Business Development Manager - UECS

Job description

Department

The University of Essex Campus Services - UECS commercial department brings together a range of commercial services, including Wivenhoe House Hotel and Event Essex. Our focus is on delivering excellent customer experiences while growing sustainable commercial income across the commercial portfolio of the University. The Business Development team plays an important role in driving this growth by identifying new opportunities, developing client relationships, and tuning opportunities into revenue. Working across the portfolio, the team connects the right clients, markets, and commercial opportunities with the services we offer.

Wivenhoe House Hotel is a four-star country house hotel set within the Colchester Campus and forms an integral part of that portfolio. It also has a close association with the Edge Hotel School.

Duties of the Role

As the Business Development Manager, you will identify and develop new business opportunities to grow revenue and profitability across Wivenhoe House Hotel and the wider UECS portfolio. You will develop sales plans and pipelines, identify new markets and revenue opportunities, build strong client and stakeholder relationships, while taking opportunities from initial enquiry through to conversion. You will be working closely with the Hotel, Operations, Marketing and wider UECS teams to deliver on business objectives and projects .You will also support the delivery of business objectives and projects, while developing compelling offers, generating leads and contributing to commercial targets.

Skills and qualifications required

We are looking for an experienced commercial professional with a proven track record of generating revenue, exceeding targets, managing budgets and identifying new business opportunities, ideally with knowledge of the hotel, meetings, and events market.

You will be a confident relationship builder and communicator, with strong negotiation, persuasion, and sales skills. You will also be commercially creative, organised, and self-motivated, with the ability to spot opportunities, solve problems and work effectively with a wide range of stakeholders.

An undergraduate degree or equivalent experience is required, alongside strong IT skills and the flexibility to attend networking events, conferences, and trade shows, including some early mornings, evenings, and weekends.

At the University of Essex, internationalism and diversity is central to who we are and what we do. We are committed to being a cosmopolitan, internationally oriented university that is welcoming to staff and students from all countries, faiths and backgrounds, where you can find the world in one place.

To support this commitment we have our Global Forum , a staff-led network that promotes and celebrates the rich cultural diversity among Essex staff, and our Colchester campus based Faith Centre , which hosts regular services, meetings and events organised by our chaplains and faith representatives.

Please see the attached job pack, which contains a full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role plus more information relating to the post. We recommend you read this information carefully before making an application. Applications should be made on-line, but if you would like advice or help in making an application, or need information in a different format, please email [email protected]

*More information: Working at the University