School Partnerships Manager

The Brilliant Club
Recruitment Pack

School Partnerships Manager
(Maternity Cover)

April 2026

Registered Limited Company: 07986971

Registered Charity: 1147771 (England and Wales), SC048774 (Scotland)

Registered Office: Fivefields, 8-10 Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0DH

School Partnerships Manager
Start Date: August 2026
Salary: £39,423 (plus £2,000 London weighting for those living in London and within the
M25).
Contract Type: Fixed Term maternity cover contract until end of August 2027.

About the role
We mobilise the PhD community to support students from less advantaged backgrounds to
access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We work with
students who, because of their family income, parental history or the postcode they live in, are at
risk of missing out on the life-changing opportunities linked to higher education.

We are excited to be recruiting a School Partnerships Manager to join the School Partnerships
Team. Your job will be to lead a team of School Partnerships Officers, each responsible for building
partnerships in different regional patches. You will also work closely with the Director of School
Partnerships and Communications on the timely delivery of our sales and marketing strategy and
collaborate with teams across the organisation to ensure that tutor supply, school demand and
programme delivery are joined up. If you are passionate about leading with purpose, building
internal and external relationships, and meeting ambitious targets that have a huge social
impact, this could be the perfect role for you.

You will be a strong team leader with the ability to galvanise colleagues to reach targets. You will
have a deep interest in the mission of The Brilliant Club and be able to articulate and pitch our
programmes with authenticity. You will be motivated by the task of increasing The Brilliant Club’s
reach in low social mobility areas and will communicate effectively with internal teams about
progress. You will be tenacious and empathetic in equal measure. You will be comfortable
looking both inwards and outwards, identifying and building partnerships in the education sector
and working to improve the efficiency of our internal systems.

The role will report to the Director of School Partnerships and Communications. It can be based at
either of our Brilliant Club offices, located in London and Leeds.

About you
The role will best suit someone who has:

•  Experience of partnership building or selling a programme, product or service to schools,

trusts or other education sector stakeholders

•  Resilience, tenacity and target-driven motivation in a challenging marketplace
•  A desire to positively impact social justice via charity sales
•  Knowledge of UK education system
•  Experience of using CRM systems, such as Salesforce
•  Experience of line management and/or leading and delivering through others
•  A demonstrable passion for furthering The Brilliant Club’s mission

About The Brilliant Club
What we do
Access to higher education and the life-changing opportunities that come from attending the
most competitive universities is not equal. 28 in 100 of the most advantaged students progress to
the most competitive universities. In contrast, only 2 in 100 of the least advantaged young people
access these universities.

We think this is fundamentally unfair. We work across the UK to support less advantaged students
to access the most competitive universities, and to succeed when they get there.

Our programmes support social mobility through a range of approaches:

•

Through The Scholars Programme, 15,000 students each year develop the knowledge, skills
and confidence needed to access university

•  Our pioneering approaches to university transition and student success ensure that less

advantaged students are supported to achieve a strong degree

•  Parent Power empowers parents and carers to become champions for higher education in

their communities and address any barriers their children face.

We hope that you’ll consider joining us, as we work to create a fairer society where no child’s
education is limited by their background.

Working for us

•  Hours: 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday, flexible working with 10am – 3pm core hours,

occasional travel required.

•  Benefits include: 36 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) increasing by 1 day per year
up to a maximum of 41 days, employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket
loan, five professional development day allowance, BUPA health cover cash plan.

•  We’re happy to talk flexible working. We have offices in Leeds and London.

•  After your first month in this role, we expect you to be connecting face-to-face with

colleagues on at least one day per week. In your first month, we’ll ask you to be in offices a
little more regularly than this to make sure you’re getting to know your key colleagues and
feeling connected to the organisation.

Our values
The Brilliant Club has three core values that underpin how we work. We look for people who share
these values:

•  We get to a solution
•  We seek and act on the best data available
•  We understand that little things go a long way

Diversity at The Brilliant Club
We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most
competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We think it is important that our charity
reflects the lived experience of the communities we work with, and we want to be an
organisation where employees from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome
applications from disabled, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Non-binary
(LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low-income families.

“I am the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead at The
Brilliant Club. My role is to help make the charity an inclusive working
environment for all of our colleagues.  I work with our amazing Staff Networks
and colleagues in HR to ensure everyone at the charity has a sense of
belonging.”

Emily - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead

“As the first in my family to go to university and having worked as a teacher in a

state school, I applied to join The Brilliant Club with a real passion for the
charity’s mission. I am grateful every day that I work at a charity that is
supportive of both professional development and flexible working, as well as
being full of kind and passionate colleagues.”

   Leanne, Chief Operating Officer

Safeguarding
The Brilliant Club is committed to proactively safeguarding children, beneficiaries and staff and to
taking reasonable steps to protect all those who come into contact with the charity from harm.
The safety and welfare of everyone affected by the charity’s activities, especially children, is a key
governance priority.

As part of our recruitment and selection process and commitment to safeguarding, we will
undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check of all individuals in this role. Any offer of
employment will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure report.

Responsibilities
The following areas of responsibility are the core of the role. However, the role is flexible and will
vary according to the needs of the team, and the background and experience of the successful
applicant.

National Partnership Development

•  Work with the Director of School Partnerships and Communications to develop and

implement a strategy for meeting annual school sales targets, including in priority areas.

•  Network effectively with senior leaders across the education sector and establish new

partners.

•  Build and nurture national partnerships with relevant organisations to support our mission.
•  Work alongside the Marketing and Communications team to develop campaigns and

activities focused on priority areas.

•  Support existing partners to engage with the complete range of the charity’s programmes.

Leadership and Cross-Team Work

•  Line manage four School Partnerships Officers, supporting them to reach their targets and

in their professional development.

•  Support the Director with the strategic leadership of the School Partnerships team across

The Brilliant Club.

•  Lead collaboration with internal teams, such as IT, Tutor Engagement, Access Projects,

University Partnerships and Programme delivery teams to ensure that internal processes are
sector-leading and support growth so that we can serve and attract school partners
effectively.

Reporting and tracking:

•  Support the Director to report on overall sales figures, analysing trends and escalating issues

early and in a solutions-focused way.

•  Manage the process for invoicing schools and Multi-Academy Trusts for The Scholars

Programme, supporting colleagues in the School Partnerships and Programme
Management teams and providing regular updates to the Finance team.

•  Support the team in the development of systems to improve the tracking and monitoring of

partnerships across the charity.

•  Adhere to information security policies included in the charity’s ISO 27001 manual and

complete information security training.

Across the charity we all pitch in to help different teams and areas of work. This may mean you
attend and support with the delivery of other teams’ activities and events. From time to time, you
may also work with another team for a fixed period of time or collaborate on a project to ensure
we deliver for the young people we serve. We think this is a good way to gain experiences in
different areas of the organisation and enhance your professional skills.

Person specification

Time and Resource Management:

•  Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and manage time effectively
•  Helps others to develop the skills and behaviours to build good time and resource

management

•  Manages projects and streams of work, with appropriate levels of time and resource input

External Stakeholder Knowledge and Management:

•  Knowledge of the school and university sectors, including the university access agenda
•  Coaches the team to identify issues and opportunities to better manage external

stakeholder relationships

•  Confidence in handling enquiries and conflicts from external stakeholders and adapting

approach to meet different needs

Communication:

•  Excellent written and verbal communication skills
•  Evaluates the quality of communications within the team, suggesting improvements
•  Confidence communicating with a range of stakeholders, including at senior levels

Initiative and Problem-solving:

•  Proactively seeks to enhance processes and identify emerging risks, solving problems and

suggesting solutions as they arise. Makes the case for improvements that have a positive
impact and effectively shares solutions and improvements within relevant teams

•  Encourages a culture of innovation
•  Works with their team to respond quickly to solve problems, seeking input from relevant

internal stakeholders

•  Uses and seeks out the best data available to analyse patterns and arrive at robust

solutions or improvements

Developing Self and Others:

•  Self-reflective and committed to own professional development
•  Stretches self, team members and colleagues to develop

What comes next
To apply: Please submit your application by clicking here. As part of your application, you will be
asked to submit your CV and complete the answers to some application questions.
Deadline: 9am on Monday 20th April 2026
Interviews: First round: Monday 27th April 2026 and second round: Friday1st May 2026. Interviews
will take place virtually on Microsoft Teams
For more information: Visit our website or email recruitment@thebrilliantclub.org.