Manager, Product Partnerships

Job Description

PearsonLearning is the most powerful force for change in the world. More than 20,000 Pearson employees deliver our products and services in nearly 200 countries, all working towards a common purposeto help everyone achieve their potential through learning. Wedo that by providing high quality, digital content and learning experiences, as well as assessments and qualifications that help people build their skills and grow with the world around them. We are the worlds leading learning company.We are seeking a Product Partnerships Manager for our fast-growing Workforce Skills division. This role offers a compelling opportunity to be part of a team focused on building new growth strategies and opportunities to prepare organizationsand people for the future of work in the career and workplace learning market.Job Purpose:The Product Partnership Manager will be responsible for establishing and maintaining productive commercial partnerships with organisations who can support our product strategy with new capabilities, develop new joint value-propositions together or grow theirbusinesses as part of our workforce network offer. This role will be responsible for managing these relationships through the cycle, from identifying potential partners, negotiating terms of the partnership, coordinating internal development and delivery activities,monitoring performance, and ensuring that the partnerships deliver on expectations for both parties.Main responsibilities:The Product Partnership Manager role will have a wide and varied range of responsibilities, which will include:

• Working with colleagues to understand and synthesize critical capabilities and opportunities for which we should seek partners into a partnership strategy.
• Identifying and prioritizing potential partners based on the business and product goals articulated in this strategy.
• Using data analysis and market research to identify, evaluate and prioritize the most valuable opportunities for new partnerships
• Establishing new relationships with key partners to develop new products, services or business opportunities, including identifying and pursuing potential leads, organizing exploratory meetings, synthesizing and developing collaboration opportunities.
• Developing clear and compelling business cases that build commitment to those propositions with both partners and colleagues and secure the resourcing to make them happen.
• Negotiating mutually beneficial commercial terms for each partnership and managing the legal relationship through the cycle including NDAs, MOUs and final contracts.
• Developing partnership business metrics and KPIs to help us measure, manage and communicate progress.
• Developing repeatable partnership models that can be used to develop scalable partnership programs in areas like learning content, assessment and scalable employment services as part of our network.
• Managing existing strategic partnerships by developing new ideas for collaboration, monitoring performance, and resolving any conflicts in a constructive and timely manner.
• Developing our partnership proposition and supporting pitch materials to successfully promote partnership with Pearson to potential partners, and the results of those partnerships to customers and stakeholders.
• Providing regular updates to colleagues and the leadership team on the overall partnership program and progress on individual partnerships against key KPIs.
• Establishing a coherent partnership framework core of best practices to inform future partnership activities and sharing best practice with relevant colleagues across Pearson.

What you will bring:You will be an experienced business development professional with expertise in developing and closing collaborative partnerships that drive multiple objectives in a complex and fast-developing marketplace. Strong entrepreneurial initiative, commercial negotiationskills and experience of managing partnerships are essential, along with good networking, organizational and persuasive communication skills.Your key skills and qualities will include:

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to quickly build a rapport with colleagues and potential partners.
• Good stakeholder management, both internally and externally.
• Strong deal-making and negotiation skills, being able to identify and develop productive commercial models and successfully close commercial agreements.
• Persuasive communication and presentation skills, being able to convey opportunities, ideas and cases with clarity and confidence.
• Good listening, facilitation and creative problem-solving skills, being able to guide complex partnership discussions to productive solutions.
• Strong strategic thinking skills, with the ability to identify distinctive and valuable opportunities that will grow our business now and in the future.
• Strong analytical skills, with business and financial acumen.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to bring together and mobilise teams and colleagues around partnership opportunities.
• A good grasp of the economics of partnership, marketplaces and networks.

Qualifications and experience:Essential

• Experience and understanding of the skills market, including enterprise learning and development, talent mobility and technology
• Experience of developing and implementing market-winning and customer-focused product and service propositions
• Qualified to degree level or equivalent

Desirable

• Strategic and commercial experience in a partnership management role
• Experience of building business cases
• Project management experience

Job: MARKETINGOrganization: Workforce SkillsSchedule: FULL_TIMEReq ID: 7834