Higher Education Community & Partnerships Manager

About the role

Figma is seeking a Higher Education Community & Partnerships Manager to own our institutional growth strategy across universities and bootcamps in the US and beyond. This is a new role with a real opportunity to build from the ground up.

Responsibilities

• Build and grow an educator community: Identify, engage, and cultivate a network of educators at top university and bootcamp programs who are bringing Figma into their classrooms and giving them the resources and recognition to go deeper.
• Drive curriculum integration: Identify high-impact courses and partner with educators on teaching resources, assignments, and course packs that make Figma the easiest tool to teach with.
• Partner with university technology centers: Work with campus tech centers to make sure every incoming student knows about Figma's free education program from day one.
• Cultivate institutional relationships: Build close ties with program deans, department chairs, and leadership at the world's leading design schools and HCI programs.
• Lay the foundation for institutional growth: Do early work that positions Figma to partner with universities at an institutional level and help define what that path looks like.
• Create compelling professor programming: Design and launch events, resources, and community activations that give professors genuine reasons to champion Figma in their courses and recommend it to colleagues.
• Partner with the broader Figma EDU team: Work closely across the team to make sure our institutional work and our student programs are pulling in the same direction.
• Measure success through data: Track adoption, engagement, and relationship depth across institutional partnerships to understand what's working and iterate accordingly.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in academic partnerships, faculty engagement, higher ed community programs, or institutional relationship management.
• Demonstrated success engaging and influencing university leadership — including deans, department chairs, and technology center directors — to drive institutional outcomes.
• Experience building programs or communities from scratch with limited resources and without a defined playbook.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to tailor messaging for academic and institutional audiences.
• A scrappy, entrepreneurial approach, comfortable operating in an ambiguous and resource-constrained environment.

Qualifications

• Experience as an educator or working directly within a university setting.
• Familiarity with design education, HCI programs, or creative disciplines.
• Experience working at a high-growth tech company or startup.
• Familiarity with sales or business development in an institutional or academic context.

Skills

• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Knowledge of higher education systems and institutions.
• Experience with digital tools and platforms.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation package including annual base salary range of $105,000—$221,000 USD.
• Additional benefits such as health, dental & vision insurance, retirement with company contribution, parental leave & reproductive or family planning support, mental health & wellness benefits, generous paid time off, company recharge days, a learning & development stipend, a work from home stipend, and cell phone reimbursement.
• Sales incentive pay for most sales roles and an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles.

Pay

The listed range is a guideline, and the range for this role may be modified. For roles that are available to be filled remotely, the pay range is localized according to employee work location by a factor of between 80% and 100% of range.

Schedule

This role can be held from one of our US hubs or remotely in the United States.