PeoplePlus UK
Director of Strategic Partnerships
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Director of Strategic Partnerships
PeoplePlus is looking for an experienced and influential Director of Strategic Partnerships to lead our senior stakeholder and partnership agenda across our core business areas, nationally. This is a high-profile leadership role for someone who can build trusted relationships at the highest level, understand the changing employment, skills and social value landscape, and turn market insight into meaningful commercial opportunities.
What will you do?
Reporting to our DMD for Partner and Social Value Services, you’ll develop and lead PeoplePlus’s strategic partnership approach — strengthening our influence, reputation and position across the markets we operate in. You’ll work closely with senior colleagues across Growth, Operations, Corporate Services and Communications, alongside our national employer and social value partnerships teams, to identify opportunities, strengthen relationships and position PeoplePlus as the partner of choice. With employment and skills funding increasingly devolved, you’ll play a key role in ensuring we are ahead of the market — building relationships with the organisations and decision-makers shaping future commissioning and investment.
Your focus will include:
- Leading PeoplePlus’s strategic partnerships plan and aligning it to our growth strategy
- Building trusted relationships with commissioners, funders, government departments, combined and strategic authorities, elected members and other senior stakeholders
- Turning market intelligence, policy developments and commissioning intentions into commercial opportunities
- Identifying emerging opportunities across employability, adult skills, health, justice, education and social value
- Influencing conversations early, particularly within devolved and emerging regional markets
- Representing PeoplePlus at senior forums, conferences and industry events
- Using stakeholder intelligence to strengthen bids, re-procurements, supply-chain development and growth strategies
- Developing opportunities for PeoplePlus to operate as a prime provider, subcontractor, specialist provider or strategic partner
- Working with our Social Value Services team to develop employer partnerships and social impact opportunities
- Championing innovation, technology and effective use of market intelligence to strengthen our partnership approach
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About you
You’ll be a senior strategic partnerships, business development, stakeholder engagement or commercial leader with a strong track record of operating at senior level.
You’ll bring
- Significant experience developing senior external relationships
- Strong knowledge of government, public sector commissioning, procurement and funding
- Experience across employability, skills, social value, justice, health, education or related public services
- A proven ability to identify opportunities and convert insight into growth
- Exceptional influencing, negotiation and relationship-building skills
- Confidence engaging with commissioners, government leaders, elected members and senior executives
- Strong political and commercial awareness
- The ability to bring complex stakeholders together around a shared objective
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- A strategic mindset with a strong focus on measurable outcomes
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Why PeoplePlus?
This is an opportunity to take a national leadership role at the heart of our growth and partnership strategy.
You’ll have the opportunity to:
- Shape our national market position
- Influence how PeoplePlus responds to the evolving employment, skills and social value landscape
- Work directly with senior decision-makers, commissioners, government and strategic partners
- Drive meaningful growth
- Turn relationships, insight and emerging opportunities into sustainable commercial growth.
- Influence the future
- Help PeoplePlus respond to devolution, changing commissioning models and the evolving social value agenda.
- Make a difference
- Use strategic partnerships to create better opportunities for people and communities across the UK.
The essentials
Location: Home-based, with regular travel across the UK
Hours: Full-time
Travel: Regular national travel required
If you’re a strategic relationship-builder who knows how to influence, identify opportunities and turn partnerships into growth, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now or share with someone who could be a great fit.
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