Partnership Manager

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 is the opportunity?

FutureLearn is significantly growing international business as one of our strategic pillars. We are looking for an experienced Partnership Manager in the APAC region to provide account management to existing partners and develop new business opportunities to serve global companies, higher education institutions, governments and nonprofits, who seek to empower, up-skill or re-train their workforce and students with FutureLearn’s inspiring and engaging courses and platform. 

Reporting to the VP of International Development, you will play a significant role in contributing to international strategy and go-to-market execution for the APAC region. You will be target-driven, self-motivated, and highly committed to providing customer services and developing international business opportunities. 

You will be a critical member of the team, with working knowledge of digital trends and developments in the Learning and development sector. You will have an in-depth knowledge of and experience with the business development and sales process, excelling at lead generation, relationship building, business negotiations, and closing deals. You will require collaboration and coordination across Marketing, Product, Support, Partnerships, Finance and Legal.

This is the time for FutureLearn to diversify its business activity and capitalise on its strong brand and expertise in online education. You will be joining a dynamic, passionate and success-driven team and will be key to FutureLearn achieving its education and business objectives.   

What does success look like?

• Understand the strategy and priorities of the Partners and build strong relationships with key stakeholders through the organisation;
• Closely monitor existing partner accounts and provide critical performance feedback of existing activity and identify new opportunities;
• Understand the target audience for the FL Partners’ offering and jointly develop strategies to meet the learners’ needs;
• Actively identify, drive and own new business lead pipeline and conduct regular opportunity reviews with partners and FL UK team;
• Aligning internally with FL group services to drive toward a common goal;
• Track, measure and manage partners’ success against metrics to maximise results;
• Develop, build and maintain strong business relationships with partner senior executives;
• Be recognised as the FL Partner’s internal advocate, ensuring that the teams meet and exceed the Partner’s expectations;
• Develop, present and discuss rich data and analysis to help identify programmes with high commercial potential for the FL Partner and FutureLearn;
• Understand the potential of the FutureLearn platform and fully leverage its capabilities for the benefit of the FL Partners;
• Keep abreast of developments in the Higher Ed and / or Industry sectors in the global and APAC region and become a trusted support for FL Partners so that they better understand digital learning trends;
• Monitor and support the implementation of significant programmes being delivered by FL Partners on FutureLearn.com;
• Ensure that FL Partners are aware of, and draw upon, the full range of services available from FutureLearn;
• Ensure a high level of FL Partner satisfaction
• Any other duties that might be assigned by the line manager.

What you bring to the table:

• A passion for education and learning
• 3-5 years of experience in building strong partnerships (account management / business development), preferably with universities, or equivalent organisations
• The ability to discuss market insight with partners to support choices around course selection and promotion, drawing upon insight and expertise within FutureLearn
• The ability to collaborate across a multi-disciplinary team, flexibility towards changes and specific direction, whilst maintaining a positive attitude
• Self-motivation, organisational skills and the ability to work under pressure to deliver against performance targets
• Experience of using CRM systems to manage and report on sales opportunities and deals
• Experience of presenting to groups to deliver key messages and handling senior academic stakeholder questions effectively
• Any experience of university VLE/LMS systems, student registration and assessment processes
• Experience with digital delivery of content.
• Speaking Mandarin Chinese is desirable (not essential)

What happens next

Ready to go for it? Click 'Apply', include your CV and a cover letter telling 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