Business Development Executive
 
Location: Leeds
Working pattern: Office-based, 4-5 days per week
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £26,000 + £10,000+ OTE
Sector: Apprenticeships / Training / Education
 
The Opportunity
Are you ambitious, commercially driven and looking to build a career in sales?
We’re working with a growing training and apprenticeship organisation that is looking for a Business Development Executive to join its Leeds-based sales team.
This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is confident on the phone, motivated by targets and hungry to develop within a sales environment. You don’t need years of sales experience – what matters most is your attitude, resilience, communication skills and willingness to learn.
You’ll be joining a business that works with employers across the UK to help them develop their people through apprenticeships, professional qualifications and skills programmes.
 
What You’ll Be Doing
As a Business Development Executive, you’ll play a key role in generating new business and helping the organisation grow its employer partnerships.
Your day-to-day responsibilities will include:

• Proactively contacting prospective employers through telephone-based business development
• Identifying and qualifying new sales opportunities
• Generating leads and converting prospects into new customers
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with prospective and existing clients
• Understanding employer requirements and matching them with relevant apprenticeship and training solutions
• Managing your sales pipeline and keeping CRM records accurate and up to date
• Working towards and exceeding daily, monthly and revenue-based targets
• Handling objections confidently and using sales tools and resources to progress opportunities
• Identifying opportunities to cross-sell additional training and development solutions
• Developing new employer partnerships and contributing to the wider growth strategy
• Supporting proposals, presentations and other business development activity
• Keeping up to date with the apprenticeship, training and wider skills market

What We’re Looking For
We’re looking for someone with drive, energy and a genuine interest in developing a career in sales.
 
You’ll ideally have:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Confidence speaking to people over the phone
• A strong work ethic and a target-driven mindset
• A genuine appetite to learn and develop
• A customer-focused approach
• Good organisational skills and attention to detail
• Competence using Microsoft Office
• The resilience to handle rejection and keep going
• The ability to work independently while contributing to a high-performing team
• A professional, positive and well-presented approach

Previous sales or business development experience would be advantageous, but attitude and potential are equally important.
 
The Personality Fit
This role would suit someone who is:
Ambitious – you want to progress and build a long-term career in sales.
Resilient – you don’t let a few “no’s” stop you from picking up the phone and trying again.
Curious – you want to understand your customers, their businesses and the solutions you’re selling.
Competitive – you enjoy having clear goals and pushing yourself to achieve them.
Coachability – you’re open to feedback and keen to continually improve.
Commercially minded – you understand that great relationships ultimately need to translate into business results.
 
What’s On Offer

• £26,000 basic salary
• £10,000+ OTE
• Full-time, permanent opportunity
• Leeds-based office environment
• Structured opportunity to develop your sales career
• The chance to work within a growing training and apprenticeship organisation
• A role with clear targets, progression and earning potential
• The opportunity to make a genuine impact by helping employers develop their future talent

Why This Role?
This isn’t simply a role for someone looking to make calls and hit a target.
You’ll be joining an organisation that helps employers develop their people, build skills and create long-term career opportunities. Your role will be instrumental in connecting businesses with training solutions that can make a real difference.
 
If you’re driven, resilient, commercially minded and ready to build a career in business development, we’d love to hear from you.
 
Apply now for a confidential conversation about the opportunity.