Director of Partnership Development

FLSA status:                          Full-time, exempt

Reporting structure:             Direct report to the CEO

Supervises:                           Future marketing and sales staff

Expected Starting Salary:    $103,784 – $115,460

Location:                                Remote (Western US) or Eugene or Portland, Oregon

Job Overview

The Director of Partnership Development is an important member of Inflexion’s senior management. You will be working closely with our CEO and other senior staff as you foster meaningful relationships with our school partner leaders. You will build the base of schools who are effectively using the Inflexion Approach to improve outcomes for ALL students. You will be responsible for directing the marketing, pre-sales and sales support activities that help make school leaders aware of what Inflexion does, facilitate their consideration and evaluation of our service offerings, and smooth their on-boarding and conversion to successful clients who can refer us onward to other school leaders.

Primary Responsibilities

Sales

The primary responsibility of the Director of Partnership Development is ensuring we maintain a predictable volume of profitable partner-based revenue, such that Inflexion can sustainably scale our impact on schools.

• Generate sales leads and close sales opportunities for the school partnerships portfolio of services and products.
• In collaboration with the CEO, play a key role in defining the sales and profitability revenue targets used to plan the business. Once established, ensure that both revenue and profit contribution targets are met.
• Manage the sales pipeline for school partnerships work. Report new leads and opportunities as they become apparent; report pre-sales progress as potential partners arrange funding and evaluate Inflexion as a service provider.
• Work with finance, operations and other School Partnerships staff within Inflexion to establish streamlined contractual terms with clients, thereby helping ensure that Inflexion can profitably fulfill our partnership responsibilities in ways that are responsive to our clients’ legal and fiscal realities.
• Identify, cultivate, and create long-term sales opportunities with new partners, in places and markets where Inflexion has not had a presence before. Create and achieve separate sales goals for renewal contracts and new partnership contracts as Inflexion expands its School Partnerships membership model.
• Sustain direct relationships with our school leader clients, especially as they consider and evaluate our service offerings, and on-board into our membership model. Develop processes for monitoring and periodically checking in with clients to ensure progress and satisfaction with our programs and services.
• Take a strategic view of the sales process. Identify roadblocks and bottlenecks in the processes by which we recruit, respond to questions, on-board and ensure on-going success with new partners and propose solutions for removing such obstacles.

Relationships in the Education Market

There is a tight network of key influencers and leaders in our education market. Most of our ability to sustain and scale as an organization depends on positive referrals and an impeccable reputation in the education network.

• As Director of Partnership Development, you will become the on-going face of Inflexion for many of our partners. It is essential that you proactively establish, maintain and continue to expand a network of positive personal and professional contacts in Inflexion’s markets.
• To remain a respected and trusted colleague in the field, you will be expected to remain abreast of the latest thinking and best practices in education through personal reading, attending conferences and seminars, etc.

Marketing

As Inflexion expands its base of school partners through our new membership model, it is essential that we maintain a high presence in the market, affording schools in our target markets an opportunity to become aware of our work. You will work with internal staff and external marketing consultant(s) to ensure that the organization develops and executes a forward-looking marketing game plan while continuing to evolve the plan based on market factors, changes to Inflexion’s offerings and school needs. 

• Identify and define marketing programs required to create awareness of Inflexion as an education partner, and work with finance to create budget requirements to enact such programs.
• If needed, define, budget, plan and oversee the execution of sales programs (events, open houses, training sessions, webcasts, etc.) intended to cost-effectively promote engagement with potential customers.
• Work with Inflexion personnel and external contractors to develop and maintain the tools necessary to grow our business with current and new clients. Identify and define sales tools necessary for our potential partners to consider and evaluate Inflexion for their needs.
• Directly participate (as an author, presenter, panelist, speaker, trainer, etc.) in programs that promote the Inflexion Approach for school transformation, and to establish your personal reputation as a respected representative of Inflexion in the field.

Participation in Product Development

While your primary role is representing Inflexion to our clients, you will often need to represent the “voice of the customer” to others within Inflexion charged with developing products, services, standards and policies to be used with our clients.

• Participate in regular School Partnerships’ product development meetings, providing an external, client-centric viewpoint on trade-off’s being considered in the following areas:
  • Standard and optional services proposed to be offered
  • Pricing relative to client budgets and alternative options they might consider
  • Schedule and priorities for development work
• Be prepared to substantiate opinions offered in the areas above with direct client inputs, statistics or competitive analysis as appropriate.
• As may occasionally be needed, conduct targeted client research to explore specific trade-offs or reactions to proposed ideas.

Quality of Service and Continuous Improvement

• You will continue to “own” the partner relationship from first contact through the term of our contracted work together and beyond. Though your primary role is not delivery of services, you may need to occasionally and selectively personally check in with school leader clients to ensure continuity and partner satisfaction.
• Otherwise remain proactively in touch with senior leaders at our partner schools and districts, to ensure satisfaction and quality control. Serve as an escalation path should there be a need to resolve issues.
• Be prepared to serve as a client ombudsman to resolve particular issues which may arise. Identify any patterns of dissatisfaction and escalate these to resolve problems in advance.
• Define and put into place pro-active means of collecting customer feedback, making it easy for clients to report even minor issues so they can be escalated and resolved before becoming major issues.

Strategic Planning

• Provide market feedback to company leadership regarding competitive offerings and prospect needs; and generate product and service improvement ideas to share with senior staff and other members of the Inflexion team.
• Develop and maintain a current understanding of the external factors, such as legislation; state budgets; federal, state and private grant opportunities; etc., that are affecting the ability and focus of our clients’ partnership needs and capabilities.
• Provide insight into partner needs and participate in the definition and development of new service/product offerings.
• Become conversant in all of Inflexion’s service offerings and capabilities and be able to recognize areas for new business opportunities outside of your primary School Partnerships focus area. Facilitate client introductions to other Inflexion teams and build Inflexion’s network of partners and clients.

Education, Experience, and Requirements

• Degree in a field of study relevant to the position and/or Inflexion’s mission.
• Experience in and deep knowledge of U.S. public education.
• Comfortable in a Mac environment using Apple products; quick study in learning new technologies and software applications.
• Committed to advancing equity and inclusion.
• Familiarity with or experience in the public education system is a plus.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Ability and willingness to travel on business trips.

About Inflexion

Inflexion is a not-for-profit organization that helps educators better prepare students for life. Our mission is to make education work for all students. We give districts and schools a new way to look at themselves—with all their complexity and culture—to find ways to create a learning community with the best systems and supports to ensure all students graduate ready for college, career, and life.

Our Maxims

Everyone is a Learner. Create space and remove barriers so every person can discover and use their strengths.

Diverse Voices are Needed. Listen to, trust, and amplify the voices of those excluded from decision making so an equitable future is possible.

Collective strengths transform our world. Nurture and support communities so our combined efforts can be transformative.

What We Offer

Inflexion wages are based on a nonprofit market-based compensation scale, with the annual starting salary for this exempt position ranging from $103,784 to $115,460. Inflexion offers a highly competitive benefits package currently including medical, dental, vision, life, 403(b) retirement plan that incorporates base and matching employer contributions, 457(b) top-hat program for director level positions and above, pretax medical flexible-spending, dependent care, pretax transportation, 15 hours vacation per month, and 10 paid holidays per year.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please use this link: https://inflexion.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0qe3b?cjb_hash=O_vhTi73&apply_now=true . As part of the application process, you will asked to submit a cover letter and résumé. To be considered, please ensure that, at a minimum, your cover letter describes the education and detailed experience related to each category in the Primary Responsibilities section of the position description.

Inflexion is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

Inflexion provides equal opportunity for all qualified persons and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected status. This policy applies to recruitment, placement, promotion, training, transfer, retention, rate of pay, and all other details and conditions of employment. Grievances should be brought to the Chief Executive Officer or Inflexion Board of Directors.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background investigation,
including criminal history and identity verification.