Manager - Business Development - Chennai

Deakin University South Asia; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 1,900,000; Full time

Job summary

Deakin University South Asia is seeking a results-driven professional to drive student enrolments, market expansion and stakeholder engagement across institutions, schools, and recruitment partners in the assigned region. The role is based in Chennai and will require extensive travel within India and weekend work.

Key responsibilities include managing institutional relationships, school outreach, and partner ecosystems while meeting enrolment targets.

Qualifications

• Master's degree from a recognized university.
• 6 to 8 years of relevant experience in international education, student recruitment, business development, partnerships, or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Drive student enrolments across Institutional, School, and Agent channels.
• Develop regional market presence and partnerships with universities, colleges, and recruitment partners.
• Engage stakeholders through events, school fairs, webinars, and presentations.
• Manage agent relationships and ensure timely responses to enquiries and admissions queries.
• Provide reporting on pipelines, conversions, enrolments, and partner performance.

Skills

Student recruitment

Business development

Stakeholder mgmt

Enrollment targets

Institutional engagement

School outreach

CRM systems

Data analysis

Public speaking

Project management

Travel ready

Education

Master's degree

Tools

CRM software

MS Office

Reporting tools

Job description

Purpose of the role

The primary purpose of this role is to drive student enrolments, market expansion, and stakeholder engagement across institutions, schools, and recruitment partners within the assigned region.

Department

Marketing & Recruitment

Hours of Duty

Full Time

Location of Work

Chennai

Note: This role will involve travel for promotional activities and events within India and working over the weekends.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS REQUIRED AND QUALIFICATIONS

Qualifications

Master's degree from a recognized university.

Experience

6 to 8 years of relevant experience in international education, student recruitment, business development, partnerships, or a related field.

Key Skills

• Proven experience in student recruitment, business development, and stakeholder relationship management within the education sector.
• Strong understanding of institutional engagement, school outreach, and recruitment partner ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve enrolment, conversion, and regional growth targets.
• Sound knowledge of international admissions processes, application management, visa requirements, and compliance standards.
• Strong market awareness with the ability to identify trends, opportunities, and competitive insights to drive business growth.
• Experience in planning and executing recruitment activities including school fairs, institutional presentations, webinars, workshops, and conversion campaigns.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Ability to analyse data, monitor performance metrics, and provide actionable insights to support decision-making.
• Proactive problem-solving skills with a customer-centric approach to student and partner engagement.
• Strong ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Proficiency in CRM systems, reporting tools, and Microsoft Office applications.
• Willingness to travel extensively within the assigned region for recruitment activities, events, and partner engagement.

Student Recruitment & Business Growth

Achieve enrolment targets across Institutional, School, and Agent channels within the assigned region.

Drive regional contributions through targeted recruitment and business development initiatives.

Support conversion activities through counselling sessions, webinars, AMA sessions, UC follow-ups.

Ensure achievement of application, offer, conversion, and enrolment targets.

Institutional Engagement

Develop and maintain relationships with universities, colleges, academic institutions, and strategic stakeholders.

Identify opportunities to enhance student recruitment, market presence, and institutional collaboration.

Promote the full academic portfolio and priority programs across assigned markets.

Represent the organization at institutional events, workshops, seminars, and meetings.

Build market intelligence and provide insights on competitor activity and emerging opportunities.

Drive growth in regional contribution and key cities.

Promote growth across academic portfolios and priority programs.

Develop expertise in institutional offerings, market trends, student preferences, and competitor activity.

Build and maintain strong relationships with schools, counsellors, principals, and key education stakeholders.

Develop a sustainable undergraduate student pipeline through school engagement activities.

Attend & represent Deakin at school fairs, career guidance sessions, parent interactions, presentations, and student engagement programs.

Increase awareness and visibility of undergraduate pathways and academic offerings.

Identify and develop priority schools and key cities to drive enrolment growth.

Agent Relationship Management

Support Marketing Managers in managing relationships with recruitment partners and facilitating timely resolution of application, admission, and conversion-related queries.

Assist in the execution of agent engagement initiatives and agent-led recruitment activities across the assigned region.

Provide timely admission guidance and operational support to agents to improve application quality, conversion outcomes, and overall partner performance.

Reporting & Operational Excellence

Provide timely and accurate reporting on pipelines, conversions, enrolments, and partner performance.

Maintain CRM discipline and data accuracy.

Support leadership with forecasting, insights, and market intelligence.