Business Development Manager

Help Young People Launch Their Careers. Help SMEs Build Their Future Workforce. Are you a consultative sales professional who wants to do more than just hit targets? At Babington, we're looking for a passionate and commercially driven Business Development Managers to support employers across England and promoting our Business Foundation Pathway Programme. You'll be at the heart of helping businesses recruit future talent, supporting social mobility, and making a real contribution to tackling the NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) agenda. Location: Remote based role with occasional travel in England Salary: £38,000 - £40,000 base salary with uncapped bonus (OTE) Hours: 37.5 a week - Monday to Friday As a Regional Business Development Manager, you'll be responsible for developing new employer partnerships and securing apprenticeship opportunities across England. Working closely with SMEs, you'll demonstrate how recruiting apprentices through our Business Foundation pathway can help businesses address skills gaps, build sustainable talent pipelines, and support long-term growth. Your role will focus on:

• Promoting and growing our Business Foundation Pathway Programme
• Engaging with SMEs across England to identify recruitment opportunities
• Recruiting apprenticeship vacancies within professional business disciplines
• Supporting young people in securing professional business apprenticeships
• Helping employers attract, develop and retain emerging talent
• Building strong relationships with business owners and decision-makers
• Managing a full business development cycle from prospecting through to vacancy placement
• Acting as a trusted advisor on apprenticeship solutions and workforce development
• Supporting national initiatives aimed at reducing the number of young people who are NEET
• Working collaboratively with internal teams to ensure excellent employer and learner outcomes Why This Role Matters This isn't just another business development role. Every employer partnership you secure creates opportunities for young people to start meaningful careers. Every apprenticeship vacancy you generate helps a business strengthen its future workforce. Your work will directly contribute to:
• Supporting young people into sustainable employment
• Creating professional career pathways through apprenticeships
• Helping SMEs access high-quality talent
• Driving regional and national economic growth
• Tackling the NEET agenda and improving social mobility Experience and Knowledge:
• Successful B2B business development or consultative sales experience
• Proven ability to generate new business opportunities and manage a sales pipeline
• Experience engaging and influencing senior stakeholders and business owners
• Strong relationship-building and networking skills
• Commercial awareness and a results-driven mindset
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Ability to work independently across a national territory
• Apprenticeship, education, training, recruitment, or employability sector experience (Desirable)
• Knowledge of apprenticeship funding and workforce development programmes (Desirable)
• Due to the nature of this role a driving licence and ability to travel in England. At Babington, we're passionate about developing better futures for our learners and our people, and our values run through everything we do: Curious. Passionate. Brave. Determined. Caring. Babington Engage Bupa Healthcare - Cash plan 25 Days annual leave plus Bank holidays Additional annual leave purchase scheme Employer Pension contribution We'll be conducting interviews on a continuous basis and reserve the right to take down the advert when we have found the right candidate. We expect all colleagues to share this commitment and to contribute to a culture where people feel safe, respected and able to achieve their potential. As part of our safer recruitment processes, appropriate pre-employment checks, including DBS, right to work, reference and social media checks where required, will be undertaken. To promote and maintain an inclusive working environment, as part of your application process we will ask you to share data on certain characteristics. These answers will not form part of the selection and recruitment process and will not be shared with anyone outside of the People Team. Babington is committed to the safeguarding and wellbeing of our learners and colleagues and we implement robust safer recruitment practices to support this. Dependent on the role you are applying for, we may undertake a number of necessary checks to confirm you are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults, which may include a Disclosure and Barring Service check. We are also committed to promoting equality and inclusion throughout our colleague and learner populations.