BD & Recruitment Exec

Job Description

Business Development & Recruitment Executive | Sales Director Support

Remote – South Africa | UK Working Hours - 7:30 am - 5:00 pm (Shorter working hours during UK school holidays) | UK Education Recruitment Sector

About the Company

We are a dynamic and growing international education recruitment agency specialising in connecting talented educators with rewarding opportunities across schools and educational institutions.

Our business is built on strong relationships, exceptional service, and a commitment to delivering high-quality recruitment solutions.

As we continue to expand our presence across the UK and international education markets, we are looking for a commercially minded, highly organised, and proactive professional to work closely with our Sales Director in a newly created, multifaceted role.

Role Overview

We are seeking a driven and versatile Business Development & Recruitment Executive to provide direct support to our Sales Director across three key areas: business development, candidate recruitment, and executive support.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, sales-driven environment, enjoys building relationships, and has the organisational skills to keep multiple priorities moving forward.

The successful candidate will act as a trusted extension of the Sales Director, helping to identify and develop new business opportunities, build candidate pipelines, and ensure that day-to-day activities are managed efficiently.

Sales experience is essential. While previous recruitment experience, particularly within education, would be highly advantageous, we are open to candidates from other industries who demonstrate strong business development capabilities, commercial awareness, and excellent administrative skills.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys variety, takes ownership of their responsibilities, and can confidently balance commercial activity with operational and executive support.

Key Responsibilities

1. Business Development & Sales Support

Building relationships, generating opportunities, and supporting business growth.

Conduct proactive outbound business development calls to prospective schools, educational institutions, and decision-makers.

Identify and research potential new clients and business opportunities across the UK, with particular focus on London, and international markets including Dubai.

Build and maintain relationships with prospective and existing clients through telephone calls, emails, and consistent follow-up.

Support the Sales Director in identifying new revenue opportunities and developing a strong sales pipeline.

Research schools, education groups, key contacts, and market opportunities to support targeted business development campaigns.

Qualify potential leads, identify recruitment requirements, and arrange meetings or introductions for the Sales Director.

Maintain accurate records of sales activity, client conversations, and follow-up actions within the CRM.

Take ownership of agreed sales activities, ensuring opportunities are consistently progressed.

Work towards agreed business development activity targets and contribute to the wider team's commercial objectives.

2. Placement & Recruitment Support

Identify talent, develop candidate pipelines, and support successful placements.

Search internal candidate databases, applicant tracking systems, and external job boards to identify suitable educators for available vacancies.

Conduct telephone screening interviews to assess candidates' experience, qualifications, availability, and suitability for opportunities.

Analyse vacancy requirements and match candidates to suitable roles within schools and educational institutions.

Create compelling candidate profiles highlighting relevant experience, qualifications, and strengths.

Develop targeted candidate shortlists and present suitable profiles to placement managers.

Support senior billing consultants and placement managers with candidate sourcing, screening, and recruitment coordination.

Proactively engage potential candidates through job boards, LinkedIn, database searches, and other sourcing channels.

Maintain accurate and up-to-date candidate records within the recruitment CRM and ATS.

Build and nurture candidate relationships to maintain a strong pipeline for current and future vacancies.

Work closely with the wider recruitment team to ensure a responsive, efficient, and high-quality recruitment process.

3. Executive Assistant & Sales Director Support

Providing proactive administrative, organisational, and operational support.

Act as a trusted right-hand to the Sales Director, helping manage daily priorities, schedules, and business activities.

Coordinate meetings, appointments, calls, and follow-up actions with clients, candidates, and internal stakeholders.

Proactively monitor schedules and upcoming commitments, ensuring the Sales Director is prepared and informed.

Manage administrative tasks, correspondence, research requests, and documentation.

Assist with preparing reports, meeting notes, client information, and business development materials.

Track outstanding actions, deadlines, and client commitments, following up independently where required.

Conduct detailed research to support business development, market expansion, and recruitment initiatives.

Maintain organised records, accurate information, and efficient administrative processes.

Anticipate the Sales Director's requirements, identify potential challenges, and take initiative to resolve them.

Communicate confidently and professionally with internal teams and external stakeholders.

Manage multiple competing priorities while maintaining attention to detail and delivering work within agreed timeframes.

Skills & Experience Required

Essential

Approximately 4–5 years of professional experience in sales, business development, account management, recruitment, or a combination of these disciplines.

Proven experience conducting outbound sales calls, prospecting, and developing business relationships.

Strong commercial awareness and confidence engaging with senior stakeholders and decision-makers.

Excellent verbal and written English communication skills.

Strong administrative, organisational, and time-management abilities.

Confidence managing multiple responsibilities and changing priorities.

Excellent research skills and the ability to identify relevant business opportunities.

Comfortable using CRM systems, recruitment platforms, and digital productivity tools.

A proactive, solutions-focused approach with the ability to work independently.

A high level of professionalism, discretion, and accountability.

Advantageous

Previous experience within UK education recruitment or the wider recruitment industry.

Experience engaging with schools, education providers, or international clients.

Experience providing executive or personal assistant support to a senior leader.

Familiarity with HubSpot, Zoho Recruit, or similar CRM and applicant tracking systems.

Experience managing sales pipelines, researching prospects, and coordinating client relationships.

Exposure to international business development, particularly within UK or UAE markets.

The Ideal Candidate

We are looking for someone who is more than just a capable administrator or recruiter.

The ideal person will be commercially confident, naturally organised, and comfortable taking ownership of their responsibilities without constant direction.

They will demonstrate:

A sales-driven mindset: Comfortable picking up the phone, starting conversations, and creating opportunities.

Exceptional initiative: Someone who anticipates what needs to be done rather than waiting for instructions.

Strong organisational skills: Able to keep the Sales Director's priorities, schedules, and follow-ups running smoothly.

Adaptability: Happy to move between sales, recruitment, research, and executive support throughout the day.

Accountability: Takes responsibility for completing tasks, meeting deadlines, and delivering results.

Relationship-building ability: Naturally engaging, professional, and confident when communicating with candidates, clients, and colleagues.

A genuine team mentality: Motivated by supporting the Sales Director and contributing to the wider business's success.

Working Arrangements

Working hours: Aligned to UK business hours, with the proposed term-time schedule of 07:30–17:00 UK time, including a one-hour lunch break. Shorter working hours may apply during UK school holidays. The final schedule will be confirmed in accordance with applicable employment requirements.

Salary: R30,000–R45,000 per month, depending on experience and suitability.

Commission

Reporting to: Sales Director

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to take on a newly created position that offers genuine variety, responsibility, and exposure to the commercial side of an international education recruitment business.

Working directly alongside the Sales Director, you will play an important role in supporting business growth, developing recruitment pipelines, and helping drive operational efficiency.

For someone with strong sales ability, excellent organisational skills, and the ambition to make a meaningful contribution, this role offers the opportunity to develop across multiple business functions while becoming an integral part of a growing team.

If you are a confident relationship builder, a proactive problem-solver, and someone who enjoys making things happen, we would love to hear from you.