Executive Director -Strategic Partnerships
The Strategic Partnership and Alliances unit at Excelsior cultivates, builds, and maintains relationships with corporations, government agencies, NGOs, and other organizations. The primary goal of these relationships is to build enrollment pipelines while honing Excelsior programs and curricula to provide employers with skilled and prepared workers. The Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships supervises this broad and expansive relationship process. They build and maintain strong relationships inside and outside of Excelsior and act as a lead proponent of the benefits of a college degree through Excelsior University. This Executive Director reports to the Chief of Staff and works closely with the Provost, the Vice President for Enrollment Management & Marketing, deans, and other academic and administrative leaders. The Executive Director is responsible for planning and implementing strategic engagements with key partners to generate student enrollments at Excelsior University and to build mutually beneficial relationships. Although the bottom-line metric for the success of this job offer is enrollment and revenue generation, the quality and durcapability of Excelsior-employer partnerships is also critical. Hence, the Executive Director must pay careful attention to service, engagement, and other relational virtues. Excelsior University enrolls thousands of active and veteran members of the armed services. The executive director supervises approximately fourteen individuals, including Excelsior military outreach staff, manages Directors, and other Strategic Partnerships staff. While there is preference for this full-time position to be located in the university’s Albany, NY main offices, a remote arrangement with at least initial bi-weekly travel to Albany will also be considered. this function also requires broad overnight travel all over the country to visit sites with concentrations of students, staff and current and potential partners. E SS EN T IAL D U T IES A N D RE S P ON S I B I L ITI E S includes the following: »Establish, build, and maintain relationships with employers, paying particular attention to the healthcare, business, and IT sectors. »Forge deep relationships with key decision makers at large employers and develop a high-level knowledge of the professional development and workforce needs in those organizations. »Be accountable to the bottom line to ensure that monthly, quarterly, and annual enrollment and revenue targets are met. »Build positive, collegial relationships with Excelsior academic leaders and faculty to jointly address the workforce needs of external partners. »Work with other university leaders to maximize effective use of shared resources »Maintain appropriate prospecting and outreach activity reports; maintain up-to-date and accurate client/prospect database »Other tasks may be assigned Q UAL I F IC A T I O N S: »Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution is required. Master’s degree is preferred »At least seven years’ practice in one of the following areas: sales, marketing, admissions, recruiting, or business development »Minimum two years’ practice working with or in Higher Education » practice and proven success in creating and negotiating formal partnership agreements (MOU/MOA) and building strong, productive relationships with partners »Demonstrated familiarity with national corporations and associations or those in targeted geographic areas » knowledge of the unique needs of active military students, veterans, and their families » practice in working with military tuition assistance and within the requirements of the Department of Defense programs »Demonstrated capability to work with multiple, diverse stakeholders across complex organizations and different populations and recognize opportunities for growth » capability to coach/lead staff to grow expertise and achieve KPIs »Excellent project management expertise and the capability to manage multiple tasks and priorities effectively »Demonstrate creativity, enthusiasm, and openness to innovation » capability to master a wide body of knowledge and information to accurately represent Excelsior University »Strong analytical, decision making and problem-solving expertise »Must be self-motivated, work well under pressure and be eager to succeed in a competitive, results-oriented environment »Strong organizational and interpersonal communication expertise, including effective large group presentations »Excellent people expertise, including emotional intelligence, ease of communication, and a good sense of humor are essential »Knowledge and practice using Salesforce a plus » practice managing remote staff a plus