Managing Director - Technology Academy

Managing Director - Bright Network Technology Academy

Introducing Bright Network & the Technology Academy:

Bright Network is the UK's leading data and technology platform, using AI and data to build the workforce of tomorrow. Launched in 2013, we've raised £7M of venture capital, possess a proprietary community of 800,000+ students & graduates and a network of 300+ client partners (everyone from Amazon to Google, Goldman Sachs to EY) who use the platform to find the exceptional diverse talent they need to power their businesses.

In 2021 we started Bright Network Technology Academy to specifically address the crisis in digital skills and diversity that exists in software engineering in the UK. Since launching we've trained hundreds of exceptional individuals and placed them into world leading organisations such as M&S, Lloyds Banking Group and Atos. Using our exclusive access to the Bright Network Platform, we have a unique ability to source the very best future technology leaders with a particular lens on diverse talent. 90%+ of our developers are either female, from ethnic minorities, neurodiverse or come from low social mobility backgrounds.

You can read more about Technology Academy here.

The role:

The business unit is experiencing exceptional growth and we're now seeking a proven business leader with the experience, drive and thirst to scale the business and take it to the next level. The Managing Director will be responsible for defining the long-term vision & strategy for the Technology Academy, as well as leading & managing the commercial & operational teams.

This is a unique opportunity to build and lead a brand-new business unit within an exciting scale-up whilst also making a genuine difference to young people's lives. You'll be establishing and delivering into strategic partnerships that will ultimately increase access to careers in technology and improve diversity across the sector.

Remit & responsibilities:

Business unit strategy & leadership

• Define the long-term strategy & objectives for the Technology Academy business unit, ensuring these align to overall growth plans for Bright Network
• Take full accountability for the business unit's financial targets and performance
• Ensure all components of the Technology Academy's strategy & performance are effectively communicated to relevant stakeholders across the business
• Leverage Bright Network's existing assets and IP to enhance digital skills amongst our community of 800,000+ members
• Ensure effective use of our centralised functions (Tech, Finance, People, Legal & Marketing) based on Bright Network's overall business needs
• Build & lead the Technology Academy team, ensuring everyone within the Technology Academy team is high performing, continuously developing & engaged in their work, ultimately enabling them to exceed their objectives & achieve their potential
• Act as the driving force for thought leadership & product development

Marketing & commercial

• Support the Commercial Director in defining a commercial strategy that ensures the business unit exceeds its commercial targets
• Establish relationships with key client stakeholders to drive commercial success, supporting on pitches wherever relevant
• Work with Bright Network's centralised Marketing function to ensure the development of a clear and effective clear marketing strategy, establishing a clear market positioning and building brand presence amongst new & existing clients

Delivery, operations & finance

• Support the Operations Director in ensuring effective recruitment, training & delivery, enabling the business unit to hit its commercial targets
• Leverage our extensive data sets to drive operational efficiency across the business, ensuring the business unit's operational capacity is set up to scale
• Work closing with our CFO to ensure financial metrics are achieved

What we're looking for:

• You're a Business Leader with significant experience building, scaling and leading a business or business unit from scratch - ideally within the Tech recruitment / EdTech / RTD / SaaS space.
• You have experience developing the strategy, vision, objectives & targets for your business / business unit from scratch, as well as reporting on performance against these at Board level.

• You're a performance and results-oriented leader with a proven ability to lead teams to hit and exceed commercial targets.
• You're analytical, data-driven and confident in your ability to use data to track and continuously improve the performance of a business / business unit.

• You have experience in identifying talent, building a team and leading them to success.
• You're passionate about technology and understand how corporations are using tech to compete.
• You feel passionately about Bright Network's mission and have a passion for diversity and inclusion.

We can offer you:

• Unlimited holiday allowance.
• Flexible / hybrid-working policies.
• £50 per month flexible wellbeing budget
• Enhanced pension contribution through Aviva.
• Private healthcare plan through BUPA.
• Enhanced parental leave policy.
• Sales introduction & employee referral schemes.
• A culture of constant growth & improvement, with monthly lunch & learns & ad-hoc training budget for team or individual training.
• Open plan & buzzing Liverpool Street office, with snack station, foosball table & team drinks on Fridays!
• Regular team socials including our annual full team off-site, Christmas Party and other celebrations!

Key details:

• Salary: Competitive basic salary dependent on experience, plus performance-based bonus structure
• Start Date: ASAP
• Location: London, Liverpool Street with hybrid-working
• Reporting line: CEO & Founder

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Commitment:

Equal opportunities for all is a core part of what we do at Bright Network. To this end, we welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and endeavour to run a fair and equal hiring process at all times. We assess and recruit candidates based on competency and potential, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability status.

To learn more about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, please click here.