Director of Partnership Development & Higher Education Strategy

The Director of Partnership Development & Higher Education Strategy supports Project Kitty Hawk (PKH) in extending the benefits of public higher education to all North Carolinians. This position is a business development leader who combines genuine fluency in public higher education with the discipline to close deals. The ideal candidate can engage senior university and UNC System Office leadership as a credible thought partner on institutional strategy, while also managing a disciplined pipeline from prospecting through close. This position works extensively and directly with the UNC System Office, translating system-wide priorities into individual campus partnerships, and has experience nurturing university and System relationships into formal, revenue-generating partnerships that drive university and company growth. The role requires background experience in:

• Higher education leadership to facilitate strategic and productive engagements at all levels of PKH’s current and prospective partner institutions, including senior university leadership.
• Continuous improvement in university practice and process, including admissions, enrollment management, and student success.
• Direct, sustained engagement with the UNC System Office, serving as a primary point of contact who translates system-wide priorities into individual campus partnerships and business opportunities.
• Ability to distill key lessons from work with individual universities to inform University System policy, practice, and procurement.
• Business development discipline—prospecting, pipeline management, and deal-closing—to convert relationships into signed partnerships, not just goodwill.
• Internal project and process management to strengthen relationships through transparent and replicable university engagements.

This position requires strong self-motivation, a team-oriented mindset, and the ability to pivot quickly and decisively in a fast-paced environment.

What you'll do:

Partnership Development (Business Development)

Build and manage a pipeline of prospective UNC System and national university partners, from initial prospecting through close.

Lead solution-scoping conversations with university leadership, translating institutional challenges (enrollment, retention, student success) into partnership opportunities.

Support development of scope documents and foundational partnership contracts, including drafting agreements and facilitating final delivery.

Lead transition phases from prospect to client, collaborating closely with Partnership Success to ensure seamless onboarding and integration.

Drive cross-functional collaboration with marketing, admissions, student services, and partnership success teams to identify new solutions that respond to the pressing needs of the UNC System and the state.

Conduct market viability assessments using UNC System and national datasets to build a deep knowledge of potential partners’ vision, programs, and objectives.

FASTER Initiative Coordination: The FASTER Initiative is a partnership with the UNC System to support System campuses in their efforts to enhance the student journey, from initial impression all the way to graduation. This role will:

• Execute the day-to-day operations of the FASTER initiative.
• Utilize project and process management skills to ensure transparent and repeatable delivery of consulting services, specifically the development of the project plans, interview schedules, and final deliverable preparation.
• Measure and report on the progress of initiative-specific milestones and the overall health of campus partnerships.

Shaping PKH and UNC System Strategy

• Develop mechanisms to synthesize lessons learned from FASTER initiative, partnership success, and student operations to inform UNC System President and System Office staff on opportunities for System-wide improvement. 
• With support from PKH colleagues, position PKH and its partners as a “test bed” for innovative practices, including facilitating implementation and evaluation of innovative practices and synthesizing results for university and System-level leaders. 
• By tapping networks across university partners and the System Office, examine gaps and pain points in university- and System-level practice and identify opportunities for PKH to address those gaps and pain points. 
• Identify, explore, and pitch leadership on new opportunities for PKH to grow its revenue and impact

What you bring:

 
• Bachelor’s degree required; experience in partner and account management or business development.
• 5+ years of experience in higher education, public policy, nonprofit management, or consulting
• Proven track record of consultative or solution-based selling, ideally within higher education or edtech
• Direct experience in university consulting, advising institutional leadership on enrollment, student success, or operational improvement
• Experience managing and growing a partnership or sales pipeline
• Excellent communication skills and can communicate, present, and influence credibly and effectively at all levels of an organization, including executive and C-level.
• Natural relationship builder with integrity, reliability, and maturity.
• Driven to care for the partnership and its stakeholders, ensuring their needs are met and finding opportunities to make each partnership successful.
• Knowledge of public higher education, adult learners, and online delivery.
• Have a knack for navigating change and a willingness to think creatively to solve a problem.
• Effectively manage ambiguity.
• Understand (or know how to discover) what the partnership’s stakeholders care about and how to support their goals, strategic plans, values, and mission.
• Demonstrated ability to work constructively with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to work independently within a complex environment, to drive recommendations to stakeholders and to juggle multiple initiatives at once.