Associate Director, Partnership (Education)

KOS International Limited; Hong Kong Island; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

KOS International Limited in Hong Kong is seeking an Associate Director, Partnership (Education) to lead the Hong Kong Schools business and grow a well-established school subscription portfolio. You will develop new institutional partnerships and work with events, marketing, editorial, product and operations teams to deliver coordinated campaigns.

The role requires 8–10 years of experience in BD or partnerships, a strong network among HK schools, and fluency in English and Cantonese.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of experience in business development, partnerships or account management.
• Experience in education, EdTech or publishing is highly advantageous.
• Strong network among Hong Kong schools, principals or senior leaders.
• Proven ability to achieve commercial targets across multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Hong Kong Schools team to retain, renew and grow school subscription partnerships.
• Identify and convert new opportunities to expand market penetration in HK schools.
• Build senior-level relationships with principals, curriculum leaders and decision-makers.
• Develop understanding of schools' English-language priorities and curricula.
• Create strategies positioning learning content and events in daily learning.
• Drive transition to long-term partnerships and sustainable education ecosystem.
• Collaborate with Events, Marketing, Editorial, Product and Operations teams.
• Provide market insight to shape product and content priorities.
• Balance short-term delivery with long-term strategic objectives.
• Manage, coach and motivate the business development and relationship team.
• Establish KPIs and foster a high-performance culture.

Skills

Business development

Partnerships

Sales leadership

Account management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in relevant field

Job description

Associate Director, Partnership (Education)

Our client is a leading Hong Kong education organisation with a long-established presence. Through award-winning youth publications, digital learning resources and journalism-inspired programmes, the organisation supports young learners in building practical language skills and critical-thinking abilities.

We are seeking a commercially driven and strategic Associate Director to lead the Hong Kong Schools business. This role will be responsible for retaining and growing a well-established school subscription portfolio, developing new institutional partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Hong Kong Schools team to retain, renew and grow existing school subscription partnerships across primary and secondary education.
• Identify, develop and convert new business opportunities to expand market penetration within the Hong Kong school sector.
• Build trusted, senior-level relationships with school principals, English panel chairs, curriculum leaders and other key decision-makers.
• Develop a deep understanding of schools' English-language learning priorities, curriculum requirements and student-engagement needs.
• Create and implement strategies that position the organisation's learning content, publications, programmes and events as an integral part of schools' daily learning environment.
• Drive the transition from transactional subscription relationships toward long-term institutional partnerships and a sustainable education ecosystem.
• Work closely with internal teams across Events, Marketing, Editorial, Product, Operations and other relevant functions to deliver coordinated campaigns and school-focused initiatives.
• Provide market insight and customer feedback to help shape product development, content priorities and future school offerings.
• Balance short-term commercial delivery with longer-term strategic objectives, including customer retention, product adoption and partnership expansion.
• Manage, coach and motivate a high-performing business development and relationship-management team.
• Establish clear KPIs, monitor performance and foster a collaborative, accountable and high-performance team culture.

Requirements

• At least 8-10 years of experience in business development, sales leadership, institutional partnerships or account management.
• Experience within education, EdTech, publishing, media, learning solutions or a related sector will be highly advantageous.
• A strong and established network among Hong Kong primary and secondary schools, particularly with principals, English panel chairs, curriculum leaders or senior school management, is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in achieving commercial targets while managing complex, multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives.
• Experience developing and scaling strategic programmes, platforms, subscription models or customer ecosystems rather than only delivering one-off sales.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to engage credibly with school leaders as well as internal commercial, editorial, product and operational teams.
• Proven people-management experience, including coaching, performance management and KPI-setting.
• Highly strategic, commercially astute and hands-on, with the ability to translate customer needs into practical business plans.
• Native or near-native fluency in English and Cantonese, with strong written and verbal communication skills in both languages.