At FutureLearn, we’re passionate about the power of lifelong learning. We help learners from all over the world progress in their careers – and invest in their futures.
We truly believe that up-skilling is a worthy investment, and we hope to empower our learners to take control of their careers through personalised learning pathways – giving them progress at their fingertips.
Partnering with 260+ world-class educational partners, including prestigious universities, global brands and industry partners, we offer our 20 million-strong learner community the opportunity to discover and access flexible, high-quality online courses and degrees.
We’re not here just to teach new skills (although we do that well), we want to help transform lives. FutureLearn is looking to build our teams with people who share our passion for lifelong learning, career empowerment and education for all. If that sounds like you, get in touch. You could help us achieve our biggest goal yet – becoming the world’s best AI-powered, career-based learning platform and OPM.
What's the opportunity?
At FutureLearn, the Industry Partnerships Team aims to enable learners to acquire the skills and knowledge to succeed at the jobs of today, and of the future. Through innovative partnerships with industry leaders (e.g. Microsoft, Meta, AWS), we can open up access to high quality and cutting edge education, and empower learners around the world to up-skill or re-skill and secure their next job or promotion.
The Industry Partnerships Manager will be responsible for identifying and developing relationships with leading brands around the globe to form content partnerships with FutureLearn. Championing the partner’s content vision, you will collaborate with a number of cross-functional teams (learning design and technology, marketing and product management), to design, develop and launch high impact and successful programmes that help learners around the world acquire the skills that will help them succeed in their career. Your strategic thinking, relationship skills, project management and ability to achieve results will enable you to succeed in this role, and drive forward an important part of FutureLearn’s strategy.
What does success look like?
- Identify, engage, and build strong relationships with leading Industry Partners (Fortune 500 companies), to bring new courses and programmes to FutureLearn.
- Evaluate and negotiate terms and agreements that align with both parties’ strategic goals, and close key deals that will help expand the portfolio of brands on the platform.
- Lead content acquisition for your portfolio, cultivating strong relationships with decision-makers at target organisations, and drawing on your creative and strategic thinking skills to develop proposals that highlight the benefits of joining FutureLearn’s platform and innovative mutually-beneficial content strategies.
- Develop and execute strategies to expand FutureLearn’s partnerships and fill content gaps in key industries and subject areas, conducting market research and keeping up-to-date with industry trends.
- Drive the design, development and launch of innovative partner programmes, collaborating with internal teams to evaluate potential partners' course content, and ensuring educational learning content is created and launched on time and to the highest quality, to ensure Partner offerings are integrated seamlessly into our platform and promoted effectively to learners.
- Develop the business plan and overall strategy in collaboration with Partners, providing focused goals based on overall strategic drivers, ROI and value matching, to grow partnership revenue and learner engagement.
- Ensure the success of the programmes launched on the platform, leading programme monitoring, review, and optimisation, internally and with the partner, to achieve joint business plans and ensure successful learner outcomes.
What you will bring to the table:
- 3+ years of experience in business development, partnerships, or account management and strategy, ideally within the education, EdTech, or digital content industries.
- Proven track record of identifying, pitching, and closing deals with external partners. Experience negotiating agreements and partnerships that deliver mutual value.
- Ability to assess potential partners' strengths and align their content offerings with FutureLearn’s mission and learner needs. A proactive approach to identifying new partnership opportunities, and proven experience in developing business and partnership proposals.
- Ability to analyse market data, trends, and competitor activities to inform partnership strategy and decision-making.
- The ability to collaborate and lead across a multi-disciplinary team, flexibility towards changes and specific direction, whilst maintaining a positive attitude.
- Highly motivated, self-driven, and comfortable working independently to achieve targets in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build strong relationships with external stakeholders and internal teams alike.
- Commercial skills and financial acumen.
- Industry partnership experience would be a strong plus.
- A consultancy mindset, strategic thinking and passion for developing innovative solutions to improve learner outcomes, new growth channels & operational efficiency.
- Demonstrated ability influencing internal and external stakeholders across the organisation at all levels, to ensure perfect execution and effectively deal with risks and issues.
- Demonstrated ability to form long-term strategic business relationships through engagement at all levels of the partner organisation, particularly with senior executives and subject matter experts.
- Thought leadership and subject expertise within key verticals, such as Health, Tech, and Business, and a passion for addressing emerging skills and tackling global skills gaps.
What we offer you:
- 28 days of Annual Leave plus UK Public Holidays
- Roll over up to 5 days Holiday
- Access to FutureLearn courses
- Westfield Health Cash Plan
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Season Ticket Loan
- Charity work – 1 day dedicated to a charity of your choice
- Calm Premium Subscription
What happens next?
Ready to go for it? Click 'Apply', include your CV and tell us why you'd like to become a FutureLearner, and how you’ll nail this role.
Recruitment Process
Please contact [email protected] if you require any reasonable adjustments or alterations to be made to support you through the recruitment process.
Diversity Statement
We value all the great benefits that diversity brings and encourage everyone to bring their whole self to work – At FutureLearn we are proud to have Diversity and Inclusion at the centre of everything we do. We are committed to Equal Employment Opportunity regardless of race, colour, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.
We can't wait to meet you! #FutureLearnCareers
