Senior Manager of Operations and University Relationships (New Zealand)

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

1. 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

1. 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

1. Conversion & Product Ownership

• Ensure clarity on:
• Course offerings
• Entry requirements
• Visa regulations
• Improve:
• Application quality
• Offer conversion
• Visa success rates

1. 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