Director of strategic growth & partnerships (location- uk, india & bangkok)

ABOUT THE COMPANY

StudyIn is one of the world’s leading international education and student mobility organisations, helping students unlock life-changing opportunities through global education. Since 2006, we have supported more than 1.3 million students on their journey to study overseas, building trusted partnerships with leading universities across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Dubai.

Today, our global network spans more than 40 countries and 500+ colleagues, combining local expertise with international reach to support students at every stage of their journey. Through expert counselling, admissions support, visa guidance, university partnerships and premium services, we help students make informed decisions about their future and achieve their academic and career ambitions.

As we continue to grow through innovation, strategic partnerships and acquisitions, we are evolving beyond traditional student recruitment to build a broader student mobility platform that supports students throughout their international education journey.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The role will work closely with Client Engagement, Sales, Marketing, Franchise and Regional leadership teams to maximise the value of StudyIn’s university portfolio, improve commercial competitiveness, identify strategic growth opportunities and support the development of StudyIn’s broader student mobility ecosystem.

Beyond portfolio optimisation, the role will play a key part in shaping StudyIn’s future growth strategy through the development of strategic partnerships, commercial programs, Premium Services, adjacent revenue opportunities and acquisition integration initiatives. The role will also help ensure that commercial decisions, portfolio investments and partnership strategies are aligned to StudyIn’s long-term growth ambitions and evolving student mobility vision.

While the role will initially have a lean team structure, it is expected to operate as an internal growth and commercial development function for the business. The successful candidate will be highly hands-on, comfortable operating independently and capable of driving complex initiatives through influence, analysis and cross-functional collaboration. A key part of the role will be proving new commercial opportunities, building business cases and establishing the foundations for future organisational growth.

Success in this role will depend on the ability to identify opportunities, build compelling business cases, influence stakeholders, mobilise cross-functional teams and convert strategic concepts into scalable commercial outcomes.

The successful candidate will combine commercial acumen, strategic thinking and operational execution, helping StudyIn unlock new growth opportunities, strengthen the performance of its existing portfolio and build one of the world’s leading student mobility organisations.

What the Role Does

This position is responsible for ensuring that partnerships and commercial initiatives translate into measurable growth and revenue. The day-to-day functions include:

• Optimizing the University Portfolio: Driving student volume, revenue, and profitability across StudyIn's university portfolio while developing growth plans for priority institutions and markets.
• Managing Commercial Contracts: Supporting university contract negotiations and analyzing performance to improve commission rates and commercial terms.
• Building Strategic Partnerships: Developing relationships across sectors like accommodation, finance, insurance, and language training to build out a broader student mobility ecosystem.
• Developing New Revenue Streams: Creating business cases for new commercial programs and expanding existing offerings like Premium Services.
• Providing Strategic Intelligence: Developing portfolio performance reporting, evaluating future acquisition targets, and supporting integration planning.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Driving complex initiatives and delivering results through influence and cross-functional collaboration across Sales, Marketing, Regional, and Client Engagement teams.

The successful candidate will be:

• A highly commercial and strategically minded leader.
• Proven ability to lead complex initiatives and deliver results through influence rather than direct management authority.
• Comfortable operating across partnerships, portfolio management, growth strategy and business development.
• Able to translate data and insight into commercial action.
• Experienced in influencing senior stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Equally comfortable analysing performance and developing new growth opportunities.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with practical execution.
• Passionate about building scalable growth platforms and new revenue streams.
• Comfortable operating in an entrepreneurial, build-phase environment.
• Able to create momentum and deliver results without large, dedicated teams.
• Experienced in developing business cases, validating opportunities and scaling successful initiatives.
• Highly collaborative and capable of influencing across multiple functions and stakeholder groups.
• Willing to combine strategic thinking with hands-on execution