Director, Go-To Market - Public Sector

About the role

The Director, Go-to-Market - Public Sector leads commercial strategy and market development for Nelnet Diversified Services’ emerging product portfolio in the SLED (State, Local, and Education) market. This is a hands-on, high-intensity operator role - not an oversight function.

Responsibilities

• Develop and pressure-test ICPs, buyer personas, demand signals, and buying triggers in real market conditions.
• Run pricing and packaging experiments and validate revenue model assumptions through live customer engagements, not internal modeling alone.
• Assess market size, competitive landscape, procurement dynamics, and buyer readiness for each product in the portfolio.
• Identify commercial friction early - before scale investment occurs - and surface those findings to product and leadership with clear, evidence-based go/pivot/kill recommendations.
• Develop go-to-market recommendations, including target segments, channel strategy, pricing considerations, and sequencing of market entry.
• Evaluate whether and how Nelnet Diversified Services products can be positioned within existing SLED procurement vehicles (e.g., Sourcewell, NASPO ValuePoint, state contracts).
• Build and manage a pipeline of early adopters through direct outreach and customer conversations - determining who will buy, why they will buy, and how they will buy.
• Secure design partners, pilot participants, letters of intent, and early paid engagements - ensuring pilots involve real users and real commitment, not theoretical interest.
• Represent Nelnet Diversified Services at relevant industry events, association meetings, and government forums.
• Drive Google Cloud Marketplace strategy and Carahsoft private listings as a primary channel to compress SLED sales cycles - identifying which products are ready for listing, managing the listing process, and activating buyer access through Carahsoft and cooperative purchasing vehicles (Internet2, E+I).
• Partner with the product innovation team to translate market and customer feedback into product requirements and roadmap input.
• Collaborate with the SLED sales function (once in place) to hand off qualified opportunities and ensure consistent market messaging.
• Develop sales enablement materials including positioning frameworks, competitive overviews, and customer-facing narratives.

Requirements

Required: 7+ years of experience in go-to-market strategy, market development, or business development roles, with direct personal ownership of customer-facing commercial activities - not oversight of others doing them. Demonstrated experience selling or taking products to market in the SLED sector (State, Local, and/or Education).

• Established working history and active network within the Google Public Sector ecosystem, including direct experience engaging with Google’s public sector sales, partner, or field teams.
• Proven ability to sell and validate unfinished or early-stage products - comfortable owning conversations with skeptical buyers and translating field learnings into actionable commercial strategy.
• Experience running pricing and demand experiments in live market conditions; comfort operating with incomplete information and ambiguity.
• Experience working cross-functionally with product, sales, and executive stakeholders in a matrixed environment.

Qualifications

Preferred: Experience with public sector procurement mechanisms, including cooperative purchasing vehicles, RFP processes, and sole-source justifications. Background in EdTech, government technology, financial services, or adjacent B2B markets serving public institutions. Experience with early-stage or emerging product commercialization in an established enterprise, including founder-style or fractional GTM roles where ambiguity and rapid learning are the norm. Familiarity with grant management, accreditation, or financial aid technology markets. Experience with Google Cloud Marketplace, Carahsoft, and cooperative purchasing vehicles (Internet2, E+I, Sourcewell) as distribution channels - including private listings, marketplace listing management, and working with Carahsoft to activate public sector buyer access.

Skills

• Market and customer orientation - ability to build insight from the outside in, not inside out.
• Commercial instincts - knows what good looks like for a market opportunity and can make a confident go/no-go case.
• Relationship development - builds trust with government and education buyers over long procurement cycles.
• Strategic communication - distills complex market dynamics into clear recommendations for executive audiences.
• Cross-functional influence - drives alignment across product, sales, and BD without direct authority.
• Discipline and prioritization - manages multiple products and markets without losing focus on what matters most.
• Hunter sales mindset - strong commercial acumen with the drive to open doors, run sales conversations, and close early engagements personally.
• Rapid experimentation and fast-cycle learning - triangulates insights from real customer engagements quickly and adjusts approach without waiting for perfect information.
• Deep customer empathy and active listening - can hear what buyers are not saying and use that to sharpen product positioning and commercial strategy.

Benefits

• Base Annual Salary Range: $140,000 - $200,000, depending on experience.
• Stock Award of $150,000.00. 10-year vesting schedule (vested evenly 10% per year).
• Professional development and training opportunities.
• Opportunity to shape SLED go-to market strategy and influence solution packaging.
• Direct visibility and interaction with executive leadership.
• Fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment with significant growth potential.

What We Also Offer

• Medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA, generous earned time off, 401K/student loan repayment, life insurance & AD&D insurance, employee assistance program, employee stock purchase program, tuition reimbursement, performance-based incentive pay, short- and long-term disability, and a robust wellness program.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and a cover letter describing your experience developing early-stage markets, selling into public sector, and making go-to-market recommendations with supporting evidence.