Senior Director, Research Partner Success
EAB

Job Info

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About EAB

At EAB , our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We harness the collective power of more than 1,900 schools, colleges, and universities to uncover and apply proven practices and transformative insights. And since complex problems require multifaceted solutions, we work with each school differently to apply these insights through a customized blend of research, technology, and services. From kindergarten to college and beyond, EAB partners with education leaders, practitioners, and staff to accelerate progress and drive results across three key areas: enrollment management, student success, and institutional operations and strategy.

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 community. 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

The Research Partner Success organization represents EAB's Research division with colleges and universities. The Senior Director will manage their own partner pool and a team of Strategic Leaders who are responsible for driving partner utilization, maximizing the value partners derive from their EAB portfolios, and driving renewal and growth rates within the assigned segments of the higher education market. Management terrains will include: Advancement, IT, and Professional & Adult Education partners.

This role will be part of the Research Partner Success and Research Advisory Services senior leadership team and will direct valued executive partner relationships, promote utilization and engagement, and work with the Commercial Renewal, Partner Engagement and Research teams to impact overall renewal rates and with the broader sales team to drive revenue growth. This role will report into the Managing Director of Research Advisory Services.

This role is based in Washington, D.C.

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 customers to make right decisions that 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?

Primary Responsibilities:

Build Relationships

• Support Strategic Leaders in developing and maintaining relationships with main points of contact including executive relationships and key influencers
• Create and drive campaigns with Strategic Leaders to identify and build relationships with end users that result in partner utilization, impact, and growth
• Manage partner escalations within Research terrains and situations that cross terrains (working across Research, Student Success, and Enrollment Services); lead turnaround strategies for high risk relationships
• Collaborate with colleagues across the research, renewal, sales, and other product teams to serve our partners in a coordinated, holistic manner

Develop Industry and Content Knowledge

• Develop a deep understanding of key industry issues and how EAB's Research helps partners set and execute their strategy in areas like student success, diversity equity inclusion & justice (DEIJ), and financial sustainability
• Understand EAB's research and point of view on key industry issues to be able to add value to every partner conversation
• Provide guidance and advice to partners based on EAB research best practices
• Develop deep knowledge of EAB Research programs and offerings in Advancement, IT, and Professional & Adult Education to provide direct partner support based on subject matter knowledge
• Develop and maintain general knowledge of broader EAB offerings (e.g., Technology and Enrollment Services products)
• Support Strategic Leaders in developing the voice of the market for EAB Research and other key internal stakeholders
• Play a lead role in communicating partner intelligence and trends back to other internal key stakeholders (e.g., Student Success, Enrollment Services, deal desk, legal)
• Share partner intelligence with key internal stakeholders to foster a more collaborative and connected service approach
• Help develop best practices/scripting/collateral for the larger Partner Success department to improve overall service delivery

Develop Deep Partner Knowledge

• Manage team against developing a knowledge of partner priorities
• Understand partner internal politics and key influencers
• Support Strategic Leaders in providing partners with a unique perspective on improving their business which could mean challenging partner assumptions

Strategic Partner Improvement & Optimization Planning

• Manage self and Strategic Leaders against partner success plans and impact milestones
• Manage self and Strategic Leaders against the following activities:
• Proactively drive partner utilization and consumption of services with the ultimate goal of achieving outcomes as identified in success plan
• Understand utilization data patterns and leverage this data to inform service strategy on an ongoing basis
• Manage inbound service request and turn into partner improvement opportunities
• Communicate key service offerings and deliverables in an organized and strategic manner
• Develop strategic pool management framework, leveraging data to do so, and execute consistently; leveraging key Research program offerings (i.e., national meetings, webinars, onsites, expert call facilitation)
• Develop and execute utilization campaigns with the Research Partner Engagement team
• Strategic oversight & execution of 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
• Develop and drive execution against department-wide utilization and value campaigns as needed

Commercial/Growth Mindset

• Leverage partner knowledge to identify best growth opportunities
• Pass leads and facilitate warm introductions of sales colleagues
• Collaborate with the renewal team to develop and execute save strategies for at risk partners
• Hit annual and semi-annual personal and team renewal targets

Report on your Business

• Partner with sales and renewal teams to provide key partner knowledge including partner health / value metrics, etc. Create personal case to goal on renewal and sales KPIs
• Participate in quarterly commercial reviews; includes service steps, revenue growth and renewals
• Identify and share market trends
• Utilize Gainsight partner success platform and maintain Salesforce data integrity

Leadership & Management

• Manage a team of Strategic Leaders, driving excellence in service and impact delivery
• Manage with excellence day to day operations for the team and focus on longer term career development for each partner of team
• Lead Partner Success team skill development and education initiatives to continue growing our talent at scale
• Lead and mentor staff and providing support for onsite visits and partner strategy
• Help coach and train staff to develop content expertise and presentation skills
• Partner with research product teams on the product roadmap and execution
• Maintain collaborative relationships with key leaders and stakeholders in other functional groups, including Syndicated Research, Marketing, Partner Development (i.e., Sales), and Account Management

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:

• Subject matter expertise in Advancement, IT, and/or Professional & Adult Education
• 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

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 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.

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