Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development
1. CONTEXT
Bologna University Business School (BBS) is a European business school, established in 2000 by the University of Bologna and several private organisations, whose aim is to provide post-graduate and post-experience interdisciplinary management education.
The School operates as a non-profit private foundation with full strategic, operational, and financial autonomy. Its governance framework ensures both independence from, and integration with, its parent institution and allows for the participation of multiple stakeholders. This setup fosters an exceptional level of collaboration between our academic institution and the world of practice. BBS’s mission is summarised by its motto, ‘Multiplying Opportunities,’ which reflects the School’s commitment to serving individuals, organisations, and society. The School seeks to expand the capabilities of each student, organisation, and institution it touches. As it has pursued its mission, BBS has been recognised as a creative, dynamic, and entrepreneurial business school, thanks in large part to its committed, diverse, research-driven, and practice-oriented faculty.
The School’s unique positioning traits are: its interdisciplinary approach, its pedagogical focus on individual learning in a collaborative environment, and its close working relationship with companies from industries where Italy holds an international leadership position.
After achieving the challenging 5-year EQUIS Accreditation (placing it among the 222 EQUIS-accredited schools in the world, out of about 16,000) and opening a unique, sustainable, and landscape-integrated new campus in 2024, BBS is now entering a new phase of development that includes governance evolution, international growth, and AI-driven transformation.
2. JOB
The Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development is responsible for building, developing, and managing strategic corporate relationships and key accounts to drive growth in executive education, custom programs, and institutional collaborations. The role also supervises and coordinates all partnership-related activities across the School, ensuring consistency, quality, and strategic alignment.
The position will report to the Executive President.
For the purpose of this role, Key Accounts include:
• the School’s founders and supporting members, donors, and organizations with significant influence within the relevant ecosystem, as well as partners connected to the School through strategic collaborations (e.g., scholarship programs, research projects, internship programs, etc.)
• clients who have generated at least €50k in annual turnover for BBS, or who demonstrate strong growth potential
• prospective clients with annual revenue above €100M.
The key responsibilities of the Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development:
• driving the definition and coherence of the School’s executive education positioning in the corporate market, ensuring alignment between the value proposition, partnerships, and business development activities.
• defining and executing the corporate partnerships and key accounts strategy aligned with the School’s priorities
• building and managing a portfolio of strategic partners and key accounts
• identifying and developing new partnerships and business development opportunities
• leading the design and negotiation of partnerships and collaboration initiatives
• ensuring the quality of customized client proposals and for the effectiveness and quality of the delivery process led by the team
• managing a dedicated team and budget
• overseeing and coordinating partnerships and key account activities across internal teams
• ensuring effective cross-functional collaboration in partner and client projects
• representing the School in corporate partnerships and engagement initiatives.
The success measures of the Director of Corporate Partnerships & Business Development:
• partnership and key account revenue growth
• number and quality of strategic partnerships activated
• renewal and expansion rate of key accounts and partners
• development of multi-year partnership agreements
• value generated in terms of participant enrollment in the School’s open-enrollment programs across other business units
• partner satisfaction and continuity of engagement.
3. EMPLOYMENT FRAMEWORK
The selected candidate will be hired on a permanent employment contract and classified according to their experience and professional profile, within the framework of the National Collective Labour Agreement (CCNL) for the Tertiary, Commerce and Services sector.
Compensation will be commensurate with the candidate’s actual skills and experience and may include future developments in line with the Foundation’s policies.
4. PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The requirements for admission to the selection process, which must be met as of the date of publication of this notice, are:
• possession of a university degree (under both the old and new Italian systems: Bachelor’s, Master’s or equivalent, or an equivalent international qualification)
• at least 10 years of professional experience
• proficiency in Italian and English.
5. SELECTION PROCESS
The Foundation will appoint an Evaluation Committee that will assess candidates on the basis of the submitted curricula vitae and through one or more interviews. Any additional selection methods identified by the Evaluation Committee (such as tests aimed at assessing technical skills and aptitude or motivational aspects) will be communicated to the candidates.
At the end of the selection process, the Committee Coordinator (at the sole discretion of the Committee) will submit to the Foundation a shortlist of candidates deemed suitable. On this basis, the Foundation will identify the successful candidates.
Successful candidates will receive a personal and confidential communication; all other candidates will be informed of the conclusion of the selection process. BBS will publish the names of the successful candidates on its website in compliance with applicable data protection regulations. Selected candidates will be hired, subject to acceptance, within the timeframe indicated in the offer of employment.
Should no suitable candidates be identified or no applications be received, BBS may decide to repeat the selection process or resort to alternative recruitment methods. At its sole discretion, the Foundation may, in the two years following the closure of the selection process, refer to the shortlist of suitable candidates to fill similar positions.
6. APPLICATION PROCEDURE
To participate in the selection process, candidates must submit:
• their application using the attached form (Annex 1)
• a copy of a valid identification document, indicating reference code 2026D-02
• a curriculum vitae.
Applications must be submitted by 1:00 p.m. on 1 March 2026. The selection process will in any case remain open until suitable candidates for the required professional profile are identified.
Applications may be submitted through the following channels:
• by email to: careers@bbs.unibo.it
• by registered mail to: BBS – Via degli Scalini 18 – 40136 Bologna (Italy), for the attention of Irene Battaglia.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
7. PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING
Pursuant to Legislative Decree 101/2018 and Article 13 of GDPR 679/2016, the Data Controller of the personal data provided by candidates is Fondazione Bologna University Business School, Villa Guastavillani, Via degli Scalini 18, 40136 Bologna (Italy). The data will be collected for the purposes of managing the selection process and will also be processed subsequently, in the event of appointment, for purposes related to the management of the employment relationship.
8. MULTIPLYING OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER
For information or clarification, Irene Battaglia, Head of the Selection Process, is available at careers@bbs.unibo.it or by phone at +39 051 2090111.
