Partnerships Manager (Education Recruitment)

Operam Education Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Operam Education Group is seeking a London-based Business Development / Partnerships Manager to lead partnerships with Multi-Academy Trusts. The role focuses on securing and expanding Preferred Supplier Agreements and aligning our education recruitment brands to meet trust-wide staffing needs.

You will engage senior trust leaders, design workforce solutions, and drive measurable classroom impact while collaborating with operations teams to deliver consistent staffing outcomes.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in education recruitment or education sales.
• Experience winning school or MAT business, including PSAs or framework agreements.
• Confident building relationships with senior leaders and MAT boards.
• Commercial mindset with patience to build long-term high-value partnerships.
• Organised and proactive, capable of managing several complex accounts.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted relationships with MAT leadership teams.
• Secure and grow Preferred Supplier Agreements (PSAs) across trusts.
• Lead consultative conversations to understand workforce challenges across multiple schools.
• Design solutions to improve staffing stability, cost efficiency, and quality.
• Drive adoption across schools to translate partnerships into classroom impact.
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure high-quality staffing outcomes.
• Run regular reviews with MATs, showing measurable improvements and opportunities.

Skills

Education recruitment experience

Business development

Relationship building

Senior stakeholder engagement

Negotiation

Education

Education recruitment background

Tools

PSA management

Job description

Business Development / Partnerships Manager (Education Recruitment)

London Based - City Centre, Idol Lane

Monday - Friday 40 hours

Operam Education Group is seeking an experienced Lead Education Recruiter / Business Development Manager to lead and grow strategic partnerships with Multi-Academy Trusts across our South Region. Reporting to the Partnerships Director, you will be responsible for securing and expanding Preferred Supplier Agreements, bringing together the combined capability of our specialist recruitment brands to address trust-wide workforce challenges.

This is a strategic, business development-led role, suited to a commercially minded professional with a proven background in education recruitment or education sales.

It offers the opportunity to apply your sector expertise and client relationships at senior leadership level, shaping long-term partnerships that deliver measurable results for trusts and their schools.

About Operam Education Group

Operam Education Group brings together a portfolio of specialist, regional education recruitment brands. Each one has deep local expertise and long-standing school relationships.

You’ll know from experience that every unfilled role, every inconsistent supply teacher and every gap in SEND provision affects what happens in the classroom. For Multi-Academy Trusts, those challenges are multiplied across every school in the trust. That’s where we come in, and where you come in.

The Role

You’ll represent the full capability of Operam, bringing together our specialist brands to solve trust-wide staffing challenges, while making sure delivery lands where it matters: inside individual schools.

Through business development activity will build a portfolio of clients and continue to build relationships with a focus on growing market share. You’ll act as a trusted advisor to trust leaders, helping them improve staffing consistency, control costs and maintain high standards in the classroom, and act as an internal advisor to our recruitment operations teams.

What you will be doing

You’ll represent the full capability of Operam bringing together multiple specialist brands to solve trust-wide challenges, while ensuring delivery lands where it matters: inside individual schools.

• Build trusted relationships with MAT leadership teams
• Secure and grow Preferred Supplier Agreements (PSAs) across trusts
• Lead consultative conversations to understand workforce challenges across multiple schools
• Design solutions that improve staffing stability, cost efficiency, and quality
• Drive adoption across schools to ensure partnerships translate into real classroom impact
• Work with internal teams to deliver consistent, high-quality staffing outcomes
• Run regular reviews with MATs, showing measurable improvements and identifying further opportunities
• Lead renewals and expansions across your trust portfolio
• Stay close to sector pressures; funding, recruitment trends, and rising SEND demand

Who we're looking for

We’d love to hear from experienced education recruiters, such as Senior Consultants, Branch Managers or Business Development Managers, who:

• Have a strong billing track record in education recruitment, ideally in a 360 role
• Have experience winning school or MAT business, ideally including PSAs or framework agreements
• Are confident building relationships with senior leaders and holding their own at trust board level
• Are commercially driven, with the patience to build long-term, high-value partnerships rather than chase quick placements
• Are organised and proactive, able to manage several complex accounts at once
• Are comfortable leading presentations, pitches and negotiations

If you’ve come from a different route, for example sales or business development in the education sector, and can show similar results, we’d still like to hear from you.