forums, building Focus’s profile and reputation across the skills, education and economic development landscape.
• Identify new opportunities — proactively research and track emerging funding, commissioning, procurement and partnership opportunities at local, regional and national level.
• Build our opportunity pipeline — maintain a forward-looking pipeline of opportunities, assessing each for strategic fit, commercial value, deliverability and risk.
• Turn intelligence into action — understand emerging government, regional and local priorities, including the impact of devolution and changing skills and employment policy, and identify where Focus can add value.
• Develop new propositions — work with curriculum, commercial, operational and leadership colleagues to shape innovative and compelling solutions that respond to employer, learner and commissioner needs.
• Lead bids and tenders — coordinate and contribute to high‑quality funding applications, tenders and partnership proposals, bringing together input from across the organisation and ensuring submissions are persuasive, accurate and commercially sound.
• Improve our approach to bidding — learn from feedback, market intelligence and previous submissions to continually strengthen the quality and effectiveness of Focus’s bids.
• Mobilise new contracts — lead or coordinate the transition from successful bid to operational delivery, ensuring contractual commitments, responsibilities, systems, milestones and performance expectations are clearly understood.
• Connect strategy with delivery — work closely with operational teams to ensure what we promise externally can be delivered effectively and that there is a clear handover from bid assumptions to implementation.
• Monitor contract performance — maintain strategic oversight of funded programmes, tracking financial and non‑financial performance, KPIs, milestones, outcomes and risks.
• Build strong commissioner relationships — maintain effective relationships throughout contract delivery, supporting reviews, reporting and ongoing partnership development.
• Manage funding assurance and compliance — interpret funding rules and contractual requirements, translate them into practical guidance and ensure appropriate evidence, controls and processes are in place.
• Identify and manage risk — work with Finance, MIS, Quality and operational colleagues to identify financial, contractual and compliance risks early and coordinate appropriate action.
• Capture impact and learning — ensure outcomes, evidence and lessons from delivery inform future bids, propositions, partnerships and funding decisions.
• Share market intelligence — bring insight into Focus about what is changing across the sector, where new opportunities are emerging and how we can position ourselves for future growth.

Ultimately, you’ll help Focus move from reacting to opportunities to actively creating them — building the relationships, intelligence and propositions that lead to sustainable growth and greater impact for learners and employers.

What we’re looking for

You’ll bring experience of publicly funded skills, education, employability or related programmes, together with a track record of developing successful bids, tenders or proposals. You’ll be confident building relationships with senior external stakeholders, commercially aware, highly organised and able to translate complex funding requirements into practical action. You’ll be a strong communicator who can influence across teams, manage multiple priorities and take ownership from opportunity through to delivery.

Essential

• Strong understanding of publicly funded skills, education, employability or related programmes.
• Experience of developing funding applications, bids, tenders or proposals.
• Ability to build credible relationships with senior external stakeholders.
• Strong written communication and ability to develop persuasive proposals.
• Commercial awareness and ability to assess the viability of opportunities.
• Strong project-management and organisational skills.
• Ability to interpret complex funding and contractual requirements.
• Strong analytical skills and confidence working with performance and financial information.
• Ability to influence colleagues across an organisation without necessarily having direct management responsibility.
• Confidence representing Focus externally.
• A proactive approach to identifying opportunities rather than waiting for them to arrive.
• High levels of professional judgement, integrity and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Experience within further education, apprenticeships or the skills sector.
• Experience working with devolved authorities, local authorities, DfE/ESFA or other public commissioners.
• Experience of managing publicly funded contracts.
• Knowledge of procurement systems and tendering processes.
• Established networks within the South West skills, employer or economic‑development landscape.

Why Focus?

At Focus Training, we work with learners, employers and communities to develop the technical, professional and personal skills that create careers and strengthen businesses. We’re ambitious about what comes next. For this role in particular, that means having the opportunity to help shape where Focus goes next — developing relationships, spotting emerging opportunities and bringing partners together to create new provision. We want someone who is curious about what’s happening across our region, understands where the opportunities are emerging and makes sure Focus is part of those conversations. In return, this is an opportunity to influence the growth and direction of an independent training organisation and see relationships and ideas translate into real opportunities for learners, employers and communities. If you’re someone who spots opportunities, builds trusted relationships and turns ideas into sustainable impact, we’d love to hear from you.

Benefits:

• 37 days leave, inclusive of bank holidays and Christmas closure
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Free on‑site parking
• Work from home arrangements
• Plus you’ll be joining a proactive, positive team open to all your ideas for innovation and growth!