Business Development Manager
- Hybrid
- £40,000 - £45,000
- BPIF Training
Live vacancy
Business Development Manager
£40,000 a year
Lead our commercial growth — new customers, new programmes and new routes to market. Hybrid working, reporting to the Managing Director.
LocationHybrid — a mix of home, head office and time with employers.
Salary
£40,000 per annum.
Reports toThe Managing Director, working closely with the Board Adviser.
Apply by email [email protected]
About the role
This is not a traditional sales or learner recruitment role. It’s the role that moves us from taking orders to a proactive, insight-led commercial model.
You’ll lead BPIF Training’s commercial growth activity, creating and developing revenue opportunities across existing customers, new customers, new programmes and new routes to market. The focus is organisational growth, commercial planning and employer-level opportunities — not the operational recruitment, assessment or enrolment of individual learners.
In practice that means analysing customer and market data, identifying workforce development needs at organisation level, and turning them into sustainable commercial opportunities. The role combines business development, strategic account management, CRM governance, commercial intelligence and pipeline management. You’ll be accountable for progressing qualified employer opportunities to an agreed commercial commitment, and for handing them over cleanly to the right operational team.
Why BPIF Training?
BPIF Training is the UK’s leading specialist apprenticeship training provider for the print, packaging and graphic communications sectors. We work with employers across the country to develop talent, address skills shortages and support workforce development through high-quality training.
We’re in a period of growth and transformation, with plans to expand our reach, develop new programmes, strengthen employer partnerships and increase our impact across the industries we serve. This role is a pivotal part of that. Working closely with the Managing Director, Board Adviser and senior leadership team, you’ll help shape and deliver the commercial growth strategy.
You’ll join a collaborative organisation where ideas are welcomed, decisions are driven by insight and data, and success is measured by the value we create for employers, learners and the wider industry.
What you’ll be driving
- Revenue growth from apprenticeship, commercial training and workforce development solutions, with new and existing customers.
- Strategic commercial partnerships and new routes to market.
- Commercialisation of new products, programmes and services.
- CRM development, pipeline management and commercial intelligence.
- Expansion into new sectors and markets.
- Customer retention, and growth from the customers we already have.
This role suits someone who enjoys turning insight, relationships and opportunity into measurable business growth.
Key responsibilities
Commercial intelligence, CRM and growth planning
- Own and maintain the CRM system and the qualified opportunity pipeline.
- Make sure every opportunity has a clear value, probability, next action and owner.
- Develop customer segmentation to support targeted commercial activity.
- Analyse customer, pipeline and revenue data to find growth opportunities and risks.
- Produce clear commercial reporting and insight for decision-making.
- Use evidence to focus effort where the commercial impact is greatest.
Building and managing the growth pipeline
- Proactively identify and develop new commercial opportunities.
- Manage qualified opportunities from first engagement through to an agreed commitment, then hand over to the relevant operational team.
- Monitor pipeline health, conversion rates, forecast accuracy and revenue trends.
- Keep follow-up consistent, forecasting accurate and opportunities moving.
- Understand why opportunities are won, lost or delayed — and act on it.
Growing existing customer relationships
- Build a structured account management approach across key customers, with plans linked to retention, revenue and service growth.
- Find opportunities to broaden relationships and increase share of wallet.
- Support senior relationship owners in developing strategic customers.
- Re-engage dormant customers and restore active relationships.
- Spot wider workforce challenges where we can help.
- Monitor customer risk and develop retention strategies where needed.
New customer growth
- Identify and target employers not currently working with BPIF Training.
- Research prospects and develop credible, targeted approaches.
- Coordinate outreach campaigns built on customer insight and market intelligence.
- Build senior commercial relationships through trust, credibility and an understanding of workforce priorities.
- Use organisation-level analysis to identify training, product and partnership opportunities.
New products and markets
- Work with the Board Adviser and Managing Director to research demand for new programmes and workforce development solutions.
- Validate opportunities directly with employers before significant investment is made.
- Support the launch and commercialisation of new products and services.
- Research new sectors, partnerships and routes to market.
- Contribute commercial insight to business cases and growth proposals.
Funding, partnerships and campaigns
- Keep visibility of relevant funding, tender and growth opportunities.
- Coordinate the information and contributions needed for submissions.
- Support the Board Adviser in progressing agreed strategic opportunities.
- Work with the Employer Engagement & Partnerships Manager to convert partnerships into measurable growth.
- Define and coordinate targeted B2B campaigns aligned to commercial priorities, working with marketing specialists and external partners where appropriate.
- Use customer and market insight to sharpen propositions, targeting and messaging.
How success is measured
You’ll be judged on outcomes, not activity
- Qualified pipeline value and pipeline coverage
- New revenue won
- Opportunity-to-enrolment conversion
- Revenue growth from existing customers
- New customers acquired, and dormant customers reactivated
- CRM quality, accuracy and use
- Strategic partnerships converted into commercial outcomes
What this role doesn’t cover
We’ve been deliberately clear about the boundary, because it’s what makes the role work.
- Sourcing, screening, assessing or matching individual learners to apprenticeship vacancies.
- Learner applications, eligibility checks, pre-assessments, onboarding paperwork or enrolment administration.
- Operational apprentice recruitment support for employers, or school, college, job centre and careers outreach.
Once an employer has made a commercial commitment, responsibility passes through a documented handover to the recruitment, admissions, compliance and delivery teams. You may use aggregated learner and performance information for commercial planning, but day-to-day learner recruitment and case management sit elsewhere.
What we’re looking for
Experience
- A strong track record in business development, commercial growth, account management or a comparable customer-facing role.
- Building and managing a qualified opportunity pipeline from early engagement through to conversion.
- Using a CRM to keep records accurate, manage activity and report commercial performance.
- Developing new customer relationships and growing value from existing accounts.
- Using customer, market and performance data to shape priorities and decisions.
Knowledge and understanding
- Consultative business development and needs-led selling.
- Pipeline management, forecasting, conversion and account planning.
- Strong commercial awareness — connecting activity to revenue and sustainable growth.
- Data quality, confidentiality and responsible information handling.
Skills
- Excellent relationship-building, influencing and communication skills.
- Strong analytical skills, able to interpret CRM, pipeline, customer and revenue data.
- Highly organised, managing multiple opportunities, deadlines and stakeholders.
- Confident with Microsoft 365, and quick to learn CRM and reporting systems.
How you work
- Proactive, curious and opportunity-focused.
- Credible, resilient and comfortable taking ownership.
- Commercially ambitious, while keeping integrity and a customer-first approach.
- Collaborative with senior leaders, colleagues and external partners.
- Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, to safeguarding learners, and to skills development and learner success.
What we offer
Alongside the salary, a benefits package built around wellbeing, flexibility and development.
- £40,000 a year
- 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays — and your birthday off
- Buy up to 10 additional days of leave
- Flexible working arrangements
- Workplace pension with a salary sacrifice option — half the employer National Insurance saving comes back to you
- Life assurance at 4× annual salary
- Employee Assistance Programme for mental health and counselling, through The Printing Charity
- Investment in your training and development, plus study support for professional qualifications
- The cost of one professional membership covered
- Cycle to Work, a tech scheme spread over 24 months, and employee discounts through Salary Extras
Interested? Let’s talk.
If you’re motivated by building relationships, creating opportunities and helping an organisation realise its growth ambitions, we’d like to hear from you. Send your CV and a covering letter and we’ll be in touch.
Questions about the role first? Email [email protected] or call 01676 526060.
Our commitment, and safeguarding
BPIF Training is committed to fair, transparent and objective recruitment. Selection decisions are based on the published requirements of the role. We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds and experiences, and will make reasonable adjustments for candidates who need them.
We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all learners, including children, young people and adults at risk. The postholder must share that commitment, maintain professional boundaries, complete the required safeguarding and Prevent training, and report concerns promptly. Appointment is subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks appropriate to the role.