Business Engagement Manager (Tees and Tyne)

This is a fantastic opportunity to join the Career Ready team in a new role.  You'll work in collaboration with our Regional Manager for Tees and Tyne and our Partnerships and Income team.

You'll play a key role in our success by growing, developing and delivering all aspects of the day-to-day relationship management of local employer and corporate partner supporters in the Tees and Tyne region.

Business Engagement Manager

Hours:  21 hours, 3 days per week

Contract: Fixed Term for 12 months with the possibility of extension (pending funding conversations with existing partners).

Region: Tees and Tyne

Location: Homebased.  Must be able to travel occasionally to locations across Tees and Tyne to attend meetings with employer partners.

About Career Ready

We are a UK-wide social mobility charity that believes that every young person deserves the opportunity to enjoy a rewarding future.

We were founded in 2002 by leading business figures with a mission: to boost social mobility by empowering young people and giving their talents a platform to flourish. Since then, we’ve grown across the UK to support young people in areas of need.

Our programme gives young people the key skills, confidence, and experiences they need to kickstart their futures. In partnership with our network we deliver a targeted programme providing young people aged 16-18 with a paid internship and mentor, workplace visits, and skills masterclasses.

Our organisational values underpin how we work and are at the core of everything we do. Career Ready’s values are: trust, bravery, collaboration, empowerment and inclusion.

Summary of main responsibilities and accountabilities

Partnership Management, Stakeholder Engagement & Business Development

·       Working alongside the Tees & Tyne Regional Manager to respond to the needs of the programme, ensuring that our young people have meaningful encounters with a range of employers from a diversity of industries and sectors.

·       Day-to-day operational account management for employer supporters, ensuring they have excellent experiences.

·       Full partnership and operational account management for lower-level funders in your region.

·       Promote the contribution of Career Ready and awareness of Career Ready to potential supporters and assist in engaging their commitment to give both practical and financial support.

·       Engaging new corporate, third and public sector organisations to directly support the programme delivery, working with the Head of Programmes to launch and grow the Tees & Tyne Regional Action Board 

·       Work with the Programmes and Partnership and Incomes teams to develop and deliver the overall employer engagement strategy for the area ensuring that the number of mentors is matched with the paid internship commitment and that employer volunteers are in place for masterclass delivery and workplace visits.

·       Working with the Partnership Manager leading the relationship with BP to help generate leads with local businesses that are connected to BP’s activity in the region.

Please see the Job Description for full details

Person Specification

This is a wonderful role that requires passion for our purpose and a broad range of skills, experience and the ability to demonstrate an understanding of the environments we operate in. You can develop, grow and maintain valuable and valued relationships through your motivation for what we do, with a passion that inspires and engages others, alongside the capacity to identify and manage multiple priorities. You need to thrive on attention to detail, be able to listen to what is not said, be well organised and confident to engage with and influence a wide range of people.  You will research and approach opportunities and outcomes with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Experience Required:

·       Demonstrated experience in managing employer accounts and generating income.

·       Developing, growing and maintaining a broad range of stakeholder relationships

·       Experience of inputting into impact reports

Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours:

·       Able to plan and execute events and presentations to a high standard, taking into account different audiences and communication styles

·       Self-assured with great listening and negotiation skills to influence and communicate inspirationally, accurately and effectively to a wide variety of audiences

·       Invests in understanding the bigger picture to enable local plans in service of our strategy and innovations which fit with Career Ready’s mission, values and practices

·       Composed and engaging whilst managing multiple activities and processes that, when combined, are the recognised high quality, high care, high impact Career Ready programme

·       Confident enough to manage and motivate yourself to deliver a range of outcomes and able to seek the views, ideas and wisdom of others

·       Truly great organisational skills, able to prioritise, keeping stakeholders informed and engaged

·       Ability to interpret and utilise data effectively.

·       Demonstrated expertise in income generation, business development, and account management.

·       Commitment to demonstrating Career Ready's values

·       strong IT literacy skills (CRM system [Salesforce] /Office 365 - Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and are social media savvy.

We are committed to the safeguarding of young people.  The role-holder will be required to complete an appropriate level of DBS check.