Executive Director, School Partnerships
Job Summary
Kaplan is a global educational services provider dedicated to helping students achieve their academic and career goals. The Executive Director, School Partnerships will drive revenue growth and account sustainability within named strategic accounts and a defined geographic territory.
Key Responsibilities
Drive net-new business and revenue growth by selling enterprise solutions directly to strategic accounts and within a defined geographic territory.
Build/maintain relationships and pilot partnerships with independent and private secondary schools within the territory, developing a working knowledge of their distinct procurement processes, governance structures, and student outcome priorities — informing future go-to-market strategy in this emerging and cross-over segment.
Lead and execute comprehensive retention and expansion strategies for existing high-value strategic accounts to maximize long-term contractual value and partner loyalty + success.
Team Leadership & Coaching: Serve as a functional lead and mentor, providing guidance, strategy support, and skill development to develop other members of the partner sales team.
Implementation Model Design: Document, formalize, and optimize client implementation models to create structured, repeatable deployment blueprints that ensure reliable student and institutional outcomes.
Pipeline & Forecast Management: Maintain a high-visibility pipeline utilizing CRM/Salesforce best practices, providing accurate monthly and quarterly sales forecasts to senior executive leadership.
Collaboration: Partner closely with multiple cross-functional internal teams, product, security, privacy, and operations teams to align Kaplan’s capabilities with the unique, complex requirements of strategic K12 partners.
Elevate Thought Leadership: Collaborate with product marketing to host webinars, execute conference playbook, and contribute to white papers and blog content that helps to pull the market and generate new leads.
Minimum Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree required, Masters degree in Business Administration or Education Leadership; Advanced degree or equivalent leadership experience preferred.
Experience: 8 years sales/leadership experience. Proven track record in enterprise sales, consulting, or educational sales management. Strong experience in a "player-coach" or functional leadership capacity is highly desirable. Experience navigating complex sales cycles within the K12 space or educational institutions (including independent schools and CMO’s) is a significant plus.
AI Forward: Embrace AI tools with fluency as part of your workflows that support efficiency and impact.
Sales Acumen: Exceptional ability to manage high-value sales pipelines, negotiate multi-year institutional contracts, and successfully drive both net-new acquisitions and account expansions.
Communication & Relationship Building: Strong interpersonal, presentation, and public speaking skills, with the ability to communicate professionally and build deep trust with school district leadership and C-suite executives.
Strategic & Operational Skills: Outstanding ability to analyze territory data, formalize operational implementation frameworks, and map educational solutions to institutional needs.
Technical Proficiency: Skilled in modern CRM platforms (Salesforce) and collaborative tools (Google Workspace, including Docs, Sheets, and Drive).
Company Benefits
Remote work provides a flexible work/life balance.
Comprehensive Retirement Package automatically enrolled in The Company Contribution Plan (8-10% annual company contribution based on tenure).
Gift of Knowledge Program provides tuition assistance and substantial discounts for our employees and close family members.
Comprehensive health benefits new hire eligibility starts on day 1 of employment.
Generous Paid Time Off includes paid holidays, vacation, personal, sick paid time-off, plus one (1) volunteer day and one (1) diversity and inclusion day to participate and give back to our local communities.
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal opportunity employer and comply with all applicable federal and state wage laws.
Additional Locations
Location: Remote/Nationwide, USA
Kaplan Grad Diversity & Inclusion Statement
Kaplan is committed to cultivating an inclusive workplace that values diversity, promotes equity, and integrates inclusivity into all aspects of our operations. We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, nationality, or sex. We believe that diversity strengthens our organization, fuels innovation, and improves our ability to serve our students, customers, and communities.