Partnerships Manager - National Student Clearinghouse

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We are a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization and the leading provider of educational reporting, data exchange, verification, and research services. Serving the education, workforce and learner communities has been at the heart of our mission for over 30 years. Our work — performed in a trusted, secure, and private environment — provides numerous time- and cost-saving benefits to students, schools, administrators, and requestors. Education leaders rely on the Clearinghouse’s unique national student data resources to better understand student pathways and outcomes in order to help students succeed, and our research better informs practitioners and policymakers about student educational pathways and enables informed decision making.

About the Role:

The Manager, Partnership Initiatives plays an integral role in building and implementing the NSC partnership strategy to promote, position and drive the adoption and use of the Clearinghouse’s offerings to educational organizations that have a need to access the company’s data or services. These organizations include governmental and other entities with a legitimate reason to use Clearinghouse data to monitor student progress or to examine trends that impact public policy and the ecosystem of edTechs that support the K-20 education sector. Working with the Vice President of Sales, this role leads the partnerships team and all initiatives that advance the mission and strategic initiatives of the organization.

The Manager, Partnership Initiatives exercises sound judgment and can navigate competing demands for internal and external customers as well as the creation of new solutions. This position develops and leads the strategic initiatives around the expansion of Clearinghouse services and the use of Clearinghouse data, including coordinating the intentional promotion and adoption of data access to partners and education organizations. The ideal candidate understands the importance of the role as it relates to the success of the organization; has a strong understanding of Clearinghouse products and services and their impact across a broad spectrum of business and policy priorities. Out of town assignments will be required (up to 25%).

Currently, this is a remote-first position, and this position may be required to periodically work on-site at our office and the frequency would depend on the department/division's requirements. Therefore, candidates must either reside within a reasonable distance to commute to our office or be willing to travel to our office in Herndon, when required.

How You Contribute:

• Demonstrate NSC’s competencies, which align with our corporate values.
  • Management Competencies include: Making Complex Decisions, Being Flexible and Adaptive, Build Collaborative Relationships, Focusing on Performance, and Optimizing Diverse Talent.

Making Complex Decisions:

• Assesses the current partner strategy for alignment with organizational goals and updates accordingly.
• Prioritizes which partners to pursue to align with the strategy, negotiates the partnership agreement and establishes key metrics to measure the success of the partnership.
• Develops and leads the strategy for promoting, positioning, and selling Clearinghouse services relating to data to education organizations and leads the organization’s approach to intentionally promote data/insights access as a strategic asset to further company goals and objectives.
• Oversees the process of evaluating, ideating, and implementing strategic corporate partnerships including vetting, contracting, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on partnership efforts.

Being Flexible and Adaptable:

• Translates and communicates complex topics in a variety of forums, tailoring messages to fit and influence target audiences, both internal and external.

Building Collaborative Relationships:

• Provides guidance when selecting, contacting, partnering, and maintaining business relationships with constituencies who align with the Clearinghouse’s mission and/or the leaderships’ strategic priorities.
• Partners and works cooperatively with others across the Clearinghouse to achieve shared objectives.
• Leads the execution of the partnership strategy by working collaboratively across the organization in pursuit of defined corporate goals and objectives.
• Responsible for managing one direct report, (Partner Coordinator) and providing direction to a matrixed Account Management resource responsible for supporting the partner business.

Focusing on Performance:

• Advises leadership on critical changes in the competitive landscape, marketplace, and external business environment; drives organizational change by forging new working relationships both externally and internally, across the organization.

Optimizing Diverse Talent:

Workforce Management:

• Build a team-based environment that aligns with company values, ways of working, and competencies.
• Recruit and select the best talent to help optimize skills and experiences and motivate and manage staff to maximize productivity and efficiency.
• Develop and manage career development and advancement opportunities at the Clearinghouse through MAPS conversations, developing and reporting on performance and goals, and defining and monitoring training and development plans to ensure job and career satisfaction.
• Coach, mentor and ensure staff is adequately trained and provide guidance, as needed.
• Monitor performance including annual reviews, rewards, and compensation structure.
• Reward employees using formal and informal methods.

Position may be required to perform other duties as required.

These essential functions are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

What You Bring to the Table:

• Bachelor’s degree, or a combination of education and experience will also be considered, including military service.
• 8-10 years of business development and/or direct sales experience in the education industry.
• 5+ years of prior direct management experience.
• Prior experience working in the channel directly supporting/managing partner relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute a growth-oriented partner strategy.
• Demonstrated understanding of the K-20 education industry partner ecosystem, preferably in the area of Student Information Systems.
• Demonstrated knowledge in Clearinghouse services.
• Proven history of managing customer relationships and expectations in a high-performance environment.
• Demonstrated ability to:
  • Thrive in a fast-paced environment, including experience with conceptualizing and leading projects independently with minimal supervision.
  • Overcome barriers and obstacles to improve organizational outcomes.
  • Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite and other collaboration tools.
• Talented at the employee competencies:
  • Communicates Effectively: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and effective presentation skills. Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and confidently all levels of staff.
  • Collaborates: Proven track record of developing positive relationships at all levels with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Customer focus and Be Open and Authentic: positive and professional attitude with the demonstrated ability to adapt to a dynamic, fast paced industry and environment.
  • Optimizes Work Processes: demonstrated proficiency aligning the team/organization on goals and objectives.
• Must live within a commutable distance to Herndon, VA or in one of the Clearinghouse's approved States for hiring purposes. Refer to our HR Policies Page, located on our Careers site at https://www.studentclearinghouse.org/careers/human-resource-policies/, for more details.
• Must be at least 18 years old.

Additional Desired Requirements:

• Experience with Salesforce and/or Pardot.
• Familiarity with:
  • Marketing big data and/or data related services.
  • The problems, issues, and methods of education institutions and organizations.

Physical Demands:

• Use of a computer for 8 or more hours a day.
• Use of a copy machine and telephone.
• Frequently required to sit for 7 or more hours per day in close proximity to others in an open office environment.
• Occasionally required to use hands and fingers to operate, handle, and reach.
• Vision abilities include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.
• Travel via car, train, and airplane when needed (up to 25%).

Benefits and Related Information

The National Student Clearinghouse provides a robust benefit program designed to help meet the needs of each employee and their family, both now and in the future. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, as well as life and disability insurance benefits, for employees and their qualified dependents. Health care, dependent care, and limited purpose flexible spending accounts, as well as a health savings account, are options available for employees to set aside pre-taxed dollars for certain qualifying expenses. We offer a very generous 401k matching contribution program with the opportunity to defer pre-tax and Roth contributions, as well as catch-up contributions for those who are eligible! We are proud to offer a competitive paid leave program consisting of vacation, sick, and personal time, as well as paid holidays and up to 3 weeks of paid parental leave during a 12-month period. Vacation time will accrue based on length of service, and new full-time hires can accrue up to 13 days of vacation and up to 10 days of sick time per year. On an annual basis, new employees may use up to 32 hours of accrued sick time as personal time. Additionally, the Clearinghouse observes at least 11 paid holidays per year.

Another perk is that employees have the option to get reimbursed for basic wholesale company and roadside assistance memberships (e.g., Costco and AAA) and to request a buy back on portions of unused accrued vacation based on tenure and certain other qualifications. Employees can further their education and professional development by using our Employee Education Assistance Program, which establishes reimbursement for qualified education expenses upon successful completion of the program, and leveraging the enterprise-wide LinkedIn Learning subscription. There are additional employee benefits too, including but not limited to, mental health and wellness benefits. To find out more, please request a copy of our Benefits at a Glance!

Additionally, we reasonably believe that the salary range for this position is between $130,000 and $157,000.

The requisition will be open for a minimum of three days, and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Internal Candidates: If you feel that you qualify and meet the requirements of the job, we highly encourage you to apply and focus on preparing for the application process. Once the final candidates are selected, they can anticipate a review of the compensation prior to any offer made.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities: The National Student Clearinghouse is proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status (or known to have a spousal, family, business, social or other relationship or association with a protected veteran), sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, natural hairstyle, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Our management team is dedicated to this policy with respect to recruitment, hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, training, compensation, benefits, employee activities and general treatment during employment.

Pay Transparency Notice: The National Student Clearinghouse is a federal contractor that abides by all applicable equal opportunity laws and regulations. Under these laws, companies doing business with the federal government must provide applicants and employees with certain policies, including the following information. The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)