Business Development Lead, University Partnerships

Skills Union; Singapore; On-site; SGD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Skills Union in Singapore is hiring a business development lead to own university and institutional partnerships. The role is senior and highly autonomous, requiring deep knowledge of the Singapore IHL ecosystem and funding mechanics.

You will inherit warm relationships and drive multi-year contracts, coordinating with delivery and product teams, and representing the company at industry events. A proven track record in institutional deals is preferred.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to lead business development initiatives in education or workforce development.
• Strong network with universities, government bodies, and industry partners is a plus.
• Experience in navigating public funding and multi-year institutional programs.

Responsibilities

• Own the full BD cycle for university and institutional partnerships in Singapore, from first conversation through signed multi-year agreements, with support from delivery and product teams.
• Build and manage relationships across the IHL landscape (NUS, NTU, SMU, SUSS, SIT, SUTD, and polytechnics), especially continuing education units.
• Navigate the national skills funding ecosystem, including SSG schemes and IBF/IMDA programs, aligning proposals with funding windows.
• Develop and submit government-funded and university-anchored program proposals, collaborating on positioning, pricing, and delivery design.
• Represent Skills Union at industry events and partner briefings, contributing to network initiatives around Singapore's talent ecosystem.
• Maintain a disciplined pipeline in HubSpot with forecasting and transparent reporting to management.

Skills

BD experience

Relationship management

Consultative selling

Stakeholder engagement

Proposal development

HubSpot usage

Tools

HubSpot

Job description

About Skills Union

Skills Union is an integrated workforce solutions provider headquartered in Singapore, working with universities, government skills bodies, and enterprise employers across Southeast Asia and the Middle East. We design and deliver large-scale training initiatives, license our own software platforms, and provide consulting to institutions building for the future of work. Our partners include leading universities, government agencies, and leading global firms, and our programs are consistently rated among the strongest in their category. We are ISO-certified, growing across three product lines, and building toward national-scale programs in AI adoption and career mobility.

The Role

We are hiring a business development lead to own our university and institutional pipeline in Singapore. This is a senior, high-autonomy role for someone who already knows the ecosystem: you have worked with or sold into the Institutes of Higher Learning, you understand how SkillsFuture Singapore funding actually works, and you can hold your own in a room with a CET office, a government agency, or a dean. You will inherit warm relationships and live opportunities, including active delivery with NTU and emerging programs with government and platform partners. Your job is to expand that footprint: new IHL partnerships, new funded program wins, and multi-year institutional contracts that compound.

What You Will Do

• Own the full BD cycle for university and institutional partnerships in Singapore, from first conversation through signed multi-year agreements, with support from our delivery and product teams.
• Build and manage relationships across the IHL landscape (NUS, NTU, SMU, SUSS, SIT, SUTD, and the polytechnics), particularly with continuing education and lifelong learning units.
• Navigate the national skills funding ecosystem, including SSG schemes such as SCTP, ATO and ERF pathways, and sector programs run through IBF and IMDA, shaping proposals that fit funding windows and institutional priorities.
• Develop and submit proposals for government-funded and university-anchored programs, working closely with the CEO and academic team on positioning, pricing, and delivery design.
• Represent Skills Union at industry events, roundtables, and partner briefings, and contribute to the community and network initiatives we are building around Singapore's talent ecosystem.
• Maintain a disciplined pipeline in HubSpot, with clear forecasting and honest reporting to the management team.

What We Are Looking For

• Deep, demonstrable knowledge of the Singapore skills and higher education ecosystem. You should be able to speak fluently about SSG funding mechanics, IHL procurement and partnership norms, and the roles of agencies like IMDA and IBF without a briefing.
• An existing network. Warm relationships with IHL CET units, university partnership offices, or skills agencies are close to essential for this role.
• A track record of closing institutional or government deals, ideally multi-year contracts in education, training, or workforce development.
• Consultative selling instincts. Our deals are won by understanding an institution's mandate and designing around it, not by pushing product.
• Comfort operating in a small, fast-moving team where you own outcomes end to end.

Compensation and Structure

Competitive base with a meaningful variable component tied to closed revenue. For exceptional candidates with strong existing networks, we are open to discussing alternative arrangements, including commission-weighted or regional remits.