The Role

Epsom College Malaysia is seeking an energetic, commercially minded and relationship-driven Japanese Marketing & Business Development Manager to lead the College's student recruitment, marketing and business-development activities for the Japanese market.

The position will be based at Epsom College Malaysia in Malaysia, working as part of the College's Global Marketing and Admissions team, but with primary responsibility for the development of the Japan market.

The successful candidate will develop and manage the College's relationships with prospective Japanese families, schools, education agents, corporate partners and other organisations while building a sustainable pipeline of Japanese students for Epsom College Malaysia.

Regular travel to Japan will be an important part of the role for recruitment seminars, school and agent visits, education fairs, partnership development and meetings with prospective families.

When in Malaysia, the Manager, together with the College’s Japanese Liaison Officer, will play an equally important role in supporting visiting Japanese families, students and partners and ensuring that they receive an exceptional introduction to the College.

We are also opening a new school in Tokyo comprising of early years to year 6 (day-school) in the 2027-2028 academic year, Epsom College Tokyo. This role would be one of the main person involved in the expansion.

This is a hands-on role for someone equally comfortable developing strategy, meeting parents, presenting to an audience, visiting schools, working with agents and following prospective families through to enrolment.

Key Responsibilities

1. Japan Student Recruitment

Develop and implement the College's annual Japan student recruitment plan in conjunction with the Marketing & Admissions and senior management.
Take ownership of the Japanese recruitment pipeline from initial lead generation through to application, offer, acceptance and enrolment.
Build relationships with prospective Japanese parents and students and provide them with knowledgeable, personalised guidance throughout their admissions journey.
Develop a strong understanding of the different entry points into Epsom College Malaysia, including Prep and Senior School, IGCSE and Sixth Form/A-level pathways.
Work closely with Admissions colleagues to ensure Japanese families receive prompt, culturally appropriate and highly personalised support.
Contribute directly towards agreed annual Japanese student recruitment and enrolment targets.

2. Business Development & Partnerships

Identify and develop new recruitment channels throughout Japan.
Build long-term relationships with:
Japanese schools and international schools;
education consultants and study-abroad agents;
English-language and supplementary education providers;
cram schools and education groups;
corporations and HR/mobility departments;
education associations and professional networks;
and other organisations serving internationally minded Japanese families.
Identify opportunities for feeder-school relationships, institutional collaborations, student pathways and strategic partnerships.
Develop relationships that contribute both to immediate student recruitment and Epsom's longer-term presence and reputation in Japan.

3. Agent Development & Management

Develop and manage a high-quality network of Japanese education agents and consultants.
Maintain regular engagement with existing agents and ensure they have current information about Epsom's programmes, fees, scholarships, admissions requirements and developments.
Conduct training sessions and presentations for agent counsellors, both virtually and during visits to Japan.
Identify new agents and partners capable of representing Epsom College Malaysia appropriately.
Monitor agent performance, applications, conversions and enrolments and recommend where relationships should be expanded or reviewed.

4. Marketing & Brand Development

Work with the College's Marketing team to develop Japan-specific campaigns, communications and recruitment materials.
Provide local-market insight into Japanese parent expectations, educational trends, competitor activity and emerging recruitment opportunities.
Support the localisation and translation of marketing materials, digital campaigns, presentations, brochures and parent communications for Japanese audiences.
Develop compelling Japanese student, parent and alumni stories and testimonials.
Support digital marketing, social media, PR and content initiatives designed specifically for the Japanese market.
Ensure that Epsom's proposition is communicated in a way that is compelling and culturally appropriate for Japanese families.

5. Recruitment Events & Japan Travel

Develop an annual calendar of recruitment activities across Japan.
Plan and deliver Epsom College Malaysia information seminars, parent presentations, webinars, exhibitions and recruitment events.
Undertake regular recruitment visits to Japan, including Tokyo and the wider Kanto region, Osaka/Kansai, Nagoya/Chubu, Fukuoka/Kyushu and other markets identified as having recruitment potential.
Represent Epsom College Malaysia at education fairs and external events.
Coordinate visits to Japan by senior representatives of Epsom College Malaysia.
Ensure systematic follow-up following every event, visit and campaign so that recruitment activity translates into applications and enrolments.

6. Japanese Families Visiting Malaysia

Act as a key point of contact for prospective Japanese families visiting Epsom College Malaysia.
Work with Admissions to provide a highly personalised experience for visiting families, including campus tours, meetings with academic staff and introductions to relevant members of the Epsom community.
Support recruitment events and familiarisation visits to Malaysia for Japanese agents, counsellors, schools and other partners.
Where appropriate, maintain relationships with existing Japanese parents and students and develop opportunities for them to act as advocates for the College.

7. Market Intelligence & Strategy

Act as the College's internal specialist on the Japanese education market.
Monitor Japanese attitudes towards international education, boarding education and overseas study.
Track competitor activity from international schools and boarding schools recruiting Japanese students, including schools in Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia and other relevant destinations.
Identify emerging geographic, demographic and educational opportunities within Japan.
Provide regular recommendations to senior management regarding recruitment strategy, market positioning and investment.

8. Reporting & Performance

Maintain accurate records of prospective families, agents, partners, events and recruitment activities within the College's CRM systems.
Monitor the complete recruitment funnel:
Lead → Enquiry → Qualified Prospect → Application → Offer → Acceptance → Enrolment
Provide regular reports on recruitment performance by region, agent, event, campaign and recruitment channel.
Develop annual Japan activity plans and budgets and monitor expenditure against agreed objectives.
Evaluate recruitment initiatives based on measurable outcomes and return on investment.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance will be assessed against a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures, including:

Japanese student applications and confirmed enrolments;
growth in qualified Japanese enquiries;
enquiry-to-application and application-to-enrolment conversion rates;
recruitment performance by agent and partner;
development of new school and institutional partnerships;
effectiveness of Japan recruitment seminars and events;
development of new geographic recruitment markets within Japan;
growth in awareness and reputation of Epsom College Malaysia amongst Japanese families;
quality and accuracy of CRM and market reporting; and
delivery against agreed annual recruitment targets and budgets.

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will ideally have experience in one or more of the following:

international-school admissions or marketing;
student recruitment;
international education;
study-abroad counselling;
education agency management;
business development;
international marketing; or
another relationship-led sector serving Japanese consumers.
Experience working with international schools, boarding schools, British education or overseas education would be advantageous.
More important is the ability to understand Japanese families, build trust across cultures and convert relationships and opportunities into measurable recruitment results.

Skills & Attributes

The successful candidate should be:

commercially minded and motivated by measurable results;
an outstanding relationship builder;
confident communicating with Japanese parents and organisations;
comfortable presenting to both small groups and large audiences;
highly organised and capable of managing multiple recruitment activities simultaneously;
proactive and entrepreneurial in identifying new opportunities;
culturally sensitive and able to operate effectively between Japanese and international working environments;
comfortable using CRM systems and data to manage recruitment pipelines;
able to work effectively as part of a Malaysia-based international team;
willing and able to travel regularly to Japan; and
passionate about education and able to communicate the value of an Epsom education with credibility and conviction.

Language Requirements

Japanese: Native or professional proficiency.
English: Strong professional working proficiency.

The successful candidate must be comfortable operating professionally in both Japanese and English, including communicating with parents and partners in Japanese while working internally with colleagues and senior management in English.

Qualifications

A bachelor's degree or equivalent professional qualification is preferred.

Relevant professional experience and a demonstrated record of achievement in recruitment, marketing, education or business development will be given significant consideration.

Location & Travel

This is a Malaysia-based position at Epsom College Malaysia.
The successful candidate will be expected to travel regularly to Japan and potentially spend concentrated periods in Japan during key recruitment seasons.
Travel within Malaysia and Southeast Asia may also be required for recruitment events and meetings with Japanese organisations and communities.
The role therefore requires someone who enjoys combining the resources and teamwork of a campus-based position with significant external market-development activity.

Why Join Epsom College Malaysia?

This is an opportunity to take ownership of one of Epsom College Malaysia's most important international markets while being fully integrated into the College's Marketing and Admissions operation.

Being based on campus will allow the successful candidate to develop an intimate understanding of Epsom's academic, boarding, pastoral and co-curricular experience — and to communicate that experience authentically to Japanese families.

The role offers considerable scope to shape Epsom's approach to Japan, develop new partnerships and recruitment channels and build long-term relationships between Epsom College Malaysia and Japanese families and educational organisations.

Above all, the successful candidate will help Japanese families discover a distinctive British education in Asia and an international educational pathway leading towards some of the world's leading universities.

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