Senior Director, Partner Strategy & Engagement

About Boundless Learning | Leaders in Online Learning Solutions Empowering Partners to Reach Learners Worldwide

At Boundless Learning we are empowering our partners to deliver exceptional experiences that expand opportunities for learners around the world. We put learner success at the heart of everything we do, empowering our partners to deliver personalized, learner-centric experiences that boost access and create economic mobility. For 30 years, we've partnered with organizations and corporations around the world to design workforce-aligned experiences. When it comes to online program management, we keep learner success at the heart of everything we do and work hard to deliver positive career outcomes. At Boundless Learning you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with passionate, diverse teams, where your ideas are valued, and your expertise is respected. Join us on this meaningful journey towards transforming education and making a lasting difference in the lives of learners worldwide.

Trustworthy Partnerships

As experts in online learning solutions, our reach breaks borders (and barriers) to support learners and partners around the globe. We emphasize transparency and commit to shared goals with our Academic Partners. It's how we've made long-lasting relationships worldwide.

The Global Partner Strategy & Engagement (PSE) team sits in the heart of the Global Acquisition and Retention (A&R) team, led by Boundless Learning's Chief Revenue Officer. We are joined in this division by Global Marketing, Enrollment Services, Student Support Services, and Product and Learner Experience.

The purpose of the PSE Team is to establish, translate, and position the strategic capabilities, operational value, and KPIs that Boundless Learning provides to our global Academic Partners. We work across the organization to be experts in the end-to-end services we provide partners so that we can best position our work and collaborate with University Partners to accelerate growth.

The PSE team's goal is to ensure that both internal business partners and external partner stakeholders have a clear understanding of what Boundless Learning's strategic and tactical plans are for lead generation, new student enrollment, and continuing student retention and how performance is pacing against KPIs. We do this directly by serving as bi-directional coordinator for A&R – representing the functional teams to the partner and reporting back to the business partner-provided feedback and insights to inform strategic and operational enhancements. We aim to be the unified voice for A&R for the organization. As such, we are the face of the business with Academic Partners and serve as their single point of contact for all aspects of their engagement with Boundless Learning from contact inception forward. Through our deep business and partnership knowledge, we develop and ensure on-point delivery of Boundless Learning's capabilities.

About the Role | Steward Boundless Learning's University Partnerships for Optimal Bi-Directional Success

This role will be part of the Global Partnership Strategy & Execution team that coordinates Boundless Learnings partner activities cross-functionally and will be the central conduit for engagement management between Boundless Learning and our portfolio of Academic Partners. The role will report to the Vice President of Partnership Strategy & Engagement and will have several dotted line coordination requirements for consistent communication and engagement with marketing, enrollment, student support services, product, finance, legal and B2B. This position will be the knowledge expert on all aspects of both the business and the partner and will be asked to present at business reviews, executive meetings, and team meetings.

It is expected that this person will have consistent interaction and engagement with Boundless Learning Academic partners and the internal Boundless Learning cross-functional team. This person will demonstrate a deep understanding of go to market and growth strategies.

Position Purpose

To progress partnership opportunities with well-regarded and ambitions higher education institutions and manage/optimize existing agreements for quality, efficacy, improvement in market share, and to drive enrollment growth.

Responsible for the development and execution of partner strategy, leading the activity of the Portfolio Strategy & Engagement Team, and securing and coordinating engagement from Boundless Learning functional and executive teams as needed.

Responsible for evaluating new initiatives and business opportunities relating to partnerships, conducting due diligence, and making recommendations to functional leads across the Global Acquisition & Retention team for incremental and transformational growth.

Top Three Goals

• Meet/exceed annual performance KPIs for revenue targets and total enrolments
• Meet/exceed academic partner expectations for Boundless Learning service delivery
• Improve internal and external cross-functional collaboration and alignment for efficiency and speed
  
  

Core Tasks

• Lead the creation and development of a clearly defined growth and engagement strategy for partners designed to deliver significant and sustainable growth
• Lead relationship building with senior level stakeholders at Academic partners to understand institutional drivers and exert influence in relation to significant long-term strategy and investment decisions
• Serve as the main point of contact in all partner-facing engagements on behalf of the Acquisition and Retention Team
• Provide leadership to a team of Partnership Strategy & Engagement Team members in the UK
• Develop best-practices in partnership development, engagement, and complex-solutioning, and share these with colleagues across the Global business
  
  

Key Relationships

• Manages a wide range of senior/executive relationships externally with university partners; External Stakeholder Examples | University Executives (VC, DVC, PVC, Dean/Head of School, University Administration and Functional Leaders (Marketing, Recruitment, Distance Learning, Admissions, etc.), University Faculty
• Negotiates complex legal and commercial solutions with university partners on behalf of boundless learning (in collaboration with Finance & Legal)
• Influences investment and resourcing decisions across marketing, enrollment, and student support services
• Engages with all aspects of the internal Boundless Learning team via a matrixed structure
  
  

Key Accountabilities

• Serves as the senior leader based in the UK who provides overall supervision for the office
• Stewarding end to end student acquisition & retention strategy and engagement plans for UK-based University partners
• Monitoring, reviewing, and reporting on partnership acquisition and retention performance
• Leading the development and maintenance of stakeholder relationships
  
  

Responsibilities

• Serve as the main point of engagement for Boundless Learning with Academic Partners and internal stakeholders
• Develop in-year growth strategies aligned with organizational objectives
• Coordinate across the business to prioritize strategies and to drive operational performance and execution
• Review and synthesize data around performance, goal management, and growth target setting
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration and relationship-building
• Influence strategic planning and budget investments for a managed portfolio of partners across Boundless Learning
• Directly manage up to 3 team members who own their own portfolio of partners
• Shape partner-facing communications for marketing, enrollment, and retention
• Contract and proforma metric tracking
• Partner-facing reporting and performance updates for partner-facing and executive briefings
• Lead deep dive analyses for areas of opportunity/risk
• Asset review, approval, and maintenance
• Post-Term performance reviews and strategy development
• Represent Boundless Learning in ad-hoc partnership meetings as required
  
  

About You | Are you ready to join an organization where your potential is "boundless"?

• Exceptional experience in high-level stakeholder management
• Experience managing a team and working inside a matrixed organization
• Knowledge of the end-to-end learner and partner experience as it relates to online program management
• Strategic aptitude with an ability to diagnose and assess tactical performance and relationship headwinds and tailwinds
• Ability to influence internal and external stakeholders
• Exceptional communicator with an eye for detail and an ear for the unspoken
• Ability to translate complex information bi-directionally, to and from the partner and the business
• Skilled at seeing the connective tissues that exist between divisions/teams/partners
• Creative thinkers & problem solvers who can knit together disparate tactics across the business into a cohesive overarching strategy
• Experienced in strategy development and execution
• Highly experienced in drawing actionable insight from data
• Strong commercial acumen
• Highly organized and meticulous
• Culture Champion with a track record for improving employee morale and engagement
  
  

At Boundless, we believe in the power of difference. Harnessing the unique skills, perspectives, and backgrounds of every employee helps us foster innovation and create the most effective solutions for learners around the world. That is why we are committed to ensuring that diversity and inclusion are embedded into everything we do. We foster a work environment that is inclusive and diverse and where our people can be themselves so we can reflect the customers and learners we serve.