Partnerships Manager - Software

BT Group; Highgate; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Private GP access

Carers leave

Parental leave

BT product discounts

Pension scheme

Holiday purchase

Job summary

BT Group in the United Kingdom is seeking a Partnerships Manager to lead a team driving commercial innovation through strategic partnerships. You will manage vendor performance, optimise licensing, and ensure delivery of commitments while shaping go‑to‑market approaches with key software partners.

You will collaborate across internal teams to maximise value for BT's customers and colleagues, support digital transformation, and identify opportunities for long‑term growth with vendors.

Qualifications

• Significant experience managing strategic partnerships, suppliers or vendors in a commercial, service management or procurement environment.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience of contract management, supplier performance management and value realisation.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build credibility across senior internal and external audiences.
• Proven ability to identify opportunities for growth, efficiency, cost optimisation or service improvement and drive them through to delivery.

Responsibilities

• Managing a portfolio of strategic software vendor partnerships, ensuring suppliers deliver against contractual commitments, performance targets and commercial objectives.
• Driving value from key technology partnerships by monitoring vendor performance, optimising licence utilisation, identifying cost‑saving opportunities and ensuring services remain fit for purpose.
• Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners to resolve issues, influence outcomes and maximise the value delivered to BT and its customers.
• Leading contract management activities throughout the lifecycle, including governance, performance reviews, renewals, change control and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Using commercial and operational data to produce insights, support decision‑making and drive improvements across BT's strategic partner ecosystem.
• Supporting BT's digital transformation agenda by identifying opportunities for innovation, growth and long‑term value creation with key software vendors.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Contract management

Vendor performance management

Stakeholder management

Value realisation

Job description

The Partnerships Manager drives a team to commercial innovation through partnerships, ensures the seamless delivery of partnership commitments, defines go to market approach, and positions BT Group as a key partner across the globe. The role will drive depth and breadth with around key strategic software partners. Focussing on building relational contracts that accelerate BT's Digital transformation and create longer term value for the business. The role will support the partners in identifying value creation for BT's customers and colleagues through their digital experiences.

What you'll be doing

• Managing a portfolio of strategic software vendor partnerships, ensuring suppliers deliver against contractual commitments, performance targets and commercial objectives.
• Driving value from key technology partnerships by monitoring vendor performance, optimising licence utilisation, identifying cost‑saving opportunities and ensuring services remain fit for purpose.
• Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners to resolve issues, influence outcomes and maximise the value delivered to BT and its customers.
• Leading contract management activities throughout the lifecycle, including governance, performance reviews, renewals, change control and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Using commercial and operational data to produce insights, support decision‑making and drive improvements across BT's strategic partner ecosystem.
• Supporting BT's digital transformation agenda by identifying opportunities for innovation, growth and long‑term value creation with key software vendors.

Requirements

• Significant experience managing strategic partnerships, suppliers or vendors in a commercial, service management or procurement environment.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience of contract management, supplier performance management and value realisation.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build credibility across senior internal and external audiences.
• Proven ability to identify opportunities for growth, efficiency, cost optimisation or service improvement and drive them through to delivery.

Desirable Skills / Experience

• Experience managing software, technology or digital service vendors.
• Knowledge of software licensing, licence optimisation and vendor governance.
• Experience working with large‑scale or strategically important supplier portfolios.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret performance data and generate actionable insights.
• Experience balancing commercial, operational, legal, regulatory and risk considerations when managing suppliers.
• Understanding of digital transformation programmes and the role strategic partnerships play in enabling business change.
• Experience working within a large, complex organisation with multiple stakeholder groups.
• Familiarity with AI, emerging technologies and their potential application within partnership management.

BT Group is the UK's leading communications group and the holding company behind some of the country's most recognised brands - including BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Our purpose is as simple as it is ambitious: we connect for good. Our customers include consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations and other communications providers.

BT Group's role is about setting direction, unlocking value and creating the conditions for our brands and businesses to thrive. Having come through the most capital-intensive phase of our fibre investment, our focus now is on what comes next - simplifying how we operate, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organising ourselves to serve customers better and grow sustainably. Group teams shape strategy, policy, brand, capital allocation and transformation, helping the whole organisation perform at its best. We have a singular culture that unites all our people: we are customer‑first challengers, who are committed, clear and connected. These behaviours unite us as one team to deliver for our colleagues, our customers, our stakeholders and the country. Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the UK, with the opportunity to shape decisions, influence outcomes and help set the future course of one of the country's most important companies.

Benefits

• 10% on target annual bonus
• Access to an online private GP 24/7 for you and your immediate family
• Market‑leading paid carers leave with up to 2 weeks off
• Equalised maternity, paternity, and adoption leave - 18 weeks' full pay and 8 weeks' half pay
• Discounted EE and BT products, including mobile and broadband
• Market leading Pension scheme - 5% from you and 10% from us
• Holiday purchase scheme