Local Placement Manager - Lisbon

Local Placement Manager — Lisbon

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Duration: Full-time

Application Deadline: 13th August

Start Date: September 2026

Role Objective

Combine your business development expertise with a passion for international education as the Local Placement Manager for Lisbon. In this role, you will take full commercial ownership of building, managing, and sustaining a high-performing city placement ecosystem. At its heart, this role combines placement execution, business development, relationship management, and commercial ownership. You are the dedicated, full-year owner of Lisbon's placement delivery, responsible for consistently securing high-quality internship matches that align with programme demand and student goals.

Reporting to Regional Placement Leadership, you will drive the front-end sales pipeline during the sourcing season and transition into a relationship manager to ensure outstanding, sustainable outcomes. During peak placement cycles, you will also direct and prioritise the work of a seasonal Internship Placement Coordinator to support administrative execution and student mock interviews, while retaining final decision-making power over employer partnerships.

Why Absolute Internship?

We are a pioneering global firm featured in The New York Times, BBC, and Bloomberg. We provide world-class international internship programmes in premier global hubs like Barcelona, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Lisbon. We are a mission-driven community built around opportunity, belonging, and impact. Alongside our core programmes, we are actively building a foundation to expand access to education for 500 children worldwide by 2031.

Why Work With Us?

Most jobs offer a paycheck. Some offer a career. We offer a mission.

At Absolute, you join a team that is small but mighty, global yet intimate. You’ll find a culture that is versatile, entrepreneurial, and deeply flexible. We don't just "go to work" we move the needle, innovate through obstacles, and celebrate wins, no matter the size.

You'll gain role autonomy where your business wins directly impact real students' career trajectories within the same season, backed by structured onboarding, CRM data training, B2B sales/negotiation coaching, direct executive mentorship, and a clear path into senior placement or regional leadership roles.

Key Responsibilities: Employer-Facing & Business Development

• Own and Scale the Lisbon Network: Run targeted business development activities to acquire new host companies, expand corporate partnerships, and consistently hit city-level placement targets.
• Execute Sustained Outbound Activity: Drive cold outreach, physical networking, and lead generation campaigns to build a diverse pipeline of local corporate partners.
• Target Strategic and Global Opportunities: Map local office locations of global host companies, identify nationality-specific business communities in Lisbon, and share cross-regional leads with Regional Placement Leadership.
• Develop Low-Season Collaborations: Source and develop Remote Project Studio projects with new companies during off-peak cycles, building a separate pipeline of project-based partnerships distinct from traditional internship host companies.
• Nurture and Retain Corporate Partners: Strategically leverage off-peak cycles to re-engage previous employer partners, secure early forward volume commitments, and strengthen long-term retention.
• Maintain CRM and Data Integrity: Manage a highly accurate, conversion-focused CRM pipeline in HubSpot, utilizing account relationship tagging to systematically track account health.
• Provide Market Intelligence: Spot local market trends, corporate demand signals, and commercial opportunities, sharing these insights with Regional Placement Leadership to guide broader strategies.

Student Placement & Relationship Management

• Execute High-Quality Placement Matching: Manage the end-to-end matching process, pairing international students with host companies to maximize placement quality, student satisfaction, and conversion.
• Manage Quality Assurance: Maintain and protect strict host company quality standards to guarantee safe, rewarding work environments that align with Absolute Internship's global brand expectations.
• Prepare and Coach Students: Support student interview preparation and placement readiness, ensuring they are positioned to make an impact on day one.
• Direct Seasonal Support: Supervise, mentor, and prioritize the daily work of the seasonal Internship Placement Coordinator, delegating administrative tasks and mock interviews to a high standard.
• Support Visiting Groups: Assist in coordinating Custom Experiential Programs when visiting student cohorts arrive in Lisbon, helping to organize itineraries, coordinate host company visits, or arrange local cultural activities.
• Resolve Placement Issues: Act as the primary local point of contact to resolve student or employer placement-related friction points dynamically, managing and mitigating risk before challenges escalate.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Work closely with Student Experience, Operations, Program Delivery, and Regional Leadership to ensure a seamless, 360-degree journey for both students and employers.

Who You Are

You are a commercial-minded networker and resilient hunter who is energized by building employer networks from scratch. You are highly comfortable with cold outreach, disciplined with pipeline follow-ups, and build trust rapidly across diverse stakeholders. You are a natural relationship builder who balances commercial targets with an empathetic focus on student career outcomes, equipped with the professional credibility to pitch directly to C-suite executives and support an international student base.

Ideal Qualities and Experience

• Commercial Track Record: 3+ years of experience in placement, recruitment, business development, sales, account management, or a comparable commercial environment with a proven track record of hitting targets.
• Language Proficiency: Fully fluent in both English and Portuguese (written and spoken).
• Location & Corporate Knowledge: Based in Lisbon with deep knowledge of the local corporate and business landscape.
• CRM Proficiency: Strong proficiency in managing sales pipelines and tracking conversion metrics within CRM platforms (HubSpot preferred).
• Autonomy & Organization: Highly organized, adaptable, and comfortable working autonomously with high organizational visibility.
• Collaborative Ownership: A collaborative professional who thrives within concurrent ownership models and supervising seasonal coordinators.

What We Expect

• Unwavering professionalism, integrity, and credibility in all employer, university, student, and internal interactions.
• Exemplary conduct and prompt responsiveness across all communication channels.
• A positive, respectful, and highly collaborative attitude toward all colleagues and stakeholders.
• Proactivity, resourcefulness, and creative problem-solving to address challenges before they escalate.
• Meticulous attention to detail and organized pipeline execution.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Absolute Internship is committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where diversity is valued, celebrated, and respected. Different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives strengthen our team and help us serve our global community better. We look forward to welcoming a passionate and skilled individual to our team!