Job Title: Business Development Manager - Paragon Skills Sales Lead
Location: Remote with travel
Salary: Up to £40,000 + Bonus
Working days: Monday to Friday (37.5 hours a week)
As a key member of our Customer Engagement and Commercial function, you will play a pivotal role in achieving apprenticeship starts across the Paragon Skills and Babington partnership.
You will work closely with the Paragon Skills commercial teams to identify new employer opportunities, nurture existing relationships, and provide expert advice on apprenticeship solutions that deliver measurable return on investment. This role blends new business development, account management, and strategic consultancy. You'll influence decisionmakers at all levels, ensuring a seamless experience from first engagement through to learner onboarding.
In this exciting new role partnership role across the group, you will be working as a Business Development Manager within the Care sector to support Professional Services starts, therefore you will be able to close sales with the Paragon Skills customer base, for Babington provision - so not operating from a standing start.
Key Responsibilities
* Identify and secure new business opportunities within core markets, ensuring apprenticeship eligibility and compliance.
* Develop engagement plans to generate highquality sales leads across SME and large corporate organisations.
* Demonstrate clear return on investment (ROI) to help employers understand the value of apprenticeships.
* Deliver highquality information, advice and guidance (IAG) on apprenticeship levy and funding requirements.
* Support clients throughout the full journey-from programme scoping to onboarding.
* Build strong, sustainable customer relationships across all organisational levels.
* Work collaboratively with Babington and Paragon colleagues to ensure smooth onboarding and communication.
* Maintain internal service-level agreements and complete required administrative tasks for all new learners.
* Uphold standards in GDPR, data security, safeguarding, equality and diversity.
* Meet all KPIs including new leads, meetings, business won, and apprenticeship starts (minimum 20 starts monthly).
You will be successful in this role if you have:
* Experience in B2B and B2C business development, ideally within governmentfunded or regulated training environments
* Experience in working in professional services and Care apprenticeship
* Strong account management experience and the ability to influence decisionmakers at various levels
* Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills.
* Experience delivering highquality customer experiences across multiple sectors.
* Knowledge of sales methodologies (e.g., SPIN, Challenger).
* Strong commercial awareness and understanding of labour market trends.
* Understanding of awarding bodies, funding rules, and Ofsted requirements.
* Ability to manage your own pipeline, utilise CRM systems effectively, and exceed sales targets.
* A proactive, solutionfocused mindset with strong problemsolving capability.
* A full driving licence and willingness to travel with occasional overnight stays.
What's in it for you?
Babington is an inclusive, welcoming and supportive place to work with a fantastic culture which supports each employees learning, development and career growth.
* 25 days annual leave and 8 Public Bank Holidays
* Bupa Healthcare Cash plan; reimbursements for dental, health assessments & prescriptions
* .Additional annual leave purchase scheme to buy up to 5 extra days
* Babington Rewards; includes cashback, discounts off online and retail stores.
* Commission capped at 150%
We are a Disability Confident Employer and have a guaranteed interview scheme in place to ensure that nobody is overlooked or discriminated against because of their disability. If you meet the minimum criteria when you apply and you have informed us in your application that you have a disability, you will be guaranteed an interview for that role.
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.