Senior Manager, Enterprise Partnerships - Institution Strategy & Ventures

Job Description

The Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships will accelerate WGU’s mission by cultivating and managing high-impact partnerships that expand our reach, enhance innovation, and generate new pathways for learners and employers.

Primary Responsibilities

• Build proactive plans for co-development, joint initiatives, and first-of-its-kind collaborations for products, technologies, or market-shaping programs that advance enterprise priorities and deliver measurable impact.

• Cook up and coordinate across internal stakeholders—academic and business unit leaders, WGU Labs, Enterprise Tech, Marketing, Legal, and Operations—to ensure alignment, risk management, and delivery readiness.

• Negotiate effective partnership structures that maintain WGU’s mission integrity, financial stewardship, and brand strength.

Partner Success & Portfolio Management

• Oversee progress and performance across all partnership initiatives—from concept to launch to operational scale.

• Ensure both partners and WGU meet milestones and achieve intended outcomes, measuring jointly defined success metrics.

• Identify opportunities to deepen relationships or, where impact and alignment diminish, responsibly sunset partnerships.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary bridge between internal teams and partner organizations, translating vision into execution.

• Lead cross-functional workstreams (e.g., tech validations, research collaborations, go-to-market pilots, joint marketing activities) that deliver measurable value.

• Promote knowledge sharing and playbooks for partnership management across SVG and the broader WGU system.

Measurement & Reporting

• Establish partnership success metrics and dashboards to assess reach, impact, and return on investment (ROI).

• Leverage insights to refine partnership strategy, report outcomes to senior leadership and the Board, and contribute to the annual enterprise strategy review.

External Engagement & Representation

• Represent WGU at major industry events, conferences, and consortia related to education, workforce, and technology innovation.

• Position WGU as a trusted collaborator and thought leader in the talent economy ecosystem.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and mentor a small, high-performing team fostering collaboration, curiosity, and excellence.

• Model cross-functional leadership, influence without authority, and build capacity for partnership management across the SVG function.

Qualifications

• Solid understanding of workforce trends, and the interplay between education, technology, and labor markets.

• Familiarity and experience working solution providers in the talent economy: education and learning, workforce management, GenAI.

• Strategic thinker with the ability to see connections across entities and initiatives and translate them into actionable partnership.

• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, capable of engaging diverse audiences—from executives to external stakeholders.

• Strong negotiation, contract structuring, and project management skills.

• Highly data-driven, organized, and comfortable working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.

• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.

• Skilled in coaching and empowering team members to take ownership of partnership initiatives, manage complex workstreams, and deliver measurable results.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree

Experience

• 7+ years of professional experience in strategic partnerships, corporate development, product management, or innovation strategy.
• 3+ years leading a team, either in a direct management role or complex cross-functional project lead role.
• Proven experience managing complex cross-sector relationships and delivering measurable results through multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• Experience negotiating and executing multi-party agreements (MOUs, joint initiatives, or sponsored research partnerships).
• Demonstrated success in building and managing partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, venture-backed startups, or innovation labs.
• Experience translating organizational goals into partnership strategies that deliver measurable outcomes (funding, pilots, co-development projects, etc.).
• Familiarity with innovative philanthropic funds including corporate venture capital, startup accelerators, and research commercialization.
• Experience working in or alongside academic institutions or mission-driven organizations, understanding how to bridge public and private sector objectives.

Additional Requirements

• Experience in lieu of education equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.
• Strategic partnership experience in higher education, edtech, workforce development, corporate learning, or mission-driven sectors.