At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,500 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across five major areas: enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data & analytics, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other—that's why we are always working to make sure our employees love their jobs and are invested in their communities. See how we've been recognized for this dedication to our employees by checking out our recent awards.

For more information, visit our Careers page.

The Role in Brief:

Senior Director, Research Partner Success, Small Public & Private Comprehensives

The Research Partner Success organization represents EAB’s Research division with colleges and universities. The Senior Director is the partner-facing leader for roughly 75 accounts, personally owning the most high-profile and high-risk accounts and partner interactions and managing a team of Strategic Leaders who support the Senior Director in serving the broader territory. This role is responsible for maximizing the value partners derive from their EAB portfolios, to achieve retention targets, within regional public and private university segments.

This role will direct partner executive relationships, promote utilization and engagement aligned with institutional priorities, and work with the Commercial Renewal, Sales, Partner Engagement and Research teams to impact overall retention targets to drive revenue growth.

This position may be based in Washington, DC; Richmond, VA; or remotely within the continental United States.

Who We Want

Do you want to make a difference in higher education?
Do you build great customer relationships that inspire loyalty and drive growth?
Do you advise and challenge customers to make right decisions, and hold them accountable to help them achieve strategic goals?
Do you have a passion for delivering amazing customer experiences?
Are you a persuasive leader with a knack for teaching and explaining concepts?
Are you a problem solver with a gift for finding solutions that meet customer needs?
Are you a team leader who likes to develop and coach staff?
Do you have a business mindset and develop and implement strategies to drive outcomes?

Primary Responsibilities:

Build & Manage Relationships

Develop deep relationships with key partner executives, specifically the President and other senior level executive sponsors across the territory and become as a trusted advisor
Prioritize executive transition management and executive onboarding across the territory to maintain partnership momentum and optimize transition to benefit the partnership, service, and growth outcomes; proactive and assertive in onboarding of new executives
Leverage in-person activities to further relationships and partner outcomes, prioritizing cabinet convenings, workshops/partner intensives
Collaborate with colleagues across the research, renewal, sales, and other product teams to serve our partners in a coordinated, holistic manner
Create and drive campaigns across territory and in partnership with Strategic Leaders, that result in partner relationships & access, partner utilization, impact, and growth
Manage partner escalations within the team’s territory as well as situations that cross EAB products (working across Research, Student Success, and Enrollment Services); lead turnaround strategies for high-risk partner relationships, playing the pan-EAB lead role as needed

Develop Industry, Partner, and Content Knowledge

Develop a deep understanding of key industry issues and how EAB helps partners set and execute strategy in areas like student success and experience, enrollment growth, DEIJ, talent strategy, dynamic strategy, campus assets, and financial sustainability.
Understand & communicate EAB’s research point of view on key industry issues to be able to add value to every partner conversation
Understand partner challenges, assess progress, identify decisions, timelines, and key decision makers to drive accountability and impact
Understand partner internal politics and key influencers – buyers, influencers, detractors, etc, and use to further service strategies and drive service and commercial outcomes
Communicate partner intelligence and market trends back to other internal key stakeholders to inform product development and positioning and to foster a more collaborative and connected service approach
Develop and maintain general knowledge of broader EAB offerings (e.g., Technology and E360 products)

Strategic Partner Improvement & Optimization Planning

Manage self and Strategic Leaders against prescriptive delivery, partner utilization, success plan progress, informed service strategy, partner onboarding, annual partnership reviews, and more
Conduct semi-annual territory planning for self and team to identify the service “power map” based on institutional priorities and workstreams with EAB Research
Consistently communicate the value narrative of Strategic Advisory Services in all partner interactions, taking the opportunity to re-sell & re-educate; provide partners with a unique perspective on improving their business including challenging partner assumptions
Proactively drive partner utilization and consumption of services through prescriptive recommendations, with the ultimate goal of achieving outcomes as identified in success plans
Hold partners accountable to success plans, ensuring progress is made and identifying and addressing risk when off track
Develop strategic pool management framework by leveraging data
Strategic oversight & execution of partner onboarding process starting with sales hand-off; conduct welcome calls and new partner orientation to ensure partnership adoption; report on and inflect first year partner health on an ongoing basis
Manage partner contact turnover, onboarding new contacts and ensuring continuity in service and partner impact
Develop best practices, scripting, & collateral to improve overall service delivery for self, team and the larger department

Commercial/Growth Management

“Sell” our services to drive adoption and embeddedness aligned to partner priorities
Leverage partner knowledge to identify best growth opportunities
Pass leads and facilitate warm introductions of sales colleagues
Regularly diagnose risk in partnerships, using consistent and transparent diagnosis tools and partner health reporting & segmentation; escalate potential risk to renewal colleagues and leadership
Collaborate with the renewal team to develop and execute save strategies for at risk partner
Hit annual and semi-annual personal and team renewal targets

Report on your Business

Participate in monthly business reviews; to share market feedback, identify trends or themes across the partner pool and includes discussion of service and commercial KPIs.
Utilize existing reports and data to identify risks or opportunities for inflection; develop and implement strategies to address opportunities
Maintain Salesforce data integrity
Maintain partner health segmentation and reporting

Leadership & Management

Manage a team of Strategic Leaders, driving excellence in service and impact delivery to achieve revenue targets including coaching key skills of relationship management, content expertise, and presentation
Lead staff to support critical intervention moments in a partnership : 1/annual partnership reviews, 2/in-person visits 3/ partnership onboarding 4/ Executive transitions/onboarding 5/ SL transitions 6/ Interactions with President and other key executives based on institutional priority workstreams
Support Strategic Leaders in developing the appropriate value narrative for Strategic Advisory Services and the product offerings
Partner with research product, advisory services, and partner engagement teams on the product roadmap, services, engagement opportunities and execution
Manage with excellence day to day operations for the team and focus on longer term career development for each member of the team

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited College/University
Proven record of professional success
Ability to communicate effectively with senior executives, both spoken and written
Willingness to travel up to 20%
Valid Driver’s License
Demonstrated knowledge of higher education subject matter
Proven experience managing staff
Must possess a minimum of 8-10 years of professional experience encompassing at least three of the following:
- Team management experience
- Consulting or service delivery experience
- MBA or other relevant master’s or doctorate degree
- Experience presenting to senior executives
- Leadership experience
- Commercial experience
- Client or account management experience

Ideal Qualifications:

Analytical thinking skills and ability to manage processes, projects, and operations
Strong demonstrated listening skills
Experience building relationships internally and externally, and ability to collaborate effectively and manage multiple clients
Proven ability to deliver results, meet goals and deadlines, and hold accountability for business outcomes
Proven experience managing multiple, competing priorities to deliver strategic impact
Experience finding multiple solutions to complex problems and ability to comfortably manage complexity
Ability to successfully overcome challenges or obstacles
Strong presentation and facilitation skills
Ability to lead change and advocate for partners and staff
Experience developing personal organization tactics to meet business goals

If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome diversity of background and experience. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.

Benefits:

Consistent with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource, EAB offers a competitive and inclusive benefits package.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance; dependents and domestic partners eligible
401(k) retirement plan with company match
20+ days of PTO annually, in addition to paid firm holidays
Daytime leave policy for community service or fitness activities (up to 10 hours a month each)
Paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents
Phase Back to Work program for employees returning from parental leave
Infertility treatment coverage and adoption or surrogacy assistance
Wellness programs including gym discounts and incentives to promote healthy living
Dynamic growth opportunities with merit-based promotion philosophy
Benefits kick in day one, see the full details here.

At EAB, we believe that to fulfill our mission to “make education smarter and our communities stronger” we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and are committed to fostering a workplace where each team member is valued, respected and heard.

To that end, EAB is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. We don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law.

Thanks for checking out the Senior Director, Research Partner Success opening.

Senior Strategic Leader, Enroll360

Director, Higher Ed Research Advisory Services, Generalist

Counselor Engagement Specialist

Counselor Engagement Senior Specialist

Consultant – Student Success, Senior Associate

Senior Director, Research Partner Success

Senior Strategic Leader, Enroll360

Director, Higher Ed Research Advisory Services, Generalist

Counselor Engagement Specialist

Counselor Engagement Senior Specialist

Consultant – Student Success, Senior Associate

Thanks for checking out the Senior Director, Research Partner Success opening.

Senior Strategic Leader, Enroll360

Director, Higher Ed Research Advisory Services, Generalist

Counselor Engagement Specialist

Counselor Engagement Senior Specialist

Consultant – Student Success, Senior Associate