Sr. Partnership Manager

We believe that investing in people is the most powerful way to drive success—for individuals and organizations alike. 

As a public benefit corporation, we partner with leading employers to unlock opportunities for their employees, providing access to top-tier education programs that align with their employees’ career goals and the company’s business goals. 

Our mission goes beyond skill-building; we're here to empower our partners’ employees to advance their careers, elevate their expertise, and achieve meaningful personal and professional growth.

No matter the team you’re on, our dedication to the success of our partners and their employees is what drives us. If you're passionate about making a difference and driving educational and professional advancement, InStride is the place for you. 

To get a better feel for our culture, watch more here.

Candidates must be located in one of the following states to be considered eligible for employment: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI.

InStride is currently seeking a highly motivated and driven Sr. Partnership Manager responsible for managing strategic tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment providers (TA/TR/Loan). The Sr. Partnership Manager will develop partner growth strategy, deliver on annual targets and retention objectives, , develop, execute, and improve operational workflows, and support x-functional advocacy while managing risk.

Successful candidates will achieve results through building trust and mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with their partners and working closely with cross-functional teams across InStride and our clients. We seek candidates who bring an eye for high-level business strategy, along with the ability to get into operational details.  The successful candidate will have account management experience, along with a proven track record of execution with operational excellence and achieving business results through partnerships. This position reports to the VP of Operations.

• Client relationship management: Exceptional ability to build trust and foster long-term partnerships through reliable follow-through and effective communication.
• Strategic Thinking: Able to anticipate clients’ workforce and operational needs and to develop strategies and tactics that leverage InStride’s full capability to meet those needs.
• Communication: Skilled at delivering clear, compelling presentations and conveying complex information persuasively to diverse audiences.
• Analytical Skills: Proficient in analyzing data to uncover trends, solve problems, and make informed, data-driven decisions that drive measurable outcomes.
• Operational Excellence: Demonstrated ability to build, execute, and optimize processes, systems, and tools for enhanced efficiency.

• 5+ years of B2B consulting, customer success, account management or business analyst experience; OR Master’s degree AND four (4) years of B2B consulting, customer success, management consulting, marketing, or business analyst experience.
• Demonstrated experience leading and growing customer relationships across a diverse set of organizations, including the Enterprise.
• You bring a customer-first mentality, with a focus on building and nurturing strong, lasting relationships both internally and externally.
• Able to work with all levels of individuals within an organization, up to C-suite leaders, with proven experience supporting high profile clients and executives
• You demonstrate excellent independent judgment, carefully evaluating options and making decisions in the best interest of the company and its partners.
• A creative problem-solver, you excel at envisioning and articulating solutions to complex and evolving customer challenges while identifying opportunities for improvement.
• You possess outstanding interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, consistently maintaining a professional demeanor.
• Committed to achieving results, you combine a bias for speed and action with high analytic accuracy and attention to detail.
• You are flexible and willing to travel as needed (up to 10%)

Partnership Management & Growth: 

• Help identify opportunities for program expansion where it makes sense.
• Track, analyze and communicate key success metrics to develop and execute against goals internally and with our partners. 
• Understand key operational elements of program design to ensure successful program execution, growth, and expansion.
• Serve as the primary point of contact and account owner for a portfolio of partners related to TA/TR/Loan. 
• Support contracting, launch and development of partners who are delivery and channel partners related to Tuition Reimbursement and loan.

Learner & Client Experience & Success: 

• Develop deep subject matter expertise on the end-to-end TA/TR/Loan experience of our learners and clients, identifying potential barriers, challenges and opportunities. 
• Collaborate cross-functionally to meet our business objectives and effectively coordinate with internal teams including Marketing, Product, Academic Partnerships, Sales, Solutions, and Support. 
• Collect and synthesize significant feedback to advise on decision-making and product strategy.

Strategic and X-Functional Support: 

• Provide partners, clients and internal stakeholders with valued partnership and thought leadership. 
• Be a trusted consultant at the executive level and beyond, ensuring your partners stay up to date on the latest product features, standard methodologies, and key initiatives.
• Partner with the Solutions team to scope new client engagements and serve as the partner TA/TR/Loan subject matter expert.
• Partner with Product on partner and learner experience and related features owned by Product.
• Partner Client Success Managers related to clients who utilize partner services.
• Partner with Implementation on the on-boarding of new partners and their transition of services.

Operational Excellence & Enablement: 

• Establish and lead a cadence of ongoing syncs with partners, and drive regular business reviews with leadership to evaluate success and align on upcoming opportunities. 
• Support internal teams on escalations (as needed) by applying your subject matter expertise to problem solve, and coordinating with the partner.
• Build, execute, and optimize operational processes, systems, and tools that allow our programs to run smoothly.
• Drive improved partner outcomes by understanding the learner and client Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey results, gathering additionalTR feedback related to TR/TA/Loan. 
• Create and maintain up-to-date central documentation and SOPs that enable teams to operate and scale programs. 
• Build presentation materials for various internal and external meetings.

We are looking for someone who is not only technically skilled, but also enthusiastic about making a meaningful impact. If this description resonates with you, we're excited about the possibility of having you on our team. As a skills-driven employer, we encourage you to apply if there is a skill-fit, even in the absence of years of experience.