Business Development Executive

Are you a passionate self-starter with a drive to succeed in a fast-paced, high-energy sales environment? Do you love building strong relationships, managing your own pipeline, and making a real impact in education? Join us at Thrive and be part of a team that transforms classrooms by bringing innovative products and services directly to schools.

Whether you're a recent graduate or experienced within a full sales cycle role, this position offers purpose, collaboration with expert teams, and significant growth potential.

About Us: At Thrive, we're passionate about empowering children and young people to flourish by removing barriers to learning and improving mental health. Our evidence-based approach is trusted by thousands of schools and settings across the UK and beyond. As we continue to grow, we're looking for a driven and dynamic Business Development Executive to join our team. The Thrive Approach has been proven to improve pupil attendance, behaviour, and mental health through our world-class training courses and award-winning web product Thrive Online. You will enthusiastically engage with customers to help sell our full suite of products, including commercial courses and funded apprenticeships.

About the Role: This is a brand-new, high-energy sales role designed for someone who loves working in a fast-paced, high-volume environment. You'll directly sell Thrive's products and services to schools and other settings. You'll be responsible for identifying prospects, engaging decision-makers, and closing deals that bring Thrive's transformative approach into more classrooms. Working closely with our Marketing, Bookings, and Regional Development Manager teams, you will support them to maximise every opportunity - identifying prospects, qualifying leads, and booking conversations with customers. But your primary focus will be on managing your pipeline and driving revenue growth through outbound sales.

Main Duties:

• Sales: Proactively sell Thrive's products and services to schools via phone, email, and digital channels. Manage the full sales cycle from prospecting to closing, with a focus on high-volume outreach. Build and maintain a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities. Collaborate with Marketing to convert campaign leads into paying customers. Work alongside Regional Development Managers to support larger opportunities and strategic accounts, including booking discovery calls. Consistently meet and exceed ambitious quarterly sales targets. Maintain accurate records in the CRM and report on sales performance.
• Opportunity Generation: Interface between our marketing function and the sales team to turn marketing qualified leads into sales qualified leads. Manage the leads module within our CRM. Send prospecting emails/posts/tweets. Follow up with pre-qualification calls. Make prescribed number of discovery call appointments in your designated RDMs' diaries.
• Business Support: Work in tandem with your designated RDMs to understand and assist with their strategic approach to developing sales to larger and multi-sited settings. Work closely with other teams within Thrive, in particular Marketing and Bookings, to ensure outstanding customer experience. Collaborate with other Supporting Education Group sister companies to promote Thrive more effectively, and to ensure smooth processing of apprenticeship sales administration. Identify possible weaknesses in current methodology to drive continuous improvement within the team and across the wider business. Build a database of local authority and MAT contacts to help promote our services regionally. Perform quarterly market analysis of your sales territory to identify new opportunities, competitors, trends or any big challenges.

About You: This is an ambitiously targeted and well-rewarded sales role. You are therefore an ambitious and resilient individual, motivated by forging a lucrative sales career. If this sounds like you, we welcome an application.

What We're Looking For:

• Sales Passion: You love selling and are motivated by targets and commission.
• Ambition: You're hungry to succeed and grow within a fast-paced sales environment.
• Resilience: You handle rejection with grace and keep pushing forward.
• Tenacity: You're persistent, proactive, and never afraid to follow up.
• Coachability: You're eager to learn and open to feedback.
• Self-Starter: You take initiative and thrive in a performance-driven culture.
• Communication: You're a natural communicator - excellent on customer calls, and you write in a concise, compelling way.
• Knowledge: You know, or are keen to learn, about the schools sector, education sales and/or apprenticeship programmes.

This is a full time role, and the successful candidate will need to be comfortable working shift patterns between 8am-6pm, Monday-Friday and based in our Exeter office for a minimum of 3 days per week - with work from home option on Monday and Fridays.

Our Benefits: As an equal opportunities employer, we celebrate diversity and flexibility, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for our incredible team. We offer: Competitive salary, hybrid working and commission for exceeding target. 28 days holiday and get an extra day for each year you stay with us, up to max 33 days PLUS bank holidays. We pay for a Healthcare Plan once you've passed probation, which includes access to a private GP. From day 1, free life insurance covering up to x4 your salary. We'll add money into your pension pot after 3 months. Choose what flexible benefits you want after you've passed probation - this could be buying extra holiday, dental, topping up your healthcare plan, bikes, gym membership, electric cars and give as you earn. A clear progression path and ongoing professional development. A vibrant, supportive team environment in our brand-new Exeter office. The opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people.