This position is with Kaaiser, one of the brands under Manifest Global, which also includes Cialfo, BridgeU and Explore.
About This Role
We are hiring a Senior Manager of Operations and University Relationships to own operations and grow University Partnerships.
This is a senior, high-impact role for someone who operates comfortably with university leadership, understands the commercial and strategic drivers of international recruitment, and can turn strong relationships into measurable, long-term value.
The role goes beyond relationship management. You will act as a strategic partner, commercial negotiator, and long-term relationship owner, ensuring partnerships are:
- High-performing today
- Strategically aligned for the future
- Commercially strong and defensible
Role Objective
- To build and scale the New Zealand vertical by:
- Establishing a robust end-to-end operations system (Application → Visa → Enrolment)
- Securing and managing direct university partnerships in New Zealand
- This role is a business-building mandate, not just operational oversight.
What Success Looks Like
- A fully functional NZ operations engine with high visa success rates
- Strong portfolio of direct university partnerships
- NZ established as a revenue-generating vertical for Kaaiser
Key Responsibilities
1. Operations Setup & Management (Application → Visa)
- Design and implement end-to-end processing workflows for NZ applications
- Establish SOPs, timelines (TATs), and quality benchmarks
- Oversee:
- Application submissions
- Offer follow-ups
- Visa documentation and filing
- Ensure high visa success rate and compliance adherence
- Build and train a dedicated NZ processing team
2. University Partnerships & Business Development
- Identify and prioritise target universities and institutes in New Zealand
- Build relationships with:
- International offices
- Regional managers
- Negotiate and secure partnership agreements / MOUs
- Drive towards preferred / direct partner status
- Maintain ongoing engagement to increase application and enrolment volumes
3. Market Development (India → NZ)
- Define and execute India market strategy for New Zealand
- Enable B2B teams with:
- NZ-specific product knowledge
- Visa and admission insights
- Support positioning of NZ as a viable and attractive destination
4. Conversion & Product Ownership
- Ensure clarity on:
- Course offerings
- Entry requirements
- Visa regulations
- Improve:
- Application quality
- Offer conversion
- Visa success rates
5. Stakeholder Management
- Act as single point of contact for NZ universities
- Collaborate with internal:
- Sales teams
- Operations teams
- Build a strong feedback loop between universities, agents, and internal teams
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Operations
- Application → Offer conversion ratio
- Offer → Visa → Enrolment conversion
- Visa success rate (target: 90%+)
- TAT adherence and processing efficiency
- Partnerships
- Number of university contracts signed
- Active partnerships generating applications/enrolments
- Business Growth
- Number of NZ applications and enrolments
- Agent activation for NZ
- Revenue contribution from NZ vertical
Candidate Profile
- 8–10 years of experience in international education
- Managerial experience in Operations & University relations for NZ study destination
- Strong understanding of:
- NZ admission processes
- Visa frameworks
- Proven track record in:
- University relationship management
- Operations setup or scaling
- Strong stakeholder management and negotiation skills
- Ability to build processes from scratch and scale them
Please note this role follows 5.5 days work week from the Delhi Office