Business Manager - EOI

80 Reed in Partnership Ltd; Ipswich; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Reed Pension Scheme

Award Winning Management & Leadership

Professional & Personal Development

Bi-annual pay reviews

More benefits

Job summary

Reed in Partnership is seeking a Business Manager to lead a team, manage key partnerships and drive performance across Suffolk with travel as required. This office-based role offers a pipeline for talent ahead of contract awards and a focus on delivering targeted outcomes in employability services.

You will oversee up to 8 Careers Coaches, manage stakeholder relationships, and align training with programme milestones while maintaining a strong commitment to Reed’s values and community impact.

Qualifications

• Previous direct line management experience in an Employment Adviser or Employment Trainer or equivalent role.
• Proven track record of working towards and achieving targets in a performance-driven environment.
• Experience in or a desire to progress into people management roles.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and experience.

Responsibilities

• Stakeholder engagement with key stakeholders, including the DPW, JCP and Employers.
• Performance management, identifying skills gaps, mentoring and coaching staff.
• Management of a small caseload of participants.
• Acting as a part fee earner against agreed targets.
• Identifying skills gaps and coordinating training needs.
• Regular informal one-to-one reviews and input into PAR and Development Reviews.
• Coaching of coworkers by delegating responsibilities.
• Weekly and monthly KPI checks.
• Using Management Information tools to monitor performance, trends and best practice.
• Monitoring customer services and resolving basic/informal Member/Co-Member complaints; escalating as needed.

Skills

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Performance management

Coaching

Travel readiness

Education

Degree or relevant qualification

Job description

Reed in Partnership has been delivering public services since 1998. We are a British, family-owned company, whose mission has always been to positively transform people and their communities. This is reflected in our services, which we deliver to help people from all backgrounds and circumstances to change their lives for the better.

Pay Range £34,750 - £43,000 Working Hours/Pattern: Full-time, although we would be happy to consider applicants who are looking to work on a part time basis. Please note our ability to accommodate flexible working arrangements will vary from role to role, dependent on business requirements.

Job Description

Do you pride yourself on your ability to lead and motivate a team? Do you possess great people management skills and a passion for driving performance? Then consider the role of Business Manager at Reed in Partnership! This role is office based, but will involve travel across Suffolk also. Please Note, these roles are expressions of interest only at this point. We are currently working on a number of exciting opportunities within this area and are looking to build a pipeline of talent to allow us to work quickly upon contract award. We will be in a position to be able to begin the formal recruitment process in the coming weeks.

Who we are

Reed's Employability Division aims to positively transform lives by helping individuals who are unemployed, economically inactive, or facing challenges such as health conditions, disabilities, or caring responsibilities to find sustainable employment. Through a wide range of tailored support services including one-to-one careers guidance, CV writing, interview preparation, and skills training, we have supported over 250,000 people on their journey into work.

What is this role about

Youth Jobs Guarantee is a mandatory programme for 18‑21 year olds who have been on Universal Credit for 18 months or more, providing a fully subsidised six month paid job of up to 25 hours per week at minimum wage.

As a Business Manager, you will be responsible for stakeholder management of key partners, the management of up to 8 Careers Coaches, as well as a small caseload of participants.

Your responsibilities would include:

• Stakeholder Engagement with key stakeholders, including the DPW, JCP and Employers.
• Performance management, identifying skills gaps, mentoring and coaching staff
• Management of a small caseload of participants.
• Acting as a part fee earner against agreed targets
• Identifying skills gaps and co-ordinating training needs
• Regular informal one-2-one reviews, provide input into the monthly PAR process, bi-annual reviews and Performance Development Reviews
• Coaching of co-members by delegating responsibilities
• Weekly and Monthly checks of all KPI’s
• Utilising Management Information tools to monitor performance, trends and best practice
• Monitoring customer services and resolving basic/informal Member/Co-Member complaints
• Escalating complaints where necessary to the Operations Manager

What’s in it for you?

A generous base salary (pro-rata for part time), and great flexibility with your working schedule, we offer training, development and progression opportunities. You will have access to the range of Reed in Partnership benefits, which include:

• 25 days annual leave (pro-rata for part time) plus statutory bank holidays
• Reed Pension Scheme
• Award Winning Management & Leadership training
• Professional & Personal Development Funds
• Bi-annual pay reviews
• Plus much more that can be found

With the chance to dramatically make a difference to the local community, this role offers immense job satisfaction.

At Reed in Partnership, we live and breathe our values in every decision and action taken, resulting in a collaborative and enjoyable culture within our offices. Our company values – we are fair open and honest; we take ownership, and we work together.

We have an on-going strategic priority to make this a great place to work. We are a family-owned company. We think this makes us unique compared to a lot of other companies. It is fundamental to the way our workplaces operate, the decisions we make and how we treat each other. Our workplaces have been recognised for multiple awards. Most recently we were really proud to be presented with three UK Employee Experience Awards in 2022: Gold for Best Talent Management Programme, Silver for Diversity and Inclusion and Bronze for Best Large Company to Work For.

Our Work Experience is the combination of everything that's unique about us: our culture, our core values, our company meetings, our commitment to sustainability, our recognition programs, but most importantly, it's our people. Our employees are self-disciplined, hard working, curious, trustworthy, humble, and truthful. They make choices according to what is best for the team, they live for opportunities to collaborate and make a difference, and they make us the #1 Top Workplace in the area.

We aim to ensure that no candidate or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria. Whilst some roles are advertised as Full-Time, we may be able to consider applicants who are looking to work on a Part-Time basis. Please note our ability to accommodate flexible working arrangements will vary from role to role, dependent on business requirements.

Required skills and experience:

• Previous direct line management of a team
• A personal track record of working towards and achieving targets (minimum 1 year experience) gained in an Employment Adviser or Employment Trainer or equivalent role.
• Evidence of experience in or a desire to progress into a people management role including supporting, mentoring and coaching and developing an individual.
• Excellent Stakeholder Management skills and experience.
• Strong administration and written communication/keeping record keeping skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel across the Herts & Essex region.

Desirable Attributes:

• Experience of working in a fast paced performance target driven environment, such experience may include working within the following sectors/fields; Professional Services (Banking, Finance and Recruitment etc) or Retail etc.
• Experience of managing a business to business sales process.
• Degree or relevant qualification.
• Degree topics may include; psychology, sociology, social care/science.
• Relevant qualifications would include Information Advice and Guidance NVQs, Brokerage Standard, Social Work qualifications.

Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

Internal applications for this role close on 21/08/2026.