Rize Education Overview

• Mission: fundamentally transform higher education and provide every student with an enjoyable and riskless pathway to a fulfilling career

• Initial Problem: colleges desperately need to increase enrollment & improve outcomes, but can’t afford the upfront investment & costs for new degree programs

• Solution: high-quality, flexible degree programs that dramatically reduce cost and risk. By allowing colleges to add new online courses taught by other institutions, Rize provides non-profit, accredited colleges & universities with the fastest and most affordable way to add skills-based majors & minors for college credit

• Funding: raised Series B in 2024 from Thrive, Founders Fund, Flume, Strada, and other investors to pursue significant growth and product improvements. Projected to be profitable by Fall 2026 with no need for additional funding

• Team: 55+ person team that includes college athletes, educators, Jeopardy! participants, Ivy Leaguers, and hustlers who paid their own way through community college, all with the shared goal of improving education for current and future generations

The Role

Rize supports over 500 academic programs across approximately 100 colleges, helping them find innovative ways to boost enrollment and enhance student outcomes. We have built an incredible team, all working toward our primary goal: creating the educational product that will transform the college experience by increasing student transparency and ROI. We are seeking an analytical, thoughtful, and empathetic individual who thrives on maintaining a high standard of excellence.

The higher education industry is undergoing profound transformation putting college leaders under immense pressure from their board and the marketplace to do more with less: control costs while growing net tuition revenue, preserve tradition while modernizing academic offerings, maintain independence while find new ways to collaborate. There’s really only one solution here, and it’s Rize.

As a Partner Strategy Lead, you will work closely with these institutional leaders to help them navigate these headwinds and build the College of the Future. Serving as a trusted advisor to valuable partner colleges, you will help them set bold visions for their future, unlock meaningful ROI from their partnership with Rize, and lead them through their most critical transformation efforts. When done right, your work will help colleges stay competitive, achieve financial stability, and, most importantly, improve student outcomes and change lives. 

This is the most senior role on our Partner Success team. You’ll report directly to our VP of Partner Success and will receive support from a Partner Success Lead and an Enrollment Consultant to help execute your strategic vision. With your strategic direction at the helm, your client team will ensure a seamless partner experience and drive measurable, portfolio-wide outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Partnership Development - Cultivate a strategic partnership ecosystem by developing and maintaining high-impact, collaborative relationships with executive leaders (Presidents, Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs, CFOs, Vice Presidents of Enrollment, etc.) and influential academic stakeholders (faculty, program directors, deans). 

• Strategic Vision Collaboration - Serve as a trusted advisor to each partner by collaboratively developing and refining a long-term strategic vision that integrates Rize’s offerings into their institutional priorities. While you’ll drive renewals, upsells, and expansion opportunities, your primary focus is to ensure that growing with Rize is the clearest path to addressing their most critical challenges — from delivering academic programs more efficiently to enhancing career readiness and adapting to shifting student preferences. 

• Institutional Performance Analysis - Conduct data-driven performance reviews with partners, analyzing enrollment, retention, and financial metrics and trends. Translate those insights back into actionable strategies that enhance partner outcomes and uncover new opportunities for collaboration.

• Implementation Oversight - Lead the seamless onboarding of new partners, collaborating cross-functionally with New Business and Enrollment teams to ensure a smooth transition from contract signing to program activation. Establish clear expectations and accelerate time-to-value for institutional stakeholders.

• Market-Aligned Enrollment Strategy - Partner with internal Enrollment subject matter experts to develop and execute recruitment and retention strategies, ensuring measurable growth in student registrations and overall program engagement. Apply market intelligence and internal data to refine strategic direction.

Primary KPIs

• Executive Relationship Strength

• Net Revenue Retention

• Logo Retention 

• Program Upsells

• Partnership Health Score

Qualifications

We are looking for a strategic advisor with strong business acumen, executive presence, and a passion for solving complex problems. If you have experience in management consulting, business strategy, or strategic partnerships, and you are energized to move beyond advising to actually building, executing, and driving measurable growth, this role is for you! You’ll have the unique opportunity to shape the future of an entire industry while balancing high-level strategic thinking with hands-on ownership of partner success and operational outcomes. Our ideal candidate will have the following qualities:

• 8+ years of professional experience, including a background in management consulting, business strategy, strategic partnerships, or executive account management — ideally with ~3+ years of post-MBA consulting experience or ~6+ years of post-undergrad consulting experience.

• A track record of advising executive leaders with the ability to earn trust quickly and shape strategic direction

• Strong commercial instincts and comfort owning revenue targets, including renewals, upsells, and partnership expansion with a consultative, value-driven approach to sales

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to craft compelling business cases, influence stakeholders, and lead data-informed strategic conversations

• Analytical fluency, including experience using CRM and performance data to identify trends, unlock insights, and translate metrics into partner value

• A history of driving outcomes in ambiguous, fast-paced environments by taking initiative, managing complexity, and delivering results

• A collaborative and humble mindset, excited to learn, contribute, and grow with a high-performing, mission-aligned team

• Willingness to travel to partner campuses and conferences when strategic opportunities arise

We are a remotely friendly company with most of our NYC-based team working from our office space in Flatiron 3+ days a week!

Compensation

Compensation will vary with experience, but a rough range will be:

• On-Target Earnings: $200,000 - $240,000

• Equity: 2,000 - 4,000 shares

Press and Publications

The Higher Education Model is Broken. Together We Can Fix It.

Expert View: Sharing courses could help small private colleges survive

What To Do About The High Costs Of Higher Education: One Model Of School Collaboration