Manager (Business Development & Commercial)

Job Purpose:

To lead end-to-end business development and commercial activities, including client acquisition, proposal development, pricing coordination, and partnership management, while ensuring alignment with client needs and organisational priorities. It plays a key role in strengthening industry relationships, expanding market reach, and contributing to revenue generation through responsive, value-driven, and client-centric executive education offerings. The Manager also supports the effective execution of commercial strategies and ensures seamless coordination between clients and internal stakeholders to deliver impactful learning solutions.

Key Accountabilities:

Benchmarking and Market Analysis

- Conduct ongoing market research and competitive benchmarking to identify industry trends, client needs, and emerging opportunities in executive and professional education.
- Analyse market intelligence, pricing structures, and competitor offerings to support informed business development and positioning decisions.
- Support the identification of high-potential sectors, clients, and programme areas aligned with CAPE’s growth strategy.
- Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to enhance portfolio relevance, market responsiveness, and commercial effectiveness.

Business Development & Sales Execution

- Execute business development activities to identify, pursue, and convert new opportunities across corporate, government, and industry sectors.
- Develop tailored proposals, quotations, and value-driven solutions aligned with client requirements and organisational capabilities.
- Manage the end-to-end sales process, including lead generation, opportunity tracking, negotiation support, and deal closure.
- Support achievement of revenue targets through effective pipeline management and conversion of strategic opportunities.

Commercial Conduct and Financial Stewardship

- Manage the development of commercial packages, programme proposals and customised solutions in collaboration with Learning Innovation and Development teams.
- Establish pricing strategy, costing and commercial evaluations to ensure competitiveness and financial viability.
- Coordinate contract documentation, renewals and commercial negotiations within approved authority limits.
- Promote financial discipline and practices across the team to safeguard financial performance.

Strategic Alliances & Partnerships

- Manage strategic partnerships with industry, government agencies, professional bodies, and academic institutions to enhance CAPE’s ecosystem and market reach.
- Participate in negotiating and managing partnership frameworks, collaboration agreements, and strategic engagement models to support organisational objectives.
- Maintain long-term stakeholder relationships that strengthen CAPE’s reputation, industry relevance, and strategic positioning.

Client Engagement & Account Management

- Build and maintain strong relationships with clients to understand their learning needs, workforce priorities, and strategic objectives.
- Manage assigned accounts to ensure client satisfaction, repeat business, and long-term partnership development.
- Coordinate closely with internal teams to ensure successful delivery of client solutions and seamless customer experience.
- Act as a key liaison between clients and internal stakeholders to support effective communication and issue resolution.

Sales Performance & Pipeline Management

- Manage overall sales performance and business development pipelines conversion to ensure achievement of revenue targets and growth objectives.
- Maintain performance tracking mechanisms and reporting frameworks to track commercial outcomes and market traction and support data-driven commercial decision-making.
- Monitor and report overall business development and commercial performance including sales performance and pipeline conversion supported by the marketing implementation for management reviews and decision making.

Governance, Quality and Compliance

- Ensure all commercial activities, proposals, and agreements comply with institutional policies, governance frameworks, and approval processes.
- Support accurate documentation and maintenance of contracts, pricing records, and client agreements in accordance with organisational standards.
- Uphold integrity and quality standards in all client-facing materials and business development outputs to ensure professionalism and consistency.
- Ensure adherence to ethical business practices and risk management requirements in all commercial engagements.

Qualification & Experience:

- Recognised Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Management, Economics or related fields.
- Minimum 7–10 years of relevant experience in business development, sales, commercial or account management, preferably in executive education, professional services, training or B2B environments.
- Experience in proposal development, client engagement and revenue generation.
- Good communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
- Strong coordination, analytical and commercial support capabilities.