Partnership Director

Partnership Director

Department: Delivery (Talent Acquisition)

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: London, Hybrid

Reporting To: Rob Blythe

Description

London, Hybrid. Split your time flexibly between our London office, your clients' sites and home, depending on what your partnerships need.

The Role

As a Partnership Director, you'll be the senior owner of a portfolio of four to six talent partnerships. You'll be accountable for client success, commercial growth and the performance of the embedded teams who deliver for our clients. You'll work closely across Delivery and Growth, with real scope to shape how we add value to clients beyond traditional RPO. This isn't a role for keeping things ticking over. We're looking for a commercially minded leader who brings fresh perspective and an AI-first mindset. You'll build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, champion the value of every partnership, and feel comfortable offering a different view when it's the right thing for the client and for us.

Key Responsibilities:

• Portfolio leadership: Own four to six partnerships on a fractional basis. Move between them with ease and give each one the right focus at the right time.
• Senior client credibility: Build trust with senior stakeholders quickly. Act as a strategic advisor who offers honest perspective and constructive challenge, not just agreement.
• Commercial ownership: Own the commercial performance of your portfolio, including forecasting, renewals, upsell, resell and renegotiation. Clearly articulate and demonstrate the value we deliver at every stage of the partnership.
• Growth: Spot and shape new opportunities, building business cases and networks that expand partnerships and open new revenue streams.
• Team leadership: Lead, coach and develop the Talent Acquisition Managers and Leads embedded with each client. Set clear priorities and build a high-trust, high-performing culture.
• Innovation and change: Champion an AI-first approach across your partnerships. Introduce new processes and tools, and use data to remove blockers and raise standards.
• Problem-solving: Step in to troubleshoot when things get complex, staying calm, clear-thinking and solutions-focused.

Skills & Experience:

What you'll bring

• Experience leading a portfolio of client accounts or partnerships at the same time. This could be in RPO, recruitment, talent solutions, consulting, HR services or another professional services environment. Portfolio experience matters here more than anything else.
• Strong commercial instincts, with a track record of growing accounts through upsell, renewals or renegotiation, and comfort with forecasting and P&Ls.
• Experience managing, coaching and developing teams.
• Credibility with senior stakeholders, and the curiosity to question "this is how it's always been done".
• An AI-first mindset. You use AI to improve how you work every day, and you've built your own agent or automation to improve how you and your team work.
• Excellent organisation and time management. You plan and prioritise well across competing demands.

Nice to have

• Experience in legal, financial services or professional services. PE-backed, high-growth or tech backgrounds are also of interest.

Benefits:

• Work from Anywhere Policy : Enjoy the flexibility to work from any location for up to 4 weeks each year.
• Private Health Insurance : Your health and well-being are a priority. Benefit from comprehensive private health insurance through Aviva for peace of mind.
• Home Office Allowance : Create your perfect home workspace with a £200 allowance to enhance your comfort and productivity.
• Personal Development Fund : Invest in your growth with a £500 annual allowance for professional development. Explore courses, conferences, and more.
• Generous Time Off : Take time to recharge with 25 days of holiday, plus all