Business Development Manager

Description:

The Business Development Manager, Student Living will have responsibility for the leadership, delivery and growth of an effective accommodation service including a customer facing Student Living Hub and back-office Business Development Team.

You will be joining the Student Living Team who are responsible for the delivery of an efficient accommodation service at the University of Birmingham who work closely with colleagues across other departments. Your team play a major role in ensuring that university owned and managed bed spaces are fully occupied, and that excellent customer care is provided at all times. The Business Development Team are a key function within the Student Living Team, providing advice, information and support to students living in university owned, partner and private sector accommodation in the local community.

The Business Development Manager, Student Living will report to the Head of Business Development, Student Living, and will work closely with colleagues across accommodation and the wider university. The post-holder will line manage a core team of 9 staff, including Accommodation Officers, Administrators and Customer Service Advisors, as well as a number of casual student staff.

Main Duties

Lead a dynamic team to deliver operational plans, ensuring a consistently high standard of service is provided to all customers, fostering collaboration and driving collective success.
Provide inspirational leadership, fostering a culture of excellence and innovation within the team.
Consult with colleagues across Student Living including third party providers, Campus Services, the University, the Guild of Students, the student body and other networks and gather regular feedback.
To facilitate change through a strong understanding of change management practices with an ability to influence others.
Liaise with colleagues to develop growth and marketing strategies.
Prioritise, organise and manage own workload effectively, and support others to do this to ensure output is completed to a high standard and deadlines are met.
Be responsible for managing an annual budget, meeting targets and supporting your manager in ensuring efficient and effective payment of residence fees totalling c£38m.
Ensure that targets for income and expenditure are met, to monitor and action KPIs, to ensure the effective use of staff resources and to maximise income opportunities.
Work alongside the Project Manager to identify and embed developments to the Accommodation Management software (StarRez) and other IT systems, to ensure they support the business need and the user experience, as well as ensuring the maintenance and effective operation of the systems.
Facilitate collaboration opportunities such as events and initiatives designed to support students with private sector living, for example housing fairs and safety campaigns run by UoB or Guild of Students.
Ensure Student Living continues to work on the attainment of customer service and quality awards.
Ensure Student Living’s presence at University Open Days, accommodation conferences and other events to promote the service.
Respond in an appropriate manner to complex complaints from students living within our accommodation and the private sector accommodation, signposting to the most appropriate places for support and reaching a suitable resolution.
Collaborate with the marketing team to create and implement effective marketing campaigns.
Actively promote the facilities and services, including seasonal initiatives, such as House Hunting events, Summer bookings and Arrivals weekend.
Assist the Head of Business Development in reviewing service levels periodically and propose service improvements.
Support the Head of Business Development with the delivery of the strategy and budgeted occupancy.
Conduct market research of other Russell Group Universities accommodation provision and private sector accommodation providers, to identify trends, competition and opportunities.
Analyse market data to develop targeted strategies for business growth, including creating business development plans, forecasting income targets and growth projections.
Prepare presentations, reports and forecasts for management.
Deliver a comprehensive package of activity and support for students living in private sector housing.
Demonstrate understanding of wider political and organisational factors that affect landlords and students.
Lead on the delivery of the Letting’s Membership Scheme in collaboration with the Head of Business Development, Student Living.
Play a key role in change initiatives by understanding the impact of changes on different parts of the University and facilitate smooth transitions.
Undertake work for Campus Services on wider initiatives/ projects and to assume any other duties as required.
Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.
Support the University’s sustainability agenda through resource efficient working.
Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

Qualified to degree level or equivalent.
Substantial previous experience in a management role.
A drive to seek new business.
Customer-focused experience within a service environment and experience of managing successful projects, events and initiatives with limited guidance.
Excellent communication with ability to present to large audiences with confidence.
Strategic and analytical thinking skills, with an ability to written clear, concise reports.
Excellent organisational skills with ability to deliver to deadlines.
It is essential that you possess competent IT skills, ideally with experience of working with sophisticated software systems.
Excellent literacy and numeracy skills.
Ability to work flexibly but effectively both in a team and independently.
Hours of work will be flexible and as required to meet the demands of a business that can have a changeable pattern across the year, including evening and weekend work as required. This includes taking annual leave outside of the summer allocations period that runs from August to mid-September.
On occasion, you will be required to be on call, on a rota basis during University closed periods, to attend to issues that can only be dealt with by a manager of your grade.
Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.