Partnerships & Development Manager

We are hiring a Partnerships & Development Manager to help win and hold the partnerships that fund and power an established organisation in the international education sector.

You will work directly to our partnerships lead across the full cycle. On the winning side, you research and open opportunities with universities and sponsors, build the proposals and the commercial case, and help carry long, committee-driven decisions through to signature. On the holding side, you own the day-to-day account work: turning each signed agreement into a set of commitments, tracking them to completion, evidencing what was delivered, and keeping the relationship warm through to renewal. You also help progress relationships with Indian institutions into real, signed activity.

This is a fully remote role, working UK hours from India.

Working hours

Monday to Friday: 9am to 6pm UK time.

Saturday: 9am to 1:30pm UK time.

The Role: AI-native, used centrally throughout

You will:

• Support the partnerships lead across the pipeline: research, targeting, outreach, meetings, proposals and follow-up.
• Build proposals and the commercial case, tailored to what each institution or sponsor actually needs.
• Own day-to-day account and sponsorship management: convert each signed agreement into a delivery plan, track every commitment, and evidence what was delivered.
• Keep partners and sponsors well served between milestones, so contact is not limited to when we need something.
• Help progress relationships and agreements with Indian institutions into activity that can actually be invoiced.
• Run the pipeline and the records honestly: everything logged, every next step dated, a forecast that means something.
• Build the reporting pack after each event and period, good enough that a sponsor forwards it to their own leadership.
• Flag early when something promised cannot be delivered, so it can be fixed rather than discovered.
• Use AI across your workflow: institutional research, proposal drafting, tracking, and preparation.

What we're looking for

• HIGHLY PREFERRED - A graduate of a UK university, now based in India.
• 3 to 6 years in business development, partnerships, account management, client servicing or sponsorship, where you personally carried relationships or owned accounts.
• A record of both opening relationships and keeping them, rather than one at the expense of the other.
• Excellent written English and strong proposal writing. It will be assessed.
• Exceptional organisation: many slow relationships and dozens of small commitments held at once, none dropped.
• Credible with senior people, without being deferential.
• Genuine, demonstrable fluency with AI tools as part of how you work.
• Comfortable working fully remote, to UK hours, with high autonomy.

Nice to have

• Experience in international education: universities, pathway providers, edtech, or a sector body.
• Sponsorship or partnership delivery: events, awards, summits, conferences.
• Existing relationships with UK universities or with Indian institutions.
• Experience selling or servicing a membership or association model.
• Experience with a CRM, and the discipline to keep one accurate.