Partnerships Manager - Early Years

Realise; Leeds; Remote; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A dedicated training organisation based in the UK is seeking a Partnerships Manager to oversee the learner journey. You will manage relationships with local small and medium-sized employers, ensuring high engagement and success rates. The role involves travel within the Leeds and West Yorkshire region and offers various benefits, including flexible working, generous holiday allowance, and employee support schemes.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus public and bank holidays

Purchase scheme for up to 5 additional days

Birthday and Christmas Eve off

Flexible working

Health Shield scheme

Life insurance

Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay

Sick pay

Bereavement leave

Employee Assistance Programme

£1,000 Employee referral bonus scheme

Qualifications

• Proven experience in apprenticeship management or employer engagement.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Knowledge of apprenticeships and early years/education sector is desirable.
• Understanding unique needs of SMEs.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the learner journey from onboarding to completion.
• Act as the main point of contact for local SMEs.
• Maintain strong local presence for promoting apprenticeships.
• Develop long-term relationships with local employers.
• Attend business events and community forums.
• Address and resolve learner or employer issues.
• Monitor engagement and progress of learners.

Skills

Apprenticeship management

Employer engagement

Strong communication

Interpersonal skills

Community-focused approach

Job description

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The Role

The Partnerships Manager is responsible for overseeing the learner journey, from onboarding to completion, ensuring high engagement and strong success rates. This role involves managing relationships with learners, trainers, and a range of local small and medium‑sized employers (SMEs).

Employer Engagement (Local SME Focus)

• Primary Contact & Meetings: Act as the main point of contact for a portfolio of local small and medium‑sized employers. Manage employer queries, attend partnership meetings, and ensure training activity aligns with each employer's workforce goals.
• Promotion & Engagement: Maintain a strong local presence – both in the community and on social media – to promote apprenticeships and training opportunities to SMEs and potential learners.
• Local Partnerships: Develop and nurture long‑term relationships with local employers, working closely with the Head of Sales to identify opportunities that support local workforce development.
• Networking & Community Promotion: Represent the organisation at local business events, community forums, and networking groups. Collaborate with the marketing team to create promotional materials tailored to SMEs.
• Responsive Support: Attend regular check‑ins with employer partners, respond promptly to queries, and provide timely updates to ensure smooth delivery of training programmes.
• Issue Resolution: Address urgent learner or employer issues, supporting the resolution of concerns and managing complaints efficiently.
• Onboarding & Engagement: Oversee the onboarding of learners, liaise with enrolment teams, monitor engagement and progress.

Read the full job description here: Early Years Partnerships Manager

Where will I be based?

This is a home‑based role, with travel required within the Leeds and West Yorkshire region to visit employers. Around 30% of your week will be spent on the road, but as you'll manage your own diary, you'll have flexibility in how you plan your time. This will be discussed with you further in your interview.

The Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus public and bank holidays
• Purchase scheme for up to 5 additional days annual leave
• Birthday and Christmas Eve off
• Flexible working
• Health Shield scheme
• Life insurance
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Sick pay
• Bereavement leave
• Employee Assistance Programme
• £1,000 Employee referral bonus scheme

About You

• Proven experience in apprenticeship management, employer engagement, or a related role within the training, education, or early years sector, ideally working with small and medium‑sized local employers.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain positive relationships with local employers, apprentices, and internal teams.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively, contributing to shared goals and the growth of local partnerships.
• Knowledge of apprenticeships, programme delivery, and the early years/education sector is highly desirable.
• A community‑focused approach, with the ability to understand the unique needs of SMEs and tailor support accordingly.

What Happens Next?

• The Realise Recruitment team will be in touch, regardless of the outcome.
• Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in‑person or held remotely.
• You can expect a two‑stage interview process for this position, which will comprise of a one‑hour formal interview, likely on Teams, where we will ask you a series of competency and behavioural questions.
• As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.

About Us

Realise helps more than 18,000 learners every year to achieve their goals. We only specialise in the areas we have in‑depth expertise in, that's early years & education, health & social care, transport, business skills, and adult skills.

Our mission has always been clear, to deliver great training programmes.

We promote the wellbeing of all our learners and our employees and are fully committed to safeguarding, safer recruitment and fulfilling our Prevent Duty obligations.

Please be aware that all successful applicants will undergo a DBS and online search check at the job offer stage. We request proof of qualifications and the Right to Work in the UK.

Realise is committed to investing in the latest technology to support our learners and teams. As part of our quality assurance and training processes, we may occasionally record audio and visual content. By applying, you acknowledge and accept this as part of our working environment.

Realise has been in business over 35 years from our humble roots in Sheffield, to over 500 employees UK‑wide. We are proud to be a part of the AQA charity group.