Channel Development Manager

About the British Council

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. For 90 years we have shaped brighter futures through education, arts, culture, language, and creativity.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries.

Role Details

Location: UK or Poland (residents only – relocation and sponsorship not provided)

Division: Work/Online Proposition

Job type: Hybrid

Pay Grade: 8/E

Contract: Indefinite Contract

Closing Date: Wednesday, 29th of July 2026

Role Purpose

To maximize revenue growth by contributing to alignment between propositions and go-to-market efforts, enabling internal sales channels including the B2O team and colleagues within the Network with the insight, tools, and support needed to succeed.

Role Context

E&E enables people across the world to access the life-changing education and work opportunities that are created by learning English or gaining valuable UK qualifications. Promoting the English language also provides a medium for communication, helping break down barriers of misunderstanding or mistrust between cultures. The British Council's vision for English is to be the world authority in high quality English language teaching, learning and assessment.

The role is part of a Proposition team that will:

• Implement go-to-market plans, working with Sales, Network and Marketing
• Implement best practice approaches, playbooks and frameworks to optimise market execution
• Provide strategic input into partner bids and tender processes, ensuring proposition integrity and relevance
• Collaborate with legal, commercial, and delivery teams to develop scalable, repeatable B2O models
• Ensure propositions are translated into compelling sales narratives and supported by marketing assets
• Own the end-to-end enablement toolkit for each proposition area (e.g., pitch decks, value stories, FAQs, objection handling)
• Act as the interface between Proposition, Sales, and Marketing to ensure a coherent customer message
• Establish feedback mechanisms to continuously improve sales readiness and market adoption

Main Accountabilities

Relationship and stakeholder management

• Proactively develops strong relationships with sales colleagues and key stakeholders
• Plans how to establish and maintain nominated account relationships to support the achievement of agreed commercial and impact targets and uses Key Account Management plans to support this

Planning

• Works with the Proposition senior managers and Sales and Network colleagues to research and plan go-to-market plans for priority markets

Business development

• Monitors and reports market/customer/stakeholder trends in order to identify areas where the business can be developed and proposes plans that respond to opportunities or threats
• Provides subject area expertise to sales teams, to support the development of high quality, competitive and customer/market-focused proposals which can generate specified commercial returns and cultural relations impact
• Supports colleagues on the negotiation and signing of agreements with partners
• Liaises closely with Sales and Marketing teams to support business development initiatives that are based on high quality content, accurate costing, sound commercial/contractual terms, appropriate risk mitigation measures and are aligned to corporate priorities and plans

Brand and market positioning

• Monitors local market, customer and related information and feedback relevant to their area of focus, to support the maintenance of British Council's commercial competitive edge and professional reputation
• Highlights to senior managers when remedial action is required and makes suggestions about possible solutions, based on previous experience and knowledge of standard business practices
• Builds effective working relationships with Proposition, Sales, Marketing and Product teams, and a range of information-gathering techniques, to maintain a full and current understanding of market developments and priorities
• Contributes to planning and implementation promotional, marketing, playbooks, frameworks, PR and outreach collateral/activities for channel partners
• Proactively participates in designated internal working group/peer networks to maintain a detailed understanding of both current and prospective propositions and uses these insights in delivery of business development activities
• Identifies opportunities where new promotional/marketing/PR and outreach initiatives could improve the effectiveness of channel development activity
• Makes evidence-based recommendations to Proposition, Sales, and Marketing teams to secure commitment/resources necessary to respond to such opportunities, including analysis of potential R.O.I.

Risk and compliance

• Contributes to monitoring and evaluation of channel partner feedback in order to identify areas for service improvement and proposes plans that respond to opportunities or threats in line with business needs and policies
• Contributes to mitigating risks according to British Council corporate policies and frameworks

Skills

Essential:

• Data analysis

Desirable:

• Skills to use Gen AI tools
• Skills to use software such as Canva

Knowledge and Experience

Minimum/essential:

• Experience in managing stakeholder relationships
• Demonstrable experience of working from customer insight to identifying opportunities to improve products and/or services
• Experience of working in a global organisation
• Experience of contributing to winning tender responses and pricing

Desirable:

• Experience working with clients and partners, especially in the corporate sector
• Knowledge of the British Council E&E product portfolio
• Demonstrable experience of creating a successful engagement strategy for a client group globally
• Experience of working in online learning / assessment or SaaS, in an Agile environment

Language Requirements

The British Council systems and global processes operate in English. Written and verbal proficiency in English is required.

Education

Degree in Business, Sales, Marketing or related discipline

Additional Job Requirements

• Proof of Identity requirements/right to work in country
• Full time residency in the UK or Poland with unlimited right to work
• Initial and continuing employment with the British Council is subject to an annual background check. The job undertaken defines the nature of check(s) and assessment applied.

British Council Values and Behaviours

British Council values and behaviours are applicable across our organisation, in all roles and at all levels. They are important because they say what we stand for at the British Council and help us to deliver our strategy. We use them to guide our decision making, as well as guiding how we treat one another and the people we work with. These will be assessed in the selection process.

Our values are: Open and Committed; Expert and Inclusive; Optimistic and Bold.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all sections of the community as we believe that a diverse workforce gives added depth to our work. The British Council is a Disability Confident Employer. The Disability Confident scheme helps challenge attitudes, increase understanding of disability and ensure staff are drawn from the widest possible pool of talent. We guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the minimum role requirements. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

Safeguarding

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with. We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989. Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed in line with legal requirements and with the British Council's Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

Contact

If you experience any difficulties with submitting your application, please email askhr@britishcouncil.org