Job Title: Head of IFA Strategic Partnerships
Salary: £70,000 - £100,000 Basic Salary + Bonus + Benefits
Location: UK Wide (Company are based in Staffordshire)
Contract: Initial 6-Month Fixed Term Contract with Scope for Permanent Opportunity
About our clients and the role:
Swarm Recruitment is delighted to be partnering with one of the UK's largest independent crematoria operators with over 30 years of experience and a network of 42 crematoriums nationwide.
Our clients have become a leading provider of direct cremation services, offering simple, affordable, and dignified funeral solutions for families across the UK. As an FCA-regulated business, they are committed to delivering exceptional customer service and innovative end-of-life planning solutions.
As part of an exciting new growth strategy, they are looking to establish a new intermediary distribution channel within the Financial Services sector. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced IFA business development professional to build a completely new revenue stream from the ground up, introducing funeral planning solutions into the financial planning process through strategic partnerships with IFA firms, networks, and intermediary organisations.
Working directly with the Managing Director, you will take ownership of identifying, negotiating, and securing partnerships that can significantly impact the future growth of the business. This is a genuinely entrepreneurial opportunity where your existing industry relationships and ability to open doors will be critical to success.
This role would suit a highly connected individual with a substantial network across the IFA market, who thrives in a commercially driven environment and enjoys building strategic partnerships from concept through to implementation.
Salary & Benefits:
- Basic Salary: £70,000 - £100,000 depending on experience
- Uncapped Bonus Potential
- Significant Earning Opportunity for the Right Individual
- 33 Days Holiday Including Bank Holidays
- Life Assurance
- Choice of:
- - 7% Employer Pension Contributionor- 5% Employer Pension Contribution + Private Healthcare (Bupa)
- Ongoing Learning & Development
- Retail Discounts and Wellbeing Support
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Occupational Health Support
- Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay
- Several other benefits
Working Hours:
- Initial 6-month Fixed Term Contract with Scope for Permanent Opportunity
- Flexible Working Available
- Candidates can be based anywhere in the UK
- Travel Required for Partner Meetings and Occasional Visits to Cannock Head Office
The Opportunity:
This is not a traditional business development role. Our clients are entering the IFA market for the first time and require an experienced industry professional to create, develop, and scale a new distribution channel. You will have significant autonomy and direct access to senior leadership, with responsibility for developing partnerships capable of generating meaningful long-term revenue.
Success in this role will be measured by your ability to leverage existing relationships, secure distribution agreements, and establish a repeatable partnership model that can be scaled across the UK.
The successful candidate will bring a substantial network of contacts within the IFA sector and a proven track record of turning industry relationships into commercial partnerships.
Desired Experience:
- Proven experience working with Independent Financial Advisers, Wealth Management firms, Financial Services Networks, or intermediary distribution channels
- Existing and extensive network of contacts across the IFA market is essential
- Previous experience in a senior Business Development, Head of Partnerships, Head of Distribution, or Strategic Partnerships role
- Demonstrable track record of originating, negotiating, and closing complex strategic partnerships
- Experience building and developing IFA distribution channels
- Experience working within growth businesses, scale-ups, or transformational environments would be advantageous
- Experience presenting and negotiating with senior stakeholders and board-level decision makers
- Highly resilient, self-motivated, and comfortable managing long sales cycles
Responsibilities & Duties:
Business Development & Partnership Creation
- Identify, target, and secure strategic partnerships across IFA firms, networks, and intermediary organisations
- Leverage existing industry relationships to generate partnership opportunities
- Develop and execute a comprehensive IFA distribution strategy
- Build a robust pipeline of partnership opportunities and manage them through to completion
Strategic & Commercial Leadership
- Work directly with the Managing Director to shape the future distribution strategy of the business
- Develop compelling partner propositions aligned to market needs and customer outcomes
- Build commercial business cases for new partnership opportunities
- Own revenue generation and commercial performance targets
- Provide regular reporting and pipeline updates to the executive team
Cross-Functional Delivery
- Work closely with marketing, operations, compliance, legal, and product teams to successfully launch new partnerships
- Ensure partnerships are operationally viable and compliant with regulatory requirements
- Support the development of scalable processes and partnership frameworks
Future Growth
- Establish the foundations for a scalable distribution model
- Support future recruitment and development of a partnership team as the channel grows
By applying for this position, you agree for your data to be stored by Swarm Recruitment until notice is given by you for it to be removed. Your data will only be used for the purposes intended. Our Data Protection Policy will be forwarded to you if requested.
Pay: £70,000.00-£100,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Bereavement leave
- Company events
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Free flu jabs
- Free parking
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Private medical insurance
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
- Work from home
Application question(s):
- Do you have a strong network of IFA business connections that you can bring into this role? (Must Have)
- Proven experience working with Independent Financial Advisers, Wealth Management firms, Financial Services Networks, or intermediary distribution channels? (Must Have)
- Previous experience in a senior Business Development, Head of Partnerships, Head of Distribution, or Strategic Partnerships role? (Must Have)
Experience:
- Wealth Management: 3 years (required)
Work Location: Remote
