Partnerships Manager - AI

Partnerships Manager - AI

Salary: £45,100 – £60,400

Location: Cambridge/Hybrid with 40-60% time in the office

Contract: Fixed Term Contract/Secondment for 12 months.

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Curious about how AI will shape the future of education?

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge. 

We're building our capability in AI, and this role sits right at the centre of it. You'll help us identify, shape and progress partnerships with leading AI organisations, tech companies and research institutions — turning strategy into real, workable collaborations.

About the role  

Sitting in International Education (Education Futures team), you'll work across teams in CUP&A to understand priorities, spot where external partners can add value, and move conversations forward.

This is a hands-on, fast-moving role focused on partnership coordination, stakeholder management and turning ideas into action.

You'll work across teams to understand priorities, spot where external partners can add value, and move conversations forward. A big part of the role is keeping momentum — tracking activity, managing conversations, and making sure the right people stay aligned.

You'll focus on mapping the AI landscape, building a pipeline of partners, and progressing priority conversations. Over time, you'll also support delivery of partnership activity — helping turn opportunities into real outcomes

Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include: 

• Mapping the AI and EdTech landscape to identify relevant partners and opportunities
• Building and managing a pipeline of AI partnership opportunities
• Coordinating internal teams to progress partnership discussions and next steps
• Managing stakeholder relationships across internal teams and external partners
• Tracking engagement, reporting progress and keeping activity organised and visible
• Supporting development of partnership proposals, pilots and collaborations
• Ensuring partnership activity is structured, documented and moving at pace
• Contributing to improved ways of working, coordination and insight sharing across the organisation

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition.  

About You  
 
You're highly organised, self-motivated and comfortable working at pace. You enjoy bringing people together, moving conversations forward and turning ideas into structured plans.

You'll likely bring:

• Experience working in AI, EdTech or technology-driven environments
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills
• Experience coordinating partnerships, projects or cross-team activity
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills
• Confidence working across multiple priorities and teams
• Ability to spot opportunities and move them forward
• Strong communication skills and attention to detail
• Commercial awareness and the ability to assess partnership value

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria: 

• Experience in partnership or alliance management
• International experience or a second language
• Knowledge of education products, markets or the wider education sector  

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.   

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.   

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits  
We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:  

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays 
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance  
• Discretionary annual bonus  
• Group personal pension scheme 
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary  
• Green travel schemes  

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 31st May 2026 and interview will take place shortly after it closes

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect: 

• First stage virtual interview via MS Teams. 
• Final stage interview: in-person (preferably) at our offices in Cambridge. You will be provided with a brief to complete a role related brief before the interview to discuss with the panel

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs. 

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter. 

Why join us

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background. 

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.