Partnerships Manager - Early Years in Hampshire

The Partnerships Manager is responsible for overseeing the learner journey, from onboarding to completion, ensuring high engagement and strong success rates. This role involves managing relationships with learners, trainers, and a range of local small and medium-sized employers (SMEs).

Employer Engagement (Local SME Focus):

• Primary Contact & Meetings: Act as the main point of contact for a portfolio of local small and medium-sized employers. Manage employer queries, attend partnership meetings, and ensure training activity aligns with each employer’s workforce goals.
• Promotion & Engagement: Maintain a strong local presence — both in the community and on social media — to promote apprenticeships and training opportunities to SMEs and potential learners.
• Local Partnerships: Develop and nurture long-term relationships with local employers, working closely with the Head of Sales to identify opportunities that support local workforce development.
• Networking & Community Promotion: Represent the organisation at local business events, community forums, and networking groups. Collaborate with the marketing team to create promotional materials tailored to SMEs.
• Responsive Support: Attend regular check-ins with employer partners, respond promptly to queries, and provide timely updates to ensure smooth delivery of training programmes.
• Issue Resolution: Address urgent learner or employer issues, supporting the resolution of concerns and managing complaints efficiently.
• Onboarding & Engagement: Oversee the onboarding of learners, liaise with enrolment teams, monitor engagement and progress.

Where will I be based? This is a home-based role, with travel required within the Hampshire region to visit employers. Around 30% of your week will be spent on the road, but as you’ll manage your own diary, you’ll have flexibility in how you plan your time. This will be discussed with you further in your interview.

The Benefits:

• 25 days holiday plus public and bank holidays
• Purchase scheme for up to 5 additional days annual leave
• Birthday and Christmas Eve off
• Flexible working
• Health Shield scheme
• Life insurance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Sick pay
• Bereavement leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• £1,000 Employee referral bonus scheme

About You:

• Proven experience in apprenticeship management, employer engagement, or a related role within the training, education, or early years sector, ideally working with small and medium-sized local employers.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain positive relationships with local employers, apprentices, and internal teams.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, contributing to shared goals and the growth of local partnerships.
• Knowledge of apprenticeships, programme delivery, and the early years/education sector is highly desirable.
• A community-focused approach, with the ability to understand the unique needs of SMEs and tailor support accordingly.

What Happens Next?

• The Realise Recruitment team will be in touch, regardless of the outcome.
• Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.
• You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position, which will compromise of a one-hour formal interview, likely on Teams, where we will ask you a series of competency and behavioural questions.
• As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

About Us:

• Realise Early Years is a leading specialist training provider, delivering high-quality programmes shaped around what the sector truly needs.
• Our story is one of thoughtful, sustainable growth. In recent years we’ve expanded into new regions, strengthened employer partnerships, and developed innovative curriculum offers – all carefully planned and rooted in quality, with learners, settings, children and families at the heart of what we do.
• Our vision is simple: to create outstanding practitioners, educators and leaders. Our Senior Leadership Team brings over 150 years of combined early years experience, with leaders who have grown from apprentices to sector experts.
• We promote the wellbeing of our learners and employees and are fully committed to safeguarding, safer recruitment and fulfilling our Prevent Duty obligations.
• All successful applicants will undergo a DBS and online search check at offer stage. Proof of qualifications and Right to Work in the UK is required.
• Realise has been in business for over 35 years, growing from our Sheffield roots to over 500 employees nationwide, and we’re proud to be part of the AQA charity group.