Vice President, Partnerships & Enrollment

Job Title: Vice President, Partnerships & Enrollment

Type: Full-time

Location: Flexible within the U.S.

Start Date: Summer 2023

Summary

Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay) is an accredited not-for-profit institution of higher education serving thousands of educators from across the country, from pre-service teachers to system-level leaders. Our mission is to ensure that all students are taught by excellent educators, in order to build a more just world where every student has a clear path to a fulfilling life.

The Vice President, Partnerships & Enrollment leads efforts to grow and sustain Relay’s reach in scale and impact across all programs, from certification- and degree-granting teacher preparation programs to professional learning programs for all educators. The Vice President, Partnerships & Enrollment will set and meet annual enrollment and revenue targets ($40M in the current fiscal year) through a combination of partnerships with state education agencies, PK-12 schools and districts, and other supporting organizations. Strong in strategy-setting and team management, along with robust experience in securing and growing school-based partnerships, this leader will coordinate both cross-functionally and within their team to connect Relay offerings with educators across the country in a scalable way.

This role presents a unique opportunity to establish a new centralized function within the institution, setting a clear vision for all aspects of the partner lifecycle at Relay. Further, the Vice President will play a leadership role in influencing the institution’s footprint and offerings, ensuring that Relay’s programs best meet the evolving needs of educators across the country. The Vice President, Partnerships & Enrollment directly manages teams responsible for partner development and success and admissions and enrollment. This role reports to the Chief Strategy Officer, who sets the overall vision and direction across all revenue streams, inclusive of partnerships, public funding and private philanthropy, as well as inter-team collaboration that supports the institution as a whole.

Responsibilities

Team Management (30%)

• Develop clear, consistent communications to key internal colleagues to build a shared understanding of the team’s roles and work.
• Boost the team’s effectiveness by ensuring that they have the skills and mindsets needed for success.
• Set the vision and direction for the partnerships team by leveraging the institutional strategic plan and historical data, through a deep understanding of Relay’s program offerings and impact.
• Ensure that each sub-team and leader has clear goals, decision rights, and collaboration structures to do their best work every day. Key sub-teams include: partnerships focused on teacher preparation, partnerships focused on professional education, admissions and enrollment, and strategic growth.
• Serve as team budget manager, ensuring that resources are maximized across sub-teams and kept within budget.
• Lead annual and multi-year workforce planning for the teams that align with institutional revenue goals and cross-team priorities.

Revenue & Enrollment Strategy (25%)

• Design and implement an approach to deliberately cross-sell Relay’s certification and degree-granting programs with professional learning programs to external partners.
• Develop annual and multi-year revenue and enrollment strategy across programs and locations, leveraging historical data and Relay’s strategic goals and sustainability targets.
• Lead a team to meet or exceed targets by managing the multi-year strategic planning processes that respond to specific market needs and opportunities.
• Collaborate with public and private fundraising teams to strategically maximize enrollment and pursue new initiatives, reviewing and advising on potential grant opportunities to inform what to pursue and which external partners to engage.

Partnerships (25%)

• Lead team to employ CRM and admissions systems (Slate) in an effective and consistent manner to maximize value and accurately track team progress to goals.
• Champion and inform efforts to design and implement a customer relationship management system (CRM) by serving as business lead and ensuring that sufficient institutional resources and capacity are invested in the initiative.
• Set and implement the vision for scalable, data-informed best practices to support partner cultivation and retention.
• Cultivate and nurture external PK-12 and state relationships to grow long-term external partnerships and reach partner and revenue goals, particularly in new locations.
• Develop and implement a partner scorecard and/or partner review process, synthesizing key data such as enrollment, experience & satisfaction data, program effectiveness, and financials: a) to codify which partnerships are most successful and why; b) to establish guardrails around what partnerships to pursue, continue, or pause; and c) to share findings with program teams to identify together which programs to start, stop, or continue.

Admissions & Enrollment (15%)

• In close collaboration with the Managing Director, Admissions & Enrollment oversee efforts to codify and scale efficient admissions and prospective students practices to successfully convert candidate interest to enrollment.
• Ensure strong collaboration with the academic compliance team to support policies that align with state-specific regulations for admissions and student affairs teams, as well as AmeriCorps team, to streamline applicant experiences with financial aid, AmeriCorps, etc.
• Set vision for annual and multi-year admissions and enrollment planning and collaborate with Managing Director, Enrollment & Admissions to develop clear benchmarks and work plans that align with other key institutional processes (e.g., goal-setting and budgeting).
• Guide systematic policy reviews to ensure that admissions policies and practices are up-to-date, equitable, and aligned with institutional enrollment goals, historical data, industry-wide trends, and state-specific academic compliance requirements.

Institutional Leadership (5%)

• Integrate Relay’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism into the team’s culture and external partnerships, collaborating across internal teams to construct tools and frameworks to establish a consistent set of DEIA expectations for partners and ways of engaging externally on DEIA-related topics.
• Identify opportunities to collaborate most effectively across program teams, regulatory and accreditation, technology, external affairs, marketing and communications, and others to drive impact.
• Maintain a pulse on the external landscape and market needs, together with the partner relations team, through biannual partner interviews and reviews of partner survey data to inform current and future program offerings.
• Represent Relay programming at national conferences and other events to amplify Relay’s brand and build external relationships (approximately once per quarter).

Qualifications

First and foremost, the Vice President must share the Relay community’s commitment to working together to improve student growth and achievement through phenomenal educator preparation and development grounded in diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Additionally, for this position we’re looking for candidates that possess a combination of the following skills:

• Ability to travel ~20% of the time for conferences, in-person meetings with key partners or prospective partners, and Relay Senior Leadership convenings
• Knowledge of various relevant business models and experience with fee-for-service models highly preferred
• Experience collaborating across teams and functions to develop new or innovative programs
• At least eight years of professional experience, preferably in higher education, PK-12 education, and sales
• Ability to work efficiently within an entrepreneurial environment
• Experience developing partnerships with school districts, state education agencies, and other key stakeholders in the PK-12 education landscape
• Adaptability and experience successfully leading large scale change efforts in complex systems
• Innovative thinker who can identify a third way when faced with constraints
• Deep experience leading teams and setting strategy that drives earned revenue on a large scale in higher education or nonprofit organizations specifically
• A demonstrated passion for educational equity
• Seasoned leader and manager with ability to track results and satisfaction of team through layers
• Exceptional communication skills, with strong ability to build investment and to manage conflict across internal teams and functions and with a wide variety of partners and other external stakeholders

Relay prepares teachers and school leaders to teach students of all identities and backgrounds in order to push toward a time when this country no longer faces stark educational inequities. We recruit, develop, support, and retain a diverse staff, faculty, and graduate student body because we are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and actively anti-racist institution. We know, and the data supports, that diversity, equity, and inclusion cultivate an environment in which people of all backgrounds can thrive and this is critical to achieving our mission of educational excellence and equity.

To fulfill that commitment, Relay encourages applicants of all backgrounds and identities to apply for roles that align with their own interests and career trajectory. If you meet a majority of the qualifications and see yourself in this role, we would love to see your application!

Compensation

Relay is committed to creating and maintaining a compensation and benefits system that supports our ability to recruit and retain a diverse and talented team. As we make decisions about compensation, we will be guided by the following values: clarity, consistency, and internal equity. The salary range for this role is $152,896 - $206,409. New hires will be offered a salary at the starting point of the range to allow for an equitable starting salary process and continual salary growth during an employee’s time at Relay GSE.

To ensure internal pay equity:

• Relay does not negotiate salary offers.
• Relay does not currently differentiate starting salary offers based on years of experience,
• All staff salaries will be capped at the salary range maximum, and

Relay offers a comprehensive total rewards package. For full-time roles, this includes health insurance benefits, disability and life insurance, retirement plan, professional development, gym reimbursement, adoption assistance, paid time off (PTO), parental leave, etc. To learn more about Relay’s benefits, please visit here.

WORK LOCATION POLICY

Employees must have a primary work location within the U.S., where they are legally authorized to work. Relay is a registered employer in the following states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington State and Washington DC. Please note that Relay Graduate School of Education's headquarters are in New York City. Employees who choose to perform work from states not listed here will be subject to NYC state withholdings.

COVID-19 VACCINATION POLICY

Relay requires that all staff be fully vaccinated with an FDA or WHO authorized vaccine (or approved for an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or sincerely held religious belief). Relay abides by each state’s requirements, and acknowledges those may change over time. If moved forward to the phone screen stage, you will have the chance to ask your recruiter more about this requirement

Relay Graduate School of Education provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.