Head of Business Development, Public Sector and Education

Closing Date: 19 June 2024 - 12:00 noon

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education.

The Business Development Unit (BDU) is committed to the delivery of innovative and profitable learning solutions, for students, businesses, and partners in the UK and globally. The BDU is a key contributor to the Open University’s (OU) strategy for extending reach to more diverse groups of learners through a range of channels, learning opportunities and partnerships that enable innovation and income diversification. The Unit plays a key role in delivering growth in existing markets and establishing the University in new markets, including apprenticeships.

The role

Working as an integral part of the BDU’s sector development team to support the Open University’s (OU) increase in reach and income diversification strategy, this role will provide strategic and tactical leadership and vision in order to discover, develop and grow new and existing B2B markets and business relationships.

The role will create a clear strategy for the Public Sector and Education across the four nations, identify new business opportunities, build new propositions and partnerships, and close business to meet agreed financial targets. The role will, where required, lead sector or cross-sector teams, primarily, but not exclusively to execute new academic and commercial opportunities for the Open University in existing and new markets both in the UK and globally.

The Head of Business Development, Public Sector and Education will drive the growth and development of a wide product portfolio, within or across agreed sectors, and will have a proven track record of commercial proposition development and management ideally from building a successful education business. The role holder will have deep subject matter expertise of delivering educational and/or apprenticeship solutions.

Skills and experience

• The candidate will be highly commercial with extensive experience in B2B customer acquisition strategy, proposition development and implementation, ideally gained in a nationally recognised, customer-focused and service-led organisations with a reputation for excellence.
• A strong commercial background and analytical skills, with the ability to develop business cases and display winning commitment to influence, negotiate with and gain support from key external and internal stakeholders of all levels, is paramount.
• Experience within Higher Education or the learning and development sector is essential as well as experience at a senior level of managing business development and proposition development across multiple business settings or channels.
• Experience of driving business development and innovation, proposition strategy and implementing business decisions and processes within a large governance-based organisation is required, alongside demonstrable experience of increasing organisational impact and reach, revenue and profitability.
• Evidence of sound commercial judgement with previous experience in a senior sales, business innovation or proposition development, marketing, product strategy or training development position would be expected.

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