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: 50+ 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 transparency and ROI. We are seeking an analytical, thoughtful, and empathetic individual who thrives on maintaining high standards of excellence.

The Partner Success team at Rize drives growth by guiding partners toward our all-access subscription, helping them unlock the full potential of their academic programs. This role goes beyond maintaining partnerships—it’s about strategically collaborating with institutions to enhance the student experience and ensure their competitiveness in a higher education landscape by offering more career-focused programs with Rize.

As a Partner Success Lead, you’ll work closely with a select group of partners to address enrollment, retention, and financial challenges while identifying opportunities to expand partnerships through new programs and initiatives. While you won’t directly manage Partner Operations Leads or Enrollment Consultants, you’ll collaborate with and direct them to deliver intentional services and operational excellence that align with your portfolio’s needs. Together, you’ll ensure a seamless partner experience and drive measurable outcomes.

You'll report to our VP of Partner Success as a member of the Revenue team.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Account Management - Build and maintain trusted, high-impact relationships with executive stakeholders (Presidents, Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs, and Vice Presidents of Enrollment) and influential decision-makers (faculty, program directors, deans) by delivering tailored growth strategies that align institutional priorities with Rize’s offerings.

• Growth & Expansion - Own renewals, upsells, and strategic expansion, identifying new program pathways that drive enrollment growth, student retention, and long-term institutional success. Lead high-stakes negotiations and secure executive buy-in for expanding Rize’s impact across partner institutions.  

• Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement - Conduct data-driven performance reviews with partners, analyzing key enrollment, retention, and financial metrics. Translate insights into actionable strategies that enhance partner outcomes and uncover new opportunities for collaboration.

• Onboarding & Implementation - 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.

• Enrollment & Registration 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. 

Primary KPIs

• Executive Relationship Strength

• Net Revenue Retention

• Logo Retention 

• Program Upsells

• Partnership Health Score

Qualifications

We are looking for a highly skilled, results-driven professional with a proven track record of driving commercial success and leading complex sales processes. If you have experience in strategic sales, commercial account management, consulting, or customer/partner success, and this role interests you, we encourage you to apply! Our ideal candidate will have the following qualities:

• You have 7+ years of experience in strategic sales, account management, business development, consulting, or customer success, ideally in a complex or regulated environment.

• You are a closer, with a proven track record of leading sales processes, including contract renewals, upsells, and expansions, consistently exceeding revenue targets

• You are a dealmaker, skilled in negotiating and closing complex agreements, managing high-value, long-term partnerships with executive stakeholders

• You are an exceptional communicator, able to craft and deliver persuasive presentations and proposals that influence senior decision-makers

• You are data-driven, with experience using CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce) and sales enablement tools to track pipeline performance and optimize growth strategies

• You are obsessed with solving problems, and have a proven track record applying general frameworks to provide individualized solutions to a wide range of problems

• You take ownership and hold yourself to a high standard, always pushing to deliver results

• You thrive in autonomy, seeking opportunities for growth, responsibility, and impact

• You are low ego, humble, and eager to learn, excited to collaborate and grow alongside a high-performing team

• You are willing to travel for partner meetings 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: $165,000 - $215,000

• 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