Education Partnerships Manager

Our debating, public speaking and cultural exchange programmes aim to embed sustainable cultures of oracy in schools, and empower young people to engage with the world, to speak more confidently and to listen to and understand different points of view.  With the new Ofsted Framework and the Curriculum and Assessment Review confirming the importance of great oracy education, the need has never been greater for the ESU’s educational offers. 

Purpose of this role. 

This role is central to driving our work forward. You will play a key part in ensuring the next generation gains essential oracy skills by managing and delivering the sales of the English-Speaking Union’s educational products. These include our signature ‘Discover Your Voice’ student oracy workshops and our Teacher Oracy CPD sessions for schools and other educational settings in England and Wales, with potential to expand to international schools. 

You will lead the full sales process from start to finish. This includes generating leads, responding to enquiries, securing bookings and overseeing the delivery of workshops and training. You will be proactive, motivated and confident working with a high degree of initiative. Working closely with the Director of Education, you will help build an effective sales operation that ensures thousands of young people and teachers benefit from high-quality oracy opportunities. 

About the role and responsibilities 

We are looking for someone who can: 

• Own the lifecycle of sales of our education products, building positive relationships to ensure repeat business 

• Devise and execute strategies to generate leads of sales to schools (secondary and primary), Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and other partners 

• Collaborate with the ESU Marketing Team and Director of Education to develop the messaging and assets needed to promote our offers 

• Respond to and follow-up on leads and warm conversations to move prospects through the sales pipeline 

• Manage the delivery of the workshops by being point of contact for Lead Teachers, appointing freelance Oracy Leaders to deliver the work and providing communication, support and resources as necessary 

• Build the ESU network, connecting with teachers and MAT contacts to generate sales. This includes proactive outreach to new schools and MATs for new business, as well as working with existing clients.  

• Use Salesforce to manage all programme delivery including tracking all account communication, reporting on sales pipelines including new business and renewals  

• Devise the sales strategies and execute the plans to generate leads and interest from international schools 

• Collect data for monitoring (student surveys; case studies; teacher surveys) 

• Work with our pool of delivery staff (Oracy Leaders). This would include clear communications before and after workshop delivery, booking staff onto workshops, liaising with finance and HR when necessary.   

This job description gives an outline of key duties and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. The post holder may be asked to take on other relevant responsibilities as reasonably requested by their line manager. Examples of additional responsibility areas include communications, administration and resource design. 

Person Specification 

• Passionate about improving oracy skills in young people from all backgrounds 

• Experience managing end to end sales, especially to schools 

• Experience of hitting and even exceeding sales targetsExperience developing strong relationships across a range of stakeholders, including senior leaders and in schools  

• Experience with CRM systems to manage and report on sales performance 

• Strong understanding of the education sector, schools and the realities of teaching 

• Strong organisation and prioritisation skills 

• Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) 

• Excellent attention to detail and high standards 

• Proactive, independent worker able to work well alone and as part of a team 

• Flexible and adaptable to the needs of a scaling organisation 

Desirable: 

• Experience of working with Salesforce 

• Experience coordinating freelance staff 

• Experience planning and delivering lessons 

• Experience of resource creation