Industry Partnerships Manager

At FutureLearn, we’re passionate about the power of lifelong learning. We help learners from all over the world progress in their careers – and invest in their futures.

We truly believe that up-skilling is a worthy investment, and we hope to empower our learners to take control of their careers through personalised learning pathways – giving them progress at their fingertips.

Partnering with 260+ world-class educational partners, including prestigious universities, global brands and industry partners, we offer our 20 million strong learner community the opportunity to discover and access flexible, high quality online courses and degrees.

We’re not here just to teach new skills (although we do that well), we want to help transform lives. FutureLearn is looking to build our teams with people who share our passion for lifelong learning, career empowerment and education for all. If that sounds like you, get in touch. You could help us achieve our biggest goal yet – becoming the world’s best AI-powered, career-based learning platform and OPM.

What is the opportunity?

At FutureLearn, the Industry Partnerships Team aims to enable learners to acquire the skills and knowledge to succeed at the jobs of today, and of the future. Through innovative partnerships with industry leaders (e.g. Microsoft, Meta, AWS), we can open up access to high quality and cutting edge education, and empower learners around the world to upskill or reskill, and secure their next job or promotion.

The Industry Partnerships Manager will be responsible for identifying and developing relationships with leading brands around the globe to form content partnerships with FutureLearn. Championing the partner’s content vision, you will collaborate with a number of cross-functional teams (learning design and technology, marketing and product management), to design, develop and launch high impact and successful programmes that help learners around the world acquire the skills that will help them succeed in their career. Your strategic thinking, relationship skills, project management and ability to achieve results will enable you to succeed in this role and drive forward an important part of FutureLearn’s strategy.

What success looks like:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with leading Industry Partners (including Fortune 500 companies) to bring new courses and programmes to FutureLearn.

• Identify, evaluate, negotiate, and close partnership agreements aligned with shared strategic goals, expanding the platform’s brand portfolio.

• Lead content acquisition for your portfolio, engaging senior decision-makers and developing compelling, mutually beneficial partnership proposals.

• Develop and execute strategies to grow partnerships and address content gaps across key industries and subject areas, informed by market research and industry trends.

• Drive the design, development, and launch of partner programmes, collaborating with internal teams to ensure high-quality content is delivered on time, integrated seamlessly, and effectively promoted.

• Co-develop business plans and partnership strategies with partners, setting clear goals based on strategic drivers, ROI, and value alignment to grow revenue and learner engagement.

• Monitor, review, and optimise launched programmes with partners and internal teams to achieve joint business objectives and strong learner outcomes.

• Line manage team members as new partners are onboarded and the team scales.

What you bring to the table:

• 3+ years’ experience in business development, partnerships, or account management and strategy, ideally within education, EdTech, or digital content.

• A consultancy mindset with strong strategic thinking and a passion for innovative solutions that improve learner outcomes, growth, and operational efficiency.

• Proven success identifying, pitching, negotiating, and closing mutually beneficial partnerships.

• Strong ability to assess partner capabilities and align content with FutureLearn’s mission and learner needs, with experience developing partnership and business proposals.

• Experience analysing market data, trends, and competitors to inform partnership strategy and decision-making.

• Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams, adapt to change, and lead with a positive, flexible approach.

• 2+ years’ line management experience.

• Self-motivated, commercially minded, and comfortable working independently in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and build strong relationships internally and externally at all levels.

• Strong commercial awareness and financial acumen.

• Industry partnership experience is a plus.

• Demonstrated ability to manage risk, ensure effective execution, and build long-term strategic relationships, particularly with senior executives and subject matter experts.

• Thought leadership and subject expertise in key verticals (e.g. Health, Tech, Business), with a passion for addressing emerging skills and global skills gaps.

What happens next?

Ready to go for it? Click 'Apply', include your CV and tell us why you'd like to become a FutureLearner, and how you’ll nail this role.

Recruitment Process

Please contact [email protected] if you require any reasonable adjustments or alterations to be made to support you through the recruitment process.

Diversity Statement

We value all the great benefits that diversity brings and encourage everyone to bring their whole self to work – At FutureLearn we are proud to have Diversity and Inclusion at the centre of everything we do. We are committed to Equal Employment Opportunity regardless of race, colour, national origin, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.

We can't wait to meet you! #FutureLearnCareers