Business Development Lead (Careers & Employability)

Education Development Trust; England; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

2 days volunteering per year (pro rata

Life Assurance

Discounted gym memberships

Cycle to work scheme

Training portal for CPD

Job summary

Education Development Trust in England is seeking a senior Business Development Lead (Careers & Employability) to drive growth across the UK and internationally. You will own opportunities from market analysis through to bid mobilisation, guiding partnerships and solution design.

The role requires extensive bid experience, strategic thinking, and excellent stakeholder management, with a hybrid working pattern and permanent status. Salary starts at £60,000 per year.

Qualifications

• Experience securing high-value Careers and Employability contracts.
• Proven bid development and strategy experience.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills with senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the Careers and Employability growth strategy across the UK and globally.
• Identify and qualify new business opportunities and potential funding.
• Undertake market analysis to understand clients, competitors, markets and partners.
• Lead end-to-end bids including design, stakeholder engagement, partnerships, bid writing and mobilisation.
• Ensure submissions meet client requirements and deliver high-quality, commercially viable solutions.
• Build relationships with external organisations, clients and partners and negotiate partnerships.

Skills

Bid development

Market analysis

Partnership development

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Bid writing

Commercial acumen

Strategic thinking

Negotiation

Communication

Job description

Business Development Lead (Careers & Employability)

Business Development Lead (Careers & Employability)

Location: - England (Hybrid)

This is a full-time permanent role (35 hours per week)

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially focused Business Development Lead (Careers & Employability) to drive the growth of our Careers and Employability work in the UK and internationally.

This is a senior business development role with responsibility for identifying, developing and securing high-value, profitable and strategically important opportunities.

Working closely with our Head of Careers, Employability & Progression, operational teams and Business Development colleagues, you’ll take ownership of opportunities throughout the full business development lifecycle. From market analysis and early positioning through to solution design, partnership development, bid writing and mobilisation, you’ll play a key role in ensuring Education Development Trust is well positioned for future growth.

What you’ll be doing

Leading the development of our Careers and Employability growth strategy across the UK and globally.

Identifying and qualifying new business opportunities and future funding opportunities.

Undertaking market analysis to understand clients, competitors, markets and potential partners.

Leading opportunities and bids from end to end, including solution design, stakeholder engagement, partnership development, bid writing and commercial considerations.

Ensuring submissions meet or exceed client requirements and represent high-quality, commercially viable solutions.

Building effective relationships with external organisations, clients and partners, including leading partnership discussions and negotiations.

Representing EDT externally and supporting our positioning within the Careers and Employability sectors.

Working collaboratively across Business Development, Careers and Employability and operational teams.

Supporting the effective handover and mobilisation of successful new contracts.

Line managing and developing the Business Development Manager, as well as supporting junior colleagues across the wider team.

Contributing to wider Business Development opportunities and improvement projects where required.

Please note that we are unable to offer sponsorship for this position. Candidates must already have the right to work in the UK at the time of application.

This role will require the successful candidate to go through an basic DBS check.

Salary & Benefits

Benefits include:

2 days of paid volunteering per year (pro rota)

Life Assurance

Discounted gym memberships

Cycle to work scheme.

Access to training portal to help support your own CPD

EDT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults whom we work with and come into contact with around the world. All applicants are subject to thorough screening and successful candidates are subject to the relevant level of criminal record checks with national police authorities or the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This will be at minimum a basic DBS check.

EDT is a proud Disability Confident Leader. We take practical steps to ensure that disability inclusion is not only part of our values but part of our everyday actions. We are committed to creating a working environment where disabled employees are supported, valued, and empowered to thrive in their role. If you are disabled or require specific adjustments during the application process, please do let us know how we can support you.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Company: Education Development Trust

Salary: from £60,000 a year

Hours: Full-time

Location: England

Working pattern: Hybrid - 2 days remote

Job type: Permanent

Posting date: 30 Oct 2026

Closing date: 29 Nov 2026

Essential requirements

What we’re looking forYou’ll be an experienced Business Development professional with a proven track record of securing high-value Careers and Employability contracts.You’ll bring:Excellent knowledge and political and strategic awareness of the Careers and Employability sector in at least one of EDT’s core regions and/or markets.Demonstrable success within a Business Development environment.Significant experience of bid development, strategy development, market analysis, client positioning and partnership development.Excellent knowledge and understanding of the full bid development process.Strong commercial acumen and the ability to use complex data to inform commercial and programme design decisions.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including high-quality bid writing.Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to design solutions around client requirements.Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, including experience working with senior leaders, clients and external partners.Proven people management and leadership experience, including developing others.Experience of designing successful programmes or projects to meet client requirements.The ability to work confidently under pressure, manage tight deadlines and make difficult decisions independently.Experience of working directly within the Careers and/or Employability sectors, international Business Development experience, knowledge of mobilisation approaches or additional language skills would be advantageous.

About Disability Confident Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.