Partnerships Manager

OUR STORY

Virgin is entrepreneurial at its heart, having spent the last 50 years starting and scaling businesses around the world. 

In 2013, Virgin StartUp was founded by Sir Richard Branson to support the next generation of founders who are looking to do the same.

Since then, we have helped tens of thousands of founders to start and scale… and we’re just getting started.

We’re an entrepreneurially minded, not-for-profit organisation, that exists to empower founders to start up and thrive. 

We know there’s a lot that goes into starting a business, so we’re here to help on all fronts - advice, access to funding, mentoring, training and sometimes just a friendly shoulder to lean on.

We provide straight talk and useful advice to make the entrepreneurial road less bumpy and access to a supportive and dynamic community to help founders have some fun along the way.

A diverse team that has recently grown to 15 members, helping founders from idea stage right through to scaleup stage and are supported by expert Brand, Legal, People, Finance, IT and External Relations teams from the Virgin Group.

Found out more about Virgin StartUp here and here.

ABOUT THE ROLE

• As Partnerships Manager at Virgin StartUp, you will be leading on all aspects of our partnership activity, combining both managing and nurturing existing partnerships, whilst also developing and delivering on new ones. 

• Working closely with senior members of the Virgin StartUp team, you will be responsible for developing and delivering on strategies that identify exciting partnerships that add value to founders, whilst also supporting our commercial and strategic goals. You will lead on partnership outreach, discussions and any negotiations to secure new commercial and ‘value add’ partnerships for Virgin StartUp and the founders that we support. 

• You will also be responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships amongst existing partners - such as Virgin Money and Fiverr – and for ensuring that these partnerships continue to deliver mutual value for everyone involved. 

• For all partnerships – new and existing – you will be responsible for developing roadmaps for the key deliverables and for ensuring relevant members of the team understand what they need to do in order to embed these partnerships and help bring them to life. This may involve establishing governance and reporting frameworks to support the ongoing delivery of key partnerships, to ensure they are a success. 

• You should personally role model the Virgin StartUp values and behaviours creating a culture to be proud of and an organisation wide commitment to delivering on our purpose of ‘empowering founders to start up and thrive’. 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Partnership Management & Implementation

• Work with Senior Members of the team, to create detailed plans for how partnerships and business opportunities would be implemented or realised within the business.  

• Take primary responsibility for the execution of such plans and the integration of new partnerships. In doing so, take responsibility for delivering objectives – operational, financial and brand KPIs & targets associated with these Partnerships. 

• Collaborate with the relevant ‘Department Heads’ to make sure new partners are integrated into the Virgin StartUp offering in a seamless way and that the respective areas of the organisation work together to realise the value in such partnerships. 

• Provide leadership, strategic insight, and clear communication (written and verbal) to team members on partnership initiatives and opportunities. 

• Provide support and direction to those involved in delivering partnership implementation plans, to ensure the full benefit of the opportunity is realised. 

• Track, report, and optimise the performance of partnerships, including identifying issues as they arise, assessing possible solutions, and executing those solutions. 

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key partners and stakeholders, both internally and externally to the Virgin Group and help identify new opportunities to further develop the partnership. 

New Partnership Opportunities & Business Development:

• Based on a detailed knowledge and understanding of Virgin StartUp’s strategic, business and commercial objectives, work with the Senior Team to develop a Partnership Strategy that identifies brand enhancing partnerships and business opportunities, that support the aims of the business.   

• Conduct detailed analysis to identify potential partnership opportunities, including the evaluation of financial and non-financial benefits and risks. 

• Lead on partnership outreach, discussions and negotiations to secure new commercial and ‘value add’ partnerships for Virgin StartUp and the founders that we support. 

• Create and implement business development tools (pitch decks, partnership playbooks, standard templates & T&Cs) to support the execution of the Partnership Strategy. 

• In collaboration with the Virgin Management Legal Team, support with the creation of any Heads of Terms and Agreements required to establish such partnerships. 

Financial Management & Reporting

• Support the development and management of budgets where this relates to key partnerships. 

• Monitor associated revenues and costs, and ensure performance is within the agreed budget. Identify and report variances against agreed budget and support re-forecasting where necessary; 

• Provide monthly reports on operational performance. Ensure any risks are highlighted and plans are put in place to address these. 

Future Opportunities: 

• Keep up to date with the entrepreneurial ecosystem to maintain a real time view of partnership and business development opportunities. 

• Translate new partnership and business development proposals into detailed project strategies and delivery plans to ensure business objectives can be achieved. 

• Produce reports on progress against plans, status, issues, risks and costs. 

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• 3+ years’ experience in a similar role. 
• Experience in partnership management, business development, account management and / or relationship management. 
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills. 
• Excellent relationship, interpersonal and communication skills. 
• Experience engaging and handling senior stakeholders, including an ability to work with, gain the confidence of, influence and negotiate with people. 
• Highly organised, with the ability to work autonomously and use initiative. 
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. 
• A demonstratable commitment to quality in standards, behaviours, knowledge and skills. 
• Energetic, enthusiastic and always willing to go the extra mile. 
• Ability to act as an ambassador for the Virgin brand and live our values, when representing the company, internally and externally. 

Bonus 

• Well-connected in the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and businesses that support it.  
• Experience of using Salesforce / equivalent CRM. Training will be provided if not.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

Our Culture Pact sets out the attributes we look for in our Virgin people:

Purpose driven – You are values driven, striving to be human, brave and visionary in how you work. You are committed to doing the right thing and relish doing your bit to help us change business for good. 

Inclusive team player - You are a curious, perceptive collaborative and responsive team player. Keen to learn and understand, you recognise the strength in diversity and seek to behave inclusively always. You are thoughtful and supportive and consistently value the ideas and contribution of others. 

Flexible and future focused - You are flexible but remain focused, and always balance the needs of the company and team with your own priorities. You willingly adapt to the evolving needs of the business, are receptive to new ways of working and keen to play your part in driving positive change in our culture. 

Always accountable - You embrace responsibility and take pride in doing your best work, with full ownership for quality and results. You are solutions-orientated and work hard to get the job done - with passion, determination and resilience to succeed. You own your continuous development and are always seeking to improve and upskill. 

Pioneering - You are innovative, explore all possibilities and create new opportunities. You push boundaries and challenge the status quo, taking calculated risks where appropriate, acting always with integrity yet with a sense of fun and creativity. 

Some of the attributes that define a ‘Virgin person’ just can’t be quantified in words. We pride ourselves on welcoming people from all walks of life, with all sorts of skill sets. Most recently, Virgin successfully campaigned to add ‘Dyslexic Thinking’ as a skill on LinkedIn. Any uniqueness is a strength and will be considered an asset to our team. 

SALARY & BENEFITS

• £48,000 - £52,000 (+10% discretionary bonus)
• Unlimited holiday
• 2 return flights per year, to any Virgin Atlantic destinations worldwide
• Private Medical Insurance
• Access to digital GP service
• Comprehensive health assessments – available every 2 years (after 2 years employment)
• Bupa Dental Insurance
• Workplace Pension with Aviva
• Free lunch every day (when working from the office)
• Access to Virgin Pulse – stay active and earn wellbeing points, which can be converted into rewards each quarter
• Access to an online platform that provides discount on a host of Virgin Companies and a range of other 3rd parties and brands
• A host of other things - e.g. Cycle to Work scheme, Payroll giving, Employee Assistance programme, Access to Nudge - a financial wellness platform started with a Start Up Loan from Virgin StartUp as it happens :)

This role is accepting applications on a rolling basis, so be quick! In your covering message, please outline:

1. Why you are passionate about supporting UK-wide founders.
2. Your experience and approach to securing partners and generating income from potential partners. Please be specific to give a fuller sense of what you have done.
3. How you approach working with partners in general and why you enjoy making good things happen.