Business Development Manager

TheSmartBridge; Provinsi Bali; On-site; IDR 300,000,000 - 700,000,000; Full time

Job summary

SmartBridge is expanding its Academic Partnerships in Indonesia. The Business Development Manager will drive university and institutional partnerships, engaging senior leaders, crafting collaboration models, and converting opportunities into sustainable revenue streams.

The role requires strong relationship-building, solution consulting, and end-to-end pipeline ownership across the Indonesian education sector.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Education, Technology, or related discipline.
• Master's degree or MBA is an added advantage.

Responsibilities

• Identify and engage Indonesian universities, colleges, and education groups.
• Build relationships with institutional leaders (Rectors, Deans, heads of programs).
• Present SmartBridge programs and partnership models.
• Develop institution-specific partnership proposals.
• Convert opportunities into MoUs, commercial agreements, pilots, and multi-year partnerships.

Skills

English proficiency

Bahasa Indonesia

CRM proficiency

Pipeline management

Negotiation

Presentation

Proposal writing

Independent working

Travel willingness

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's/ MBA (advantage)

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

About SmartBridge

SmartBridge is a global education technology company building industry-ready talent through experiential learning, digital skilling, virtual internships, professional certifications, and university-industry collaboration.

Through our AI-powered learning ecosystem and partnerships with leading technology companies, universities, and government bodies, we help learners develop future-ready capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Cloud Computing, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and other emerging technologies.

Role Overview

The Business Development Manager - Academic Partnerships will lead SmartBridge's university and institutional partnership development across Indonesia. The role will identify high-potential institutions, engage senior academic leaders, understand institutional priorities, design relevant partnership models, and convert opportunities into sustainable, revenue-generating relationships.

Key Responsibilities

Academic Partnership Development

• Identify and engage universities, colleges, technical institutions, education groups, and government-supported academic networks of associations and consortiums
• Build relationships with University Rectors, Deans, Study-program Heads, Career Development Cells (CDC), and institutional decision-makers.
• Present SmartBridge's learning, certification, internship, faculty-development, and employability solutions.
• Develop institution-specific partnership proposals aligned with academic and workforce-development priorities.
• Convert qualified opportunities into MoUs, commercial agreements, pilot programs, and multi-year partnerships.

Business Growth and Revenue

• Own the institutional sales pipeline from lead generation through negotiation, closure, and account activation.
• Achieve agreed targets for partnerships, learner enrolments, and revenue.
• Develop quarterly and annual territory plans for the Indonesia market.
• Maintain accurate opportunity, activity, forecast, and closure data in the CRM.
• Identify cross-sell, renewal, and expansion opportunities within existing institutional accounts.

Solution Consulting

• Understand institutional needs relating to curriculum enhancement, employability, internships, certifications, faculty development, and emerging-technology education.
• Recommend appropriate SmartBridge programs and partnership models based on institutional priorities.
• Collaborate with product, academic, delivery, and marketing teams to prepare customized proposals and presentations.
• Conduct leadership meetings, institutional presentations, product demonstrations, and stakeholder workshops.

Market and Ecosystem Development

• Track higher-education, skills-development, and graduate-employability trends in Indonesia.
• Develop relationships with education associations, government agencies, technology communities, and industry bodies.
• Identify relevant academic forums, education conferences, and strategic partnership opportunities.
• Represent SmartBridge at university events, conferences, and stakeholder meetings.

Partnership Success

• Coordinate with internal teams to ensure a smooth transition from partnership closure to program implementation.
• Conduct periodic reviews with institutional stakeholders and address partnership-level concerns.
• Support renewals, program expansion, and long-term account growth.
• Capture institutional feedback, success stories, and learner outcomes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Education, Technology, or a related discipline; a master's degree or MBA is an added advantage.
• Micro-credentials and global certifications in any of the SB listed Principals' technologies - is an advantage
• Approximately 5 years of experience in academic partnerships, business development, institutional sales, EdTech, training, or higher education.
• Demonstrated experience working with universities, colleges, or educational institutions in Indonesia.
• Proven ability to manage long institutional sales cycles and engage senior decision-makers.
• Experience in EdTech, IT training, certification, workforce development, or employability programs
• Social Quotient as demonstrated by active presence in LinkedIn and X besides fb and Instagram.

Required Skills

• Proficiency in spoken and written English and Bahasa language is mandatory.
• Understanding of the Indonesia higher-education ecosystem and an established academic network.
• Institutional sales: tried, tested and effective methodologies in engaging with higher education institutions
• Consultative solution-selling, presentation, negotiation, and proposal-writing skills.
• Ability to translate institutional challenges into commercially viable solutions.
• Experience in CRM systems and the weekly/monthly reporting and business projections.
• Strong pipeline management, forecasting, stakeholder follow-up, and execution discipline.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating with regional and cross-functional teams.
• Ability and willingness to travel extensively within Indonesia.

Key Performance Indicators

MEASURE SUCCESS INDICATOR

• Pipeline Qualified academic opportunities and geographic coverage
• Partnerships Number and value of institutional partnerships closed
• Growth Revenue and learner enrolments generated
• Conversion Meeting-to-proposal and proposal-to-closure rates
• Success Partnership activation, renewal, and expansion rates
• Discipline CRM accuracy and reliability of sales forecasts

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Understands how Indonesia universities evaluate and approve external partnerships.
• Can confidently engage both academic and commercial stakeholders.
• Is comfortable building a new market and creating opportunities independently.
• Demonstrates ownership, urgency, accountability, and a passion for graduate employability.

Why Join SmartBridge?

• Lead the expansion of a fast-growing global EdTech company in Indonesia.
• Work with universities and global technology ecosystems to build future-ready talent.
• Introduce high-impact programs in AI, Generative AI, Cloud, Data, Cybersecurity, and enterprise technologies.
• Create measurable outcomes for students, faculty members, and academic institutions.
• Grow in an entrepreneurial environment with significant market-building responsibility.

Build partnerships. Empower institutions. Shape the future workforce.

SmartBridge is an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all employees.