Sales Associate

Job description

Sales & Lead Generation Associate

Location: London - 3 days in office per week

Team: Advisory Services – People, Skills & Workforce Transformation

*May start date*

Who we are:

With over 50 years of business success, we have a reputation as the world leader in specialist recruitment and workforce solutions. Joining Hays isn’t just about being part of a global business leader, it’s about making a difference in the world of work.

About the role

We’re looking for a proactive and commercially minded Sales & Lead Generation Associate to help accelerate our growth across People Advisory, Assessment, Workforce Planning, Career Transition, Benchmarking, Early Careers and Talent Analytics.

This role sits at the heart of our client engagement engine. You’ll own our inbound communication channels, build strong first-touch relationships with clients, support the design of tailored proposals, and drive targeted outreach campaigns that open doors and create commercial momentum.

You’ll also play a key role in executing our sales strategy — identifying target markets, spotting opportunities, and helping us build our track record across priority sectors.

If you’re organised, curious, confident in communication and excited by people‑focused advisory services, this is an excellent opportunity to learn, grow and make a real impact.

What you’ll be doing

Email & Opportunity Management

• Own and triage all Advisory service inbound customer enquiries
• Respond promptly and professionally to client enquiries
• Direct opportunities to the right consultants across Assessment, A&D, Career Transition, Benchmarking, Talent Analytics and Early Careers
• Maintain alignment between inbox activity and administrative processes (master trackers, team folders, client logs)

Client Meetings & Discovery

• Support and, in time, lead introductory client conversations, building rapport and understanding client challenges
• Confidently articulate our service lines and how they solve people and workforce problems in response to identified customer challenges
• Identify opportunities for deeper advisory engagement
• Capture insights and feed opportunities to senior team members where relevant

Proposal Creation

• Support the creation of high‑quality, tailored proposals
• Adapt templates to match client needs and organisational branding
• Align messaging to Hays values and the unique outcomes clients are seeking
• Ensure proposals are commercially compelling and easy to navigate

Business Development & Marketing Outreach

• Deliver coordinated outreach campaigns across key sectors
• Use tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Sales Navigator and e‑shorts to build client touchpoints
• Use Mail Merge and OneTouch for scaled email campaigns
• Build and maintain target lists, contact databases and outbound activity logs
• Support content distribution, marketing collateral updates and client communications

Bid Opportunity Tracking

• Use bid tracker tools to identify potential public‑sector and private‑sector tender opportunities
• Ensure the right advisory team members are informed
• Track bid progress with the Contracts & Bids team
• Support bid strategy: which markets we want to be known for, and where we want to build our presence

Sector & Sales Strategy Support

• Help execute our sales strategy across priority sectors
• Build case studies, success stories and sector collateral
• Support the development of our track record in areas such as:
• Housing benchmarking
• Workforce planning
• People transformation
• Assessment & development
• Identify target clients and support targeted outreach to build pipeline and influence market presence

What you’ll bring

• Strong organisation and attention to detail
• Proactive communication and excellent client interaction skills
• Ability to work across multiple service lines and collaborate with different experts
• Confidence in first-touch client conversations
• Interest in people, skills, workforce transformation, and advisory services
• Comfort using digital tools (LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, spreadsheets, CRM-style tracking)
• Creative thinker with a commercial mindset

This role puts you right at the heart of our commercial engine — driving conversations, shaping opportunity, and influencing how we show up in the market. You’ll build real expertise across our entire Advisory offering, from Assessment and Workforce Planning to Talent Analytics, Career

Transition and more, while working closely with senior leaders to help shape a high‑growth, high‑impact function. You’ll play a key role in how we position ourselves in priority sectors, helping build our track record, expand our presence, and unlock new clients, ideas and opportunities. If you want a role where your work directly fuels momentum and growth, this is it.

Extra information

Status

Open

Education Level

Secondary School

Location

City of London

Type of Contract

Full-time jobs

Published at

23-03-2026

Profession type

Sales

Full UK/EU driving license preferred

No

Car Preferred

No

Must be eligible to work in the EU

No

Cover Letter Required

No

Languages

English