You think strategically, act entrepreneurially, and turn market opportunities into concrete results. You identify potential early, develop tailored offerings, lead structured conversations through to closing, and build partnerships that will shape KLU’s development in the years ahead.
Your focus will be on acquiring new clients among national and international industrial companies and logistics corporations for whom supply chain is a strategic leadership topic. You understand client needs, assess opportunities against KLU’s strategic fit, and turn them into sustainable partnerships with long-term potential.
In this role, you report directly to the Director Executive Education & Business Solutions, and have the opportunity to build a small team to further develop and lead the Business Development function internationally in the future.
Head of Business Development Executive Education & Partnerships (gn*)
Hamburg
Full-time
Permanent employee
We are seeking for
Your Responsibilities
Go-to-Market & Portfolio Management
- You will develop a scalable business development and sales process together with relevant internal stakeholders. You will systematically translate market feedback into portfolio decisions: build, pilot, scale — or consciously decide not to pursue.
- You will identify and acquire national and international target companies and build strong relationships with key decision-makers, particularly at C-level and in HR, Learning & Development, Supply Chain, and Operations Leadership.
- You will lead structured discovery conversations, qualify opportunities, develop compelling value propositions, and manage the full sales process from discovery to proposal and closing.
- Together with the organization, you will develop new offerings, particularly open and customized executive education programs as well as further partnership formats. You will guide new formats from the first idea through piloting to scaling.
- You will translate client needs into clear program architectures, including learning outcomes, target groups, formats, faculty involvement, and pricing logic. Typical deal sizes range from approximately €50,000 to €200,000.
- You will build anchor partners and strategic client relationships with strong repeat potential, for example through learning journeys, talent pipelines, or long-term development partnerships.
- You will engage and coordinate internal stakeholders such as faculty, the Executive Education team, Career Services, Research Centers, and the Innovation Hub. You will create orientation, commitment, and clear decision-making foundations.
- You will be responsible for building and managing the sales pipeline, ensuring reliable forecasting, and maintaining high-quality CRM data. You will take clear ownership of results and revenue.
Your qualifications
Must-haves
- You bring at least 7 years of experience in B2B business development or sales, ideally in consultative selling of advisory or service-based offerings such as executive education, consulting, corporate partnerships, or professional services. You have a proven track record of building pipelines, managing opportunities, and closing deals.
- You have experience in developing and selling non-standardized offerings. You are able to co-create solutions with clients and internal stakeholders, structure requirements, and clearly define scope, outcomes, delivery setup, and pricing logic.
- You are strong in stakeholder leadership without direct authority. You engage internal experts, particularly faculty and professors, for market-relevant initiatives, moderate different interests, and create commitment.
- You work in a structured, process-oriented, and results-driven way. CRM usage, forecasting, fit checks, clean handovers, and reliable pipeline management are natural parts of your professional business development approach.
- You are confident in senior-level interactions, including pitches, workshops, negotiations, and strategic client conversations. You bring full professional fluency in both German and English.
- You hold a master’s degree or equivalent qualification and are willing to travel internationally.
- Experience in higher education, executive education, research, or at the interface between academia and business is an advantage.
- Industry knowledge or a strong network in logistics, supply chain, operations, or related sectors would also be beneficial.
- You bring entrepreneurial thinking, drive, and resilience. You do not see internal challenges as barriers, but as conditions to design around in order to create viable solutions.
- You have sound judgement and can identify which opportunities are scalable, which partnerships have long-term potential, and when a request should consciously not be pursued.
We offer
You will become part of an international, state-recognized university with a clear growth ambition, strong societal relevance, and a dedicated focus on logistics, operations, and supply chain management. KLU is further expanding its international activities, including its campus development in Vietnam, and is embedded in a global network through the Kühne Foundation.
Market-oriented compensation
Market-oriented compensation
- You will receive an attractive compensation package with a performance-based component directly linked to revenue targets.
- We offer a structured hybrid working model with up to 50% remote work.
- You will take on a key role in building our Business Development function, with a clear perspective to further develop and lead the BD team internationally in the future.
- You will benefit from a personal development budget, access to KLU programs, and opportunities to participate in international conferences.
- You will work within an international ecosystem connecting academia, business, logistics, supply chain, and socially relevant initiatives.
- You will have a direct influence on revenue, partnerships, and the positioning of the Executive Education & Business Solutions Unit — with short decision paths and high visibility.
- Your workplace will be located in Hamburg’s HafenCity, one of the city’s most attractive and dynamic districts.
Contact
Please submit your complete application documents via the application button or by email to klu-jobs@m.personio.de.
Your application should include:
Your application should include:
- cover letter
- CV
- relevant references or certificates
- salary expectations
About us
Kühne Logistics University–Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Logistik und Unternehmensführung is a private university founded in 2010 and located in Hamburg's HafenCity. KLU is a state-recognized university with the right to grant PhDs. With its AACSB accreditation, it ranks among the top 5% of business schools and management universities worldwide, with a dedicated focus on logistics, operations, and supply chain management. Following an internationalization strategy, we are now opening a campus in Vietnam and plan for two further campuses in Africa and the Americas.
We instill KLU's signature operations mindset in all our students, drawing on the strengths and key characteristics of logistics, including resilience, data-driven and action-oriented decision-making. As a boutique university, KLU offers its students and doctoral candidates a high degree of specialization and excellent study conditions. Further education programs for specialists and managers are offered in the form of seminars and summer schools by KLU Executive Education.