Senior Programme & Career Consultant – Business Development & Employer Partnerships

About the Role

Equinet Academy is looking for an experienced, commercially minded and highly organised Senior Programme & Career Consultant – Business Development & Employer Partnerships.

This is a broad client-facing role connecting three important groups: learners, employers and Equinet Academy.

You will advise prospective learners on suitable programmes and career development pathways, grow corporate training accounts, establish relationships with employers and industry partners, and develop opportunities for learners to gain practical industry exposure and employment.

The role is suitable for someone who enjoys both consultative sales and relationship building, and who wants to work at the intersection of professional education, workforce development and industry.

You will also help Equinet strengthen its sales and partnership operations through CRM systems, AI tools and workflow automation.

What You Will Do

Programme & Career Consultation

• Speak with prospective learners to understand their professional goals, experience, skills gaps and career aspirations.
• Recommend appropriate Equinet Academy courses, certification pathways, programme bundles and career programmes.
• Conduct consultative conversations rather than transactional course selling.
• Guide individuals considering career transitions on suitable learning pathways and practical next steps.
• Manage enquiries across phone, email, WhatsApp and other communication channels.
• Follow up systematically with prospective learners and manage opportunities through to enrolment.
• Maintain accurate learner and sales records within the CRM.
• Achieve agreed individual enrolment and revenue targets.
• Provide accurate and responsible information about programmes, funding, career pathways and employment opportunities.

Corporate Business Development

• Identify and develop new corporate training opportunities.
• Build relationships with HR, Learning & Development, Marketing, management and other organisational stakeholders.
• Conduct corporate training needs discussions and recommend suitable learning solutions.
• Prepare proposals, quotations and programme recommendations.
• Manage the full business development cycle from prospecting and discovery through negotiation and closure.
• Develop existing corporate clients into longer-term training accounts.
• Identify opportunities for customised training, programme bundles and workforce development initiatives.
• Represent Equinet Academy at relevant networking events, industry engagements and business meetings.

Employer & Industry Partnerships

An important part of the role is building Equinet's network of employers and industry partners.

You will:

• Develop relationships with companies across industries relevant to Equinet's programmes.
• Engage employers on their workforce, hiring and skills requirements.
• Develop partnerships that create meaningful industry exposure and opportunities for Equinet learners.
• Identify employers willing to participate as industry partners, practical project hosts, attachment hosts or internship partners.
• Develop opportunities for learners to work on practical industry projects.
• Build relationships with organisations that may have suitable employment opportunities for programme graduates.
• Maintain an active employer partnership pipeline.
• Coordinate with employers and internal teams to match suitable learners with relevant opportunities.
• Gather employer feedback to strengthen programme relevance and learner employability.
• Develop longer-term relationships where employers may engage Equinet both as a training partner and as a source of talent.

Career & Placement Support

• Support learners participating in Equinet's career-focused programmes.
• Understand learners' career goals, experience and areas of interest.
• Guide learners on positioning themselves appropriately for relevant opportunities.
• Work with employers to understand candidate requirements.
• Facilitate suitable introductions between learners and participating employers.
• Coordinate industry attachments, internships, practical projects and other work-based learning opportunities where applicable.
• Track learner outcomes and employer feedback.
• Work closely with internal teams to continually improve Equinet's career development and industry engagement activities.

The objective is to create meaningful opportunities and connections. Employment outcomes should always be communicated responsibly and should not be represented as guaranteed.

Sales Technology, AI & Automation

This role also contributes to the continual improvement of Equinet's sales and partnership systems.

You will use and help improve tools for:

• CRM and opportunity management.
• Automated lead follow-up and reminders.
• AI-assisted research and prospecting.
• Lead qualification and prioritisation.
• Personalised outreach.
• Chatbot and conversational enquiry workflows.
• Corporate account research.
• Sales pipeline reporting.
• Employer partnership tracking.
• Learner and employer matching workflows.
• Sales analytics and conversion reporting.

You do not need to be a software developer.

However, you should be comfortable experimenting with technology, learning new tools and thinking systematically about how repetitive commercial work can be improved or automated.

Sales Operations & Team Development

• Maintain disciplined follow-up across learner, corporate and employer opportunities.
• Ensure sales and partnership records are accurate and up to date.
• Monitor outstanding enquiries and opportunities.
• Coordinate with sales support team members and other internal stakeholders.
• Establish good operating processes and follow-up standards.
• Share insights on pipeline performance, common objections and emerging market needs.
• Over time, take increasing responsibility for coaching junior sales team members and helping Equinet build a larger sales and partnerships function.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for someone who combines commercial ability with genuine relationship-building skills.

You should be:

• Strong at consultative sales and business development.
• Confident communicating with both individuals and corporate decision-makers.
• Comfortable developing new relationships rather than relying entirely on inbound leads.
• Highly meticulous and disciplined with follow-ups.
• Proactive, dependable and personally accountable.
• Able to manage several different pipelines and priorities simultaneously.
• Commercially aware and comfortable discussing pricing, budgets and business requirements.
• Comfortable conducting career-related conversations with working professionals.
• Able to build trust with employers, learners and partners.
• Professional in written and verbal communication.
• Comfortable with CRM systems, digital tools and technology.
• Interested in AI and automation and willing to continually improve how work is done.
• Resourceful and willing to solve problems independently.
• Comfortable working towards measurable revenue and partnership targets.

Experience

Candidates with relevant experience in one or more of the following areas are encouraged to apply:

• Business development.
• Consultative sales.
• Corporate training.
• Education or professional development.
• Career services or career coaching.
• Employer engagement.
• Recruitment or talent acquisition.
• Account management.
• Training consultancy.
• Workforce development.
• Industry partnerships.

Experience across every area is not required.

More important is the ability to demonstrate strong commercial judgement, communication, relationship management and execution.

Working Environment

This is primarily an office-based role involving close collaboration with Equinet's sales, marketing, programme and training teams.

As Equinet conducts classes, events and industry activities outside standard office hours, some evening and weekend work may occasionally be required.

Working arrangements and time off will be managed according to operational requirements.

Compensation

Base salary: S$6,000–S$7,000 per month, depending on experience and capability.

The role also includes:

• Uncapped individual sales commission.
• Incentives for new corporate business development.
• Performance-based incentives.
• Annual performance and company profit-related bonus.
• Career progression into a senior commercial, partnerships or sales leadership position.

Strong performers will have the opportunity to achieve total monthly compensation materially above their base salary.

Career Progression

This role is designed to grow.

Depending on performance and strengths, progression may lead towards areas such as:

Senior Programme & Career Consultant → Business Development & Employer Partnerships Lead → Head of Business Development, Career Services & Partnerships

As responsibilities expand to include management and development of a larger sales and partnerships team, the fixed salary and leadership incentives will be reviewed accordingly.