Strategic Business Development Manager

SAGE GROUP PLC; Camden Town; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global technology company in the UK is seeking a Strategic Business Development Manager to drive revenue and build strategic partnerships. The role requires over 5 years of experience in business development, excellent stakeholder management skills, and familiarity with the technology ecosystem. You will collaborate across teams to enhance market presence and performance. This hybrid position involves 3 days per week in the London office.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience in business development or partnership management.
• Experience presenting to executive stakeholders preferred.
• Familiarity with the Sage partner ecosystem or a comparable software environment.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage strategic partnerships with key business groups.
• Collaborate with marketing, sales, and customer success teams.
• Shape and deliver multi-channel go-to-market plans.
• Monitor and report on partnership performance and metrics.

Skills

Business development

Partnership management

Communication skills

Analytical skills

Job description

Overview

We are seeking a Strategic Business Development Manager to join our fast-growing Business Development function, driving revenue expansion and ecosystem growth across our medium product portfolio. This is a high-impact role responsible for building, managing, and scaling strategic partnership programmes that accelerate Sage's presence across the UK & Ireland. You will work across a dynamic partner landscape—including private equity firms, accountants, scaleups, and technology communities—to develop new go-to-market propositions and strengthen Sage's strategic position in the market. Your efforts will directly influence customer acquisition, retention, and revenue performance by creating meaningful partnerships and enabling seamless collaboration across marketing, sales, and customer success teams.

This is a hybrid position with 3 days per week in our London office.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Relationship Management: Build and manage strategic partnerships with key business groups, membership organisations, and industry influencers. Identify and engage with new ecosystem partners across priority verticals to extend Sage's reach and value proposition. Negotiate and manage partnership agreements that drive measurable business outcomes.
• Collaboration and Expertise: Partner closely with marketing, sales, product, alliances, and customer success teams to deliver aligned go-to-market strategies. Develop deep understanding of partner and customer buying processes within target verticals. Enable both direct and partner sales teams to effectively communicate Sage's value propositions.
• Go-to-Market Strategy and Execution: Shape and deliver multi-channel go-to-market plans to strengthen brand awareness and product adoption. Collaborate with marketing teams to create targeted messaging, campaigns, and event activations. Represent Sage at industry events, conferences, and networking forums to promote our market leadership.
• Operational Effectiveness and Performance: Monitor and report on partnership performance, pipeline generation, and conversion metrics. Support sales cycles through strategic partnership engagement and lead conversion initiatives. Contribute to the preparation of internal and external reports, providing insights and recommendations to drive continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Required: 5+ years' experience in business development or partnership management.
• Preferred: Experience presenting to executive stakeholders.
• Familiarity: Familiarity with the Sage partner ecosystem or a comparable software environment.

A well-rounded professional, confident operating across both commercial and technical environments. Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, including experience engaging senior executives. Proven ability to build and execute structured business development plans that deliver measurable results. Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret market trends and translate insights into strategy. A collaborative mindset with a strong work ethic and commitment to high performance. Demonstrated adaptability to evolving business needs and market dynamics.

Working at Sage means you're supporting millions of small and medium-sized businesses globally with technology to work faster and smarter. We leverage the future of AI, meaning business owners spend less time doing routine tasks, like entering invoices and generating reports, and more time pursuing their ambitions.