Strategic Partnership Consultant

RM plc; England; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading education technology provider in the UK seeks a Strategic Partnership Solution Consultant to enhance major deals and capture growth opportunities via strategic partnerships that complement existing solutions. The role requires excellent communication skills and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. The ideal candidate will have experience in software solutions and a broad network in the assessment and education sector.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Private medical healthcare

Performance-related bonus

Group Personal Pension Plan

Hybrid working options

Qualifications

• Experience in software solutions proposals and tender responses.
• Ability to influence stakeholders and build partnerships.
• Knowledge of the assessment domain and market trends.

Responsibilities

• Define and present compelling partnership options.
• Collaborate to enhance solution design for major deals.
• Lead initial assessments of potential product portfolio and partners.
• Negotiate agreements and ensure compliance with company policies.

Skills

Excellent communication

Business analysis

Relationship building

Stakeholder engagement

Networking

Job description

Overview

Would you like to help enrich the lives of learners around the world?

At RM, we’ve been pioneers of education technology since . We provide technology and resources to the education sector, supporting over 10 million students worldwide. We work with over28 schools, nurseries, and education trusts in countries to deliver customer‑centric solutions that improve education outcomes.

What we do helps learners at all stages of their lives, from preschool to higher education and professional qualification; we partner with schools, examination boards, central governments and other professional institutions to enrich the lives of learners.

RM Group operates through three businesses: Technology (Managed Services, Software and Infrastructure for Schools), Assessment (Software and Services) and TTS (Educational Resources).

Within the assessment market we are experts in providing solutions for online exam testing and marking and the management and analysis of educational data. We work with government ministries, exam boards and professional awarding bodies for high‑stakes assessment such as GCSEs, A Levels, and professional qualifications. Each year, our software is used globally to conduct hundreds of thousands of on‑screen tests and to mark millions of paper‑based scripts. For 20 years we have been partnering with the world’s leading awarding bodies to deliver intuitive, secure, and reliable eAssessment solutions.

Job Purpose

As a Strategic Partnership Solution Consultant at RM, you will define and present compelling partnership options that will enable RM to provide compelling solutions to win major deals. Partnerships may include market and territory specialists as well as identifying strategic partnership options that compliment or enhance RM’s service offer to the market. The overall goal is to use strategic partnerships to broaden RM’s growth options for major deals globally and as a result significantly increase revenue potential.

Working in collaboration with the Strategic Major Deals Architect and Major Deals Director, the role holder will review the needs of each major deal and advise on where and how strategic partnerships will be used to enhance the solution. As Strategic Partnership Solution Consultant you will work in collaboration with delivery teams to recommend partnership solutions that support the advancement of the product and proposition portfolio in line with market priorities identified through the role holder’s network and market intelligence.

Reporting to the Strategic Major Deal Architect you will be part of a team committed to generating strong global growth solutions that are market‑leading for each major deal. This is a very high‑performing team of motivated individuals with a range of specialist skills and domain knowledge. You will be expected to build strong working relationships with colleagues across the Assessment team fostering collaborative working practices designed to provide customers with world‑leading solutions by creating strong and meaningful partnerships for growth via the sharing of specialist knowledge and ideas to ensure an aligned vision across the business.

Bringing prior experience of designing Assessment Solutions for new or existing customers, you will be the partnership solution lead on very large‑scale customer growth opportunities, leading the design and articulation of what could be complex and world‑leading solutions complimented by strategic partnerships that offer a unique and compelling solution for the global market. It is essential the role holder has a broad network in the Assessment and Education industry and across the various global priorities for business growth. Event attendance will be critical to ensure market intelligence remains fresh and options to advance and compliment our solutions and partnership development remains ahead of the market demand.

You will bring your business analysis skills to bear in building strong partnership relationships up to and including c‑suite levels when appropriate. You will have responsibility for leading initial assessments across all sectors and across global territories for new partners. This should incorporate conducting a full review of the potential product portfolio and or market specialist / contacts within each region and advising on how and where partnerships can enable growth in region based on suitability against the RM current portfolio or planned proposition portfolio. You should also through your sector and industry expertise provide guidance to the Strategic Major Deal Architect to inform where RM might consider investment to unlock revenue growth and increased profit margins.

You will be responsible for presenting partnership demonstrations and proposals in a clear and compelling manner and will be comfortable engaging with and influencing stakeholders at all levels of organisations and within RM, able to tailor your communication to the particular audience. You will have responsibility responding to tenders in a clear, concise, and accurate form. You will also be required to undertake product and partnership demonstrations to support customer growth, and will be able to communicate with confidence how RM products and partnerships will address customer needs. In addition, you may be required to design and implement ‘non‑live’ partnership pilot projects and proofs of concept.

You will be knowledgeable about the breadth of products within the RM’s Assessment portfolio, and will be able to communicate this to partners, customers and prospects, both in individual customer presentations and with broader audiences such as at regional assessment conferences. You will work with the Strategic Major Deals Architect, Product Managers and Service Architects and solution owners to keep them informed of the solutions required by our customers and the wider market that will unlock growth in RM’s business. You will provide supporting evidence that will influence proposition and product roadmaps and build business cases for investment within RM.

Based in the UK, the role is likely to also include travel, both in the UK and overseas, as RM develops its international business in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.

Responsibilities

1. Strategic Partnerships

• Identify opportunities for partnership to enable us to provide compelling solutions for Major Deal growth opportunities globally. Be clear on what opportunities, sectors, geographies etc are to be pursued and where and model partnerships that could help solve solution design challenges or gaps.
• Use networks and market knowledge to identify potential strategic partners to address identified capability gaps.
• Evaluate potential partners based on relevant criteria such as capability, regional reach and reputation in the market.
• Create partner profiles to facilitate evaluation, selection and approval of partners within the RM business.

2. Strategic Planning

• Develop and execute strategic partner programmes, sales strategies, and incentive structures.
• Identify new opportunities for growth or expansion into new markets.
• Develop partner programmes to incentivise increased engagement, higher performance and deeper collaboration. Plan, prepare and deliver regular partner briefings to and partnership reviews to keep partners informed of our products and services, align on sales strategy and priorities and review prospects and success of each partnership ongoing.
• Market Expansion and Opportunity Identification: Conduct research on market trends and competitor activity, attend industry events, follow and interrogate regulatory changes in target markets. This will inform the identification of potential partners and their capabilities and opportunities.
• Sales Strategy Development: Work closely with the sales team to align the partner programme with the overall sales strategy. Develop joint sales strategies with key partners, focusing on high‑growth sectors or emerging trends in the industry.
• Incentive Structure: Align any incentive structure to KPIs, with clear financial and / or non‑financial rewards based on performance (e.g., tiered payments, performance bonuses, marketing support etc). Review and refine the incentive structure to ensure it remains competitive and aligns with business objectives. Introduce new incentives for partners to focus on emerging product lines or target markets.

3. Market & Competitor Analysis

• Track industry trends, competitor partner programmes, and market shifts to ensure we are connected and informed in the partnership space.
• Build and nurture proactive relationships with potential partners so we are ready to move quickly in response to a deal.
• Competitor Monitoring: Regularly track competitor partner programmes to understand what is working for them and how we can differentiate ourselves. Conduct market research to assess demand and the capability landscape.
• Industry Trend Analysis: Identify emerging trends through industry networking, event attendance etc, and adapt strategy and expand networks and contacts accordingly. Regularly assess customer feedback and pain points to keep abreast of changing demands.
• Partner Feedback Loop: Share competitive and market insights with partners to help them stay ahead of competitors. Use partner feedback to adjust product offerings or go‑to‑market strategies to ensure the strategy and focus remains relevant and we remain an attractive partner in the evolving marketplace.

4. Contract & Compliance Management

• Negotiate agreements and ensure partners comply with company policies and brand standards.
• Manage strategic partner certifications, legal requirements, and onboarding documentation.
• Negotiating Contracts: Work with legal teams to create clear, fair, and mutually beneficial contracts. Ensure finance teams have signed off on incentive structure. Ensure contracts accurately capture agreed terms related to sales targets, pricing, payment terms, and compliance standards.
• Compliance Tracking: Track certifications and legal compliance for each partner, especially for those involved in regulated spaces (the actual assessment of partner compliance levels would sit with the legal / compliance teams). Monitor adherence to brand standards and policies regarding product usage, marketing, and customer engagement.
• Onboarding Documentation: Ensure all legal documents (NDA, partnership agreements, certification records) are correctly executed (ownership with the legal team).

Experience

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

The Strategic Partnership Solution Consultant will be an excellent communicator both written and oral. They will be experienced in inputting to high‑quality proposals and tender responses for software solutions large and small with attention to detail and using a range of techniques to get the message across, including written tender responses and proposals prepared in a clear, compelling and concise manner. They will be a confident presenter, able to demonstrate RM propositions to new prospects, existing customers and industry figures and apply those products to the business needs that the prospect has.

The Strategic Partnership Solution Consultant should have or be able to gain knowledge and expertise in the assessment domain through outstanding networking relationships globally, to enable them to collaborate with partners, customers and prospects to identify need and propose how RM can address those needs through compelling solutions supported by leading partnerships that compliment the RM strategy and portfolio. They will be able to gain a good understanding of the RM product portfolio, and have a breadth of product understanding, underpinned by knowledge of the end‑to‑end Software Delivery Life Cycle.

In addition, they will have:

• Experience of working in a software development and service delivery organisation.
• Demonstrable ability to be a supportive team player.
• The ability to influence internal and external stakeholders of all levels, by flexibility of approach.
• Flexibility and adaptability.

Key Relationships

• Strategic Major Deals Architect (Business Growth) Major Deals Director articulating customer and market needs to feed into proposition development.
• Product and Technical Managers – articulating customer and market needs, influencing product roadmap and deliverables.
• Customer Relationship Managers, Account Directors – providing consultancy support for the development of existing accounts.
• International Business Development Team – working on specific prospect and tender opportunities.
• Solution Architects, Technical Architects, Business Analysts – defining effective solutions.
• Global Operations – operational and development teams (agreeing deliverables, timetables, commitments, and costs; articulating solutions).

What’s in it for you?

At RM we have My Work Blend @RM which provides office‑based colleagues with multi‑location and hybrid working options. As well as your office base, you can spend a proportion of your time working at other locations that suit your role and your life, including home, other offices, customer sites, distribution centres or on the move. We encourage you to discuss arrangements for this role with your potential line manager during the recruitment process.

As well as a competitive salary and our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available, some roles are also eligible for a performance‑related bonus. There are lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign up for a health assessment, or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.

To better reflect the society that we serve, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all. To achieve this, we create teams of talented people from different backgrounds and experiences and strive to be a business where our people can bring their whole selves to work, we also want to make the recruitment process as inclusive as possible for everyone. Should you require additional support with your application or through the interview process, please contact us at .

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.