Business Development Manager

Are you a Business Development Manager who thrives on selling a professional service business to business?

If you answered yes, keep reading.

The Talent Bridge are recruiting on behalf of a government-approved Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency who help organisations bring apprentices into their teams in a more flexible way. Due to continued growth, they are looking for a BDM to join their sales team and
open new employer partnerships
across England.

What You'll Be Doing

You'll introduce employers across England to a Flexi-Job Apprenticeship model created by the government in 2021 as a flexible alternative to the traditional apprenticeship route. The model allows employers to take on apprentices without becoming the employer themselves – my client employs the apprentice, handles payroll, HR, compliance and safeguarding, and coordinates with the external apprenticeship training provider.

Host employers simply provide day-to-day workplace experience and pay a service fee, without taking on employment admin, liabilities or long-term commitments that usually come with an apprenticeship.

Your role is to open conversations with employers, understand their workforce needs, explain how the model supports them,
and secure new host placements
for apprentices on the Flexi-Job scheme. You'll manage the employer relationship from first contact through to sign-up, while the internal apprentice recruitment team handles all candidate sourcing and matching.

This is a pure business development and client management role – you will have no apprentice recruitment responsibilities.

The role is home-based with virtual and face-to-face client meetings. You'll also spend one day in the Central London office every fortnight, so we're only looking to speak to people
who can travel into London easily for these two office days each month.

Why Work for This Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agency?

You'll be selling a meaningful service that has genuine social impact. My client has been recognised sector-wide, with:

• Best Training Provider for 2024/25 (Rate My Apprenticeship)
• Education Investor Awards 2023
• Leaders in Safeguarding Gold

Earnings and Commission

Commission is paid per vacancy you open with an employer and continues for every month the apprentice remains in that placement. As more apprentices start, your commission accumulates.

If you hit the
minimum target of 4 vacancies per month
, you can expect:

• Year 1 OTE: £6,600
• Year 2 OTE: £21,600

(Most people in this role exceed the minimum target, with the average commission take-home in year one sitting at around
£14,000.
)

Who We're Looking For

We're keen to speak to Business Development Managers with
strong experience in new business
, B2B consultative sales, especially those who have sold professional or outsourced services such as:

• selling recruitment services (360 or pure BD)
• selling commercial training solutions
• outsourced business services (H&S, compliance, audits, vetting)
• outsourced workforce or employment admin solutions (HR outsourcing, payroll, EOR/PEO)
• consultancy-led services (HR consultancy, business consultancy, workforce planning)
• outsourced or managed service contracts (customer service teams, facilities/soft services, events staffing)

You'll need:

• 2+ years of proven B2B new business experience
• Experience selling a service (not a product) into employers
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage senior decision-makers
• A proactive, confident, target-driven mindset
• The ability to manage your own workload and pipeline independently

Who We're NOT Looking For

• B2C sales backgrounds
• Telesales roles
• Roles focused on converting inbound leads
• Anyone in internal recruitment or HR
• Product sales backgrounds (SaaS, telecoms, insurance, utilities, logistics, etc.)

If you're a consultative sales hunter who loves opening doors, building relationships and selling meaningful services, we'd love to speak to you.