The Role We have an exctigin oppotunity for a National Business Development Manager to join our Business Development team in delivering strong sales performance and excellent customer service, whilst working collaboratively with colleagues and businesses based in the UK and internationally. The role is responsible for contributing to the growth in revenue and occupancy for the summer periods by monitoring and managing the main channels of summer revenue. This will be done through influencing commercial decisions, the development of existing client relationships, active sourcing of new business opportunities, following up leads from sales and marketing activities and project managing alternate letting models. The role will also include regular Policy and Procedure reviews and implementing new policies to ensure national alignment and consistency to commercial decisions. What You`ll Be Doing Summer strategic planning: identify opportunities to maximise occupancy and utilisation Negotiating national contracts which include rate and service negotiations as well as T&C amendments Build relationships with existing key accounts and approaching potential new clients such as language schools, Education Institutions, and any other potential groups and individuals seeking accommodation Maximise occupancy and utilisation across all properties across the business to meet and exceed targets Developing and maintaining productive working relationships with support functions such as health & safety, fire safety, legal, planning, finance & working very closely with Operations Managing a team of three/four individuals, motivating to push for higher results and deliver on our commercial goals by maximising our inbound opportunities, managing outbound sales processes and ensuring administrative processes are efficient using the tools at our disposal Influencing commercial business decisions and communicating top down decisions to ensure alignment and focus nationally. Procuring and managing third party suppliers Project Management - planning, managing, and implementing unique alternate letting models Influencing property planning consent decisions Leading on Commercial tender opportunities Training and coaching city teams how to make the best commercial decisions when negotiating opportunities Conducting all duties in line with Unite Students policies and procedures Creating and updating processes and procedures ensuring they are up to date with current company and departments requirements Enhance sales opportunity and performance, including gathering and sharing market information, and customer feedback Contributing suggestions for areas of improvement to benefit the business Maintaining a happy work environment for my team, promoting a healthy work life balance Ensuring that Health and Safety legislation is adhered to at all times, both in personal working practices but also when considering group bookings within the cities, specifically and policies essential to group bookings (i.e. Group STL Booking Policy and Procedures for u18s) Key Success Metrics: Identify clear city plans with third party group targets to ensure summer targets and back fill targets are achieved The creation of new long standing business partners to enable growth within each city Consistent performance of financial KPI`s with external providers and also with all customer service queries internally What We`re Looking for in You Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing and demonstrate an objective, professional and calm approach when handling difficult situations Ability to build relationships internally and externally, with students and with third party suppliers People management experience Ability to create a `best practice` approach in all cities Ability to work at pace whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy & attention to detail Ability to manage own time effectively, prioritising tasks when required, multitasking and meeting deadlines Previous experience of working within a sales environment with administrative tasks where a proactive approach in recognising potential opportunities is key Possesses a positive and collegiate attitude, with the ability to adapt swiftly and a willingness to undertake challenging tasks to ensure customer satisfaction Self-motivated and possessing the ability to work on own initiative What You`ll Get in Return A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success 25 days` paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more About Unite Students Founded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 100 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with 74,000 students calling US home We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas. Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are. People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.