Strategic Client Partnerships Lead
Remote | 37.5 hours per week | Permanent | Regular UK travel & occasional international travel required
Turn trusted client relationships into long-term growth
Are you brilliant at building senior client relationships, spotting commercial opportunities and turning conversations into action?
Skills4 Group is looking for a Strategic Client Partnerships Lead to take ownership of some of our most important client relationships and help us grow the impact we make with employers across the UK.
This is a newly created role with genuine scope to make your mark. You’ll work with existing strategic clients to strengthen relationships, demonstrate the value we deliver and uncover opportunities to support more of their workforce through apprenticeships, training and development.
It’s a role for someone who enjoys both sides of client partnership: nurturing trusted, long-term relationships and creating commercial growth.
You won’t simply manage accounts. You’ll understand your clients’ organisations, workforce challenges and priorities, build relationships with senior decision-makers and bring together the right Skills4 solutions to help them achieve their goals.
Who we are
Skills4 Group is a national training and skills provider, working with employers to develop their people, strengthen their workforce and build the skills they need for the future.
Through apprenticeships, professional development and commercial training, we partner with organisations across a range of sectors to create learning solutions that deliver meaningful impact for both employers and individuals.
Skills4 Group is a trading name of I & F Limited.
What you’ll be doing
Build and grow strategic client partnerships
You’ll own an agreed portfolio of key clients and develop clear plans for retaining, strengthening and growing those relationships.
You will:
- Build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders, from operational contacts through to senior decision-makers.
- Develop strategic account plans covering client priorities, opportunities, risks and growth actions.
- Lead meaningful quarterly business reviews that demonstrate performance, learner impact and the value Skills4 is delivering.
- Identify opportunities to increase client retention, programme utilisation and investment across our apprenticeship and commercial training portfolio.
- Keep close to client satisfaction and account health, acting quickly when relationships or opportunities need attention.
Create commercial opportunities
This is a growth role, so you’ll be comfortable moving from great conversations to commercial outcomes.
You will:
- Understand employers’ workforce, talent and capability challenges and translate them into relevant solutions.
- Identify, qualify and close opportunities within existing client organisations.
- Develop relationships with new stakeholders and business areas to expand our reach within strategic accounts.
- Generate some of your own pipeline through referrals, networking, targeted outreach and campaigns.
- Respond quickly and professionally to inbound opportunities.
- Work with colleagues across sales, marketing, curriculum, operations and delivery to create proposals that are compelling, achievable and commercially sound.
- Negotiate confidently while protecting relationships, quality and commercial value.
Bring insight to the conversation
We want our clients to see Skills4 as more than a training provider. You’ll help us become a strategic workforce development partner.
You’ll use client, sector, labour-market and workforce insight to ask better questions, challenge thinking and bring relevant ideas to your clients.
You’ll also represent Skills4 at meetings, presentations, webinars and networking events, confidently communicating the value of apprenticeships, work-based learning and professional development.
Own your pipeline and performance
You’ll have clear commercial objectives and the autonomy to determine how you achieve them.
You will:
- Maintain an accurate and realistic pipeline and forecast.
- Keep client, stakeholder and opportunity information up to date in our CRM.
- Deliver agreed revenue, retention, conversion and account-growth targets.
- Use data to prioritise your activity and identify where action is needed.
- Maintain disciplined follow-up so opportunities continue moving forward.
- Work closely with our delivery teams to ensure what we promise clients is achievable and handed over effectively.
What will make you successful?
We’re looking for an accomplished relationship-builder with strong commercial instincts.
You’ll ideally bring:
- A successful track record in strategic account management, consultative sales, client partnerships or business development.
- Experience achieving stretching commercial or revenue targets.
- Confidence building relationships with multiple stakeholders, including senior decision-makers.
- The ability to uncover client needs and turn them into credible commercial opportunities.
- Strong account planning, pipeline management and forecasting skills.
- Excellent communication, presentation, influencing and negotiation skills.
- Good commercial judgement and the confidence to use data and insight in client conversations.
- Experience using CRM systems and Microsoft 365.
- The organisation and self-motivation to manage multiple accounts, opportunities and priorities in a remote role.
Experience that would be an advantage
Experience in apprenticeships or training would be useful, but it isn’t the only route into this role.
We’d also be interested in hearing from people who may have:
- Worked in education, apprenticeships, training, workforce development or another regulated service environment.
- Sold complex services or solutions across multiple business areas.
- Worked with employers on talent, skills or workforce challenges.
- Knowledge of apprenticeship funding or work-based learning.
- Experience working across different sectors and adapting their approach to different client needs.
The person we’re looking for
You’ll be someone who is:
Personable and engaging - you build rapport quickly and create confidence with clients.
Commercially curious - you ask great questions, understand what matters to a client and spot opportunities others might miss.
Influential - you can bring different people together and create momentum around an opportunity.
Entrepreneurial - you don’t wait for opportunities to land in your inbox; you create them.
Insightful - you can turn information, data and conversations into meaningful action.
Resilient - you’re comfortable handling challenges, objections and setbacks constructively.
Organised and accountable - you take ownership, follow through on commitments and keep opportunities moving.
Professional and enthusiastic - you represent Skills4 Group with energy, credibility and sound judgement.
What success looks like
Success in this role will mean:
- Strategic clients choosing to stay and grow with Skills4 Group.
- Stronger relationships with a broader range of stakeholders inside our client organisations.
- Growth across our apprenticeship and commercial training portfolio.
- A healthy, well-managed pipeline of credible opportunities.
- High-quality account plans and valuable quarterly business reviews.
- Clients who understand the impact Skills4 is delivering and see us as a trusted strategic partner.
- Consistent achievement of revenue, retention and account-growth objectives.
What we offer
Joining Skills4 Group means you’ll have the opportunity to shape a newly created strategic role and influence how we develop our approach to client partnerships.
You’ll also receive:
- 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays.
- Additional annual leave for long service.
- EV Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
- Tastecard.
- Death in service benefit.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
- Company laptop and mobile phone.
- Birthday voucher.
- Structured induction and training.
- Ongoing professional development.
- Glasses contribution.
- The flexibility of a remote role, with regular travel to client sites and events.
Ready to build partnerships that make a difference?
If you’re energised by developing senior client relationships, creating commercial opportunities and helping organisations invest in their people, we’d love to hear from you.
Apply today to join Skills4 Group as our Strategic Client Partnerships Lead.
Equality, diversity and safeguarding
Skills4 Group is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout our recruitment process and employment.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. The successful candidate will be expected to uphold Skills4 Group’s safeguarding, Prevent, health and safety, data protection and professional conduct requirements and report any concerns through the appropriate procedures. This role is subject to a satisfactory DBS check.
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company events
- Cycle to work scheme
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Sick pay
Application question(s):
- Have you personally managed complex client relationships involving multiple stakeholders, including senior decision-makers?
- Do you have hands-on experience using a CRM system to manage client activity, sales opportunities, pipeline stages and forecasts?
- What is your current notice period?
- What are your salary expectations?
- Can you meet the travel requirements of this role, with reasonable adjustments where applicable? These include frequent UK-wide travel, occasional international travel, regular attendance at client and industry events, and occasional early starts, evenings and overnight stays.
- Do you currently have the right to work in the UK without requiring employer sponsorship, now or in the future?
Experience:
- B2B sales experience with commercial targets: 3 years (required)
Work Location: On the road
