Offer summary

Qualifications:

5+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or strategic alliances., Experience in a product-driven organization, preferably in technology, SaaS, or digital content industries., Strong negotiation and relationship management skills with a proven track record in scaling partnerships., Excellent communication skills and an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive in a fast-paced environment..

Key responsabilities:

Lead the identification, development, and management of strategic partnerships to enhance the product ecosystem.

Evaluate ongoing partnership health and ensure mutual goals are met through customer feedback.

Own the partnership pipeline and execute business development opportunities, both inbound and outbound.

Collaborate cross-functionally to align partnership initiatives with company strategy and support product development.

Job description

Company Overview:

uConnect is on a mission to help more people realize their potential by improving access to career services for all people - early in their lives and throughout their careers. Focused on the traditional higher education market, uConnect's All-In-One Virtual Career Center is used by a wide range of institutions including UCLA, MIT, and Baton Rouge Community College to radically improve utilization of career services, career readiness and student outcomes. We're a mission-driven team working in a fun and collaborative culture which puts people first. uConnect is backed by leading technology investors including Growth Street Partners, Strada Education and LearnLaunch.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a results-driven Partnerships Manager to lead the identification, development, and management of strategic partnerships that enhance our product ecosystem. The Partnerships Manager will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive partnership strategy that supports the company’s product strategy. This role will focus on driving strategic partnerships to enhance product development, strengthening existing product modules, sourcing and managing best-in-class content partnerships, and handling inbound business development requests. This role requires a proactive, entrepreneurial approach to sourcing and curating high-quality content providers, managing partnership opportunities, and supporting ongoing product development. The ideal candidate will possess a strong ability to navigate complex negotiations, build lasting relationships, and align partnership strategies with business objectives.

What a Typical Day Will Look Like:

Standing meetings:daily Eng standups, Product team meeting, Manager 1:1, Partnership and GTM teams, etc.

Ad hoc meetings: work with cross-functional teams like product marketing, marketing, sales, CS, leadership

Identify, evaluate, and onboard high-value content providers to enhance various products, ensuring breadth, depth and freshness of content

Evaluate ongoing partnership health through contracted metrics and goals, incorporating customer feedback to ensure mutual goals are met

Own the outbound and inbound partnership pipeline and execute business development opportunities

Strengthen relationships with existing partners and, where applicable, introduce and institute strategic contractual elements that drive mutual value

Support product development team in discovery through thought-leadership partnerships, where applicable

Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure alignment between partnership initiatives and company strategy

30-60-90 Day Plan:

First 30 Days: Complete 2 week onboarding plan. Become an expert in the product and competitive space, as well as understanding our customer and customer needs. Understand historical product launches, recent launches, and what is in development. Build an understanding of the current partnership landscape and partners in the pipeline.

Next 30 Days (31-60): Start to own partnership work, including supporting partner-based product modules and support. Become well versed in the current partnership strategy, and begin to develop key areas of the future partnership strategy.

Final 30 Days (61-90): Fully own existing partnerships and important data feeds for product. Present partnerships strategy to support product growth, in concert with CPO and existing PM, inclusive of the following:

Ways to expand the network of high-quality content partnerships while deepening relationships with existing partners, ensuring high retention and satisfaction

Structured process for evaluating and prioritizing inbound partnership opportunities and for existing partners

Drive key strategic alliances that contribute to product innovation and revenue growth

Build internal best practices and documentation to scale partnership efforts effectively

Requirements:

5+ years of experience in partnerships, business development, or strategic alliances

Experience working in a product-driven organization, preferably within technology, SaaS, or digital content industries - edtech experience a plus

Strong negotiation and relationship management skills

Ability to evaluate and execute complex partnership deals

Proven track record of developing and scaling partnerships that drive revenue and product innovation

Experience negotiating and instituting partnership agreements that drive revenue, contracting minimums, operational execution of agreements

Excellent communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally

Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment