Regional Business Development Manager – supporting a UK University

Role/Title: Regional Business Development Manager – supporting a UK University

Location:
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (This role will travel frequently to the neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia)

About Us:

Acumen, established in 2008 under the Sannam S4 Group umbrella, is a premier internationalization partner for educational institutions worldwide. Originating in India, we have expanded our services across Asia, North America, and beyond, providing comprehensive support to universities and organizations embarking on their global journeys.

Our Mission and Approach:

Driven by research and rich data insights, Acumen offers innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs of each partner. Our end-to-end services empower educational institutions to establish and enhance their international presence, ensuring they receive trusted guidance and expertise at every step.

Global Reach and Services:

With a strong presence in India, South and Southeast Asia, and North America, Acumen delivers excellence in education consulting, advisory, and implementation. Our services include in-country representation, high school engagement, agent management, enrollment services, and strategic consulting, all designed to help institutions thrive in today's competitive international education landscape.

Our Team and Values:

Our diverse team of over 300 professionals, with a 70% female representation, embodies our core values: Collaboration, Agility, Impact, Empowerment, and Integrity. This commitment to diversity and inclusion fosters a dynamic and supportive environment, enabling us to deliver impactful solutions to our partners.

Why Choose Acumen:

Our unique understanding of the education sector, combined with a people-first approach and student-focused insights, has made us an invaluable partner for educational institutions globally. We prioritize your needs, offering practitioner-led expertise and end-to-end support without taking commissions or selling services directly to students, ensuring our focus remains solely on enhancing your institution's success.

Partner with Acumen to navigate the complexities of international education and achieve sustainable growth in the global arena.

The Opportunity:

We are seeking an experienced education professional or business development practitioner to join the Acumen team in Malaysia, to provide full-time support to our higher education client in UK as a Regional Business Development Manager.

The client university, based in London, is the UK's largest provider of international distance and online learning and the convenor of a federation with 17 members. It is also home to the the UK's national centre for the humanities, whose mission is to advocate for the discipline.

The successful candidate will be a highly motivated, confident and experienced Transnational Education, recruitment or business development practitioner who is able to work under their own initiative. Skills in relationship management and B2B channel development and management are particularly important given the role requires developing effective and productive relationships with a variety of external and internal stakeholders. The post holder will need to work across the University and the extended university network to ensure we are well positioned to maximise our business potential in Southeast Asia including Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

Role Summary:

The post holder is responsible for implementing the University's growth ambition for distance learning students enrolling onto the University's Worldwide programmes, through their local teaching centre network and online platforms. A significant part of the role will include working with the University's extensive teaching centre network in the region, managing and servicing our business partners, and our relationship with regulatory bodies as well as students.

The post holder will work closely with the Global Business Development team contributing to the University strategies to optimise revenue generation.

Further, the post holder will provide advice on and logistics support for the University's activities and events in the region, ensuring the efficient running of senior visits and engagement, and optimising stakeholder and student satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Support and help optimise the existing teaching centres' performance and satisfaction.

2. Support and instigate the development of collaborations and new partnerships that support the Global Business Development 2030 Strategy.

3. Disseminate partnership and collaborative models of best practice and mechanisms for developing international collaborations to stakeholders throughout the University.

4. Act as an ambassador, and in the best of the University when representing the University in the designated region.

5. Contribute to the strategic development of the Global Business Development team's activities through sharing market intelligence with colleagues.

6. Provide recommendations to the University on programme development opportunities and how these opportunities could be capitalised upon through improvements to the curriculum or other critical factors under its control.

7. Contribute to the development, implementation and review of effective regional marketing, and social media strategies, ensuring the communications adhere to university branding. Ensure regular communication across partnership network to promote University activities.

8. Identify areas in which the University is not meeting the needs of students, parents and other stakeholders and develop strategies/programme improvements to address these shortcomings.

9. Provide high quality pastoral care and support for teaching centre students.

10. Develop and maintain good working relationships with partners and key (external) stakeholders, providing updates and maintaining regular communication.

11. Act as one of the main points of contact for prospective and existing teaching centres and business partners in the region.

12. Undertake other activities and projects as directed by the Director of Global Business Development at the University Worldwide.

13. Support the University activities in the region, including accompany or help facilitate staff travel in the designated markets.

14. This role does not have budgetary responsibility.

15. The post holder may be invited to visit the University, subject to budget and business needs.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Completion of a degree and/or relevant combination of skills and experience.
• Demonstrated experience in international education recruitment and partnerships or experience in sales and meeting/or exceeding targets with the ability to quickly acquire knowledge on international education.
• Proven experience in business development, B2B relationship management, and channel development.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong knowledge of Higher Education system in the region, Transnational Education and international partnership models.
• Excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills including the ability to communicate and present effectively to groups, and with a diverse range of people and organisations.
• Excellent organisational skills including the ability to prioritise tasks and perform a diverse range of tasks with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to provide market insights and strategic recommendations.
• Ability to work independently and operate across diverse cultures.
• Demonstrated ability to work as a member of a matrix structure team, as well as work independently using initiative and judgement.
• Fluent in English.
• A valid passport with the ability to travel around South East Asia and internationally.

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package
• Be part of a globally recognized, leading organization in international education

If you're eager to work with a world-class team of professionals, passionate about international education and student mobility, and driven to make a meaningful impact in this exciting and dynamic field, we encourage you to apply.