| Location | Georgia, Georgia (Remote) |
| Job Type | Full-time |
Senior Director of Partnerships SESI
The Senior Director of Partnerships is a senior player-coach responsible for accelerating profitable growth across two large territories with approximately $20M in revenue responsibility. Reporting to the Vice President of Business Development, this role owns an individual portfolio of strategic opportunities and leads assigned Directors of Partnerships (DOPs) in delivering combined territory growth targets. The Senior Director leads the team to translates three-year state plans into disciplined execution, strengthens district relationships, and ensures qualified pipeline development, reliable forecasts, and close alignment with Sales Operations. Annual performance plans define individual and team targets, revenue measures, opportunity crediting, and leadership responsibilities.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Sales Leadership
Own delivery of assigned individual and combined territory growth targets. Set clear DOP priorities and expectations aligned to territory goals and SESI sales playbook, systems, and direct day-to-day sales execution across both territories.
Lead pipeline reviews and individual coaching; assess execution, deal quality, and results. Address performance gaps timely through documented actions and follow-through, with a primary focus to empower success across all DOPs.
Own a focused personal pipeline of strategic opportunities while developing DOP independence, judgment, and selling capability.
Support recruitment and selection; lead onboarding and ramp plans with measurable milestones for district engagement, qualified pipeline, and sales execution.
Territory Strategy and Growth Execution
Translate three-year state growth plans into annual targets, quarterly, monthly, and week-over-week actions for priority districts, in-district classroom (IDC) growth, existing-partner expansion, and qualified greenfield opportunities.
Allocate selling effort across territories based on market potential, buyer readiness, funding, timing, and operational capacity. Identify coverage gaps and recommend resource shifts as needed.
Build executive relationships with superintendents, district finance leaders, and special and alternative education decisionmakers. Use district needs and SESI performance evidence to develop a compelling business case for partnership.
Partner with Marketing and Operations on targeted outreach, conferences, and campaigns with defined follow-up, qualified opportunity goals, and measurable conversion.
Pipeline Growth and Development
Build current-year and future-year pipelines aligned to growth targets, using coverage expectations calibrated to conversion rates, sales cycles, SESI’s buyer commitment funnel, sales playbook, and anticipated program start dates.
Apply MEDDIC and SPIN qualification and SESI’s approved sales funnel consistently. Validate needs, measurable value, economic buyer access, decision criteria and process, a credible champion, funding, and competitive positioning.
Coach team members effectively at each stage of the funnel and require buyer evidence to support stage advancement. Maintain clear next steps, accountable owners, and dates for every active opportunity. Ensure the CRM has the needed data to drive the right week over week actions and provides for accurate forecasting.
Lead complex deal strategy and require late-stage mutual action plans with documented buyer commitments, procurement steps, contract milestones, and planned launch dates. Resolve stalled opportunities and pipeline gaps promptly.
Forecasting and Sales Governance
Own the consolidated territory forecast and timely, accurate Dynamics (CRM) records, working with Sales Operations and Enablement to maintain consistent Power BI reporting.
Validate opportunity stage, value, close date, start date, and supporting buyer evidence. Distinguish signed bookings, annualized contract value, and expected fiscal-year revenue using approved Finance definitions.
Surface slippage, funding uncertainty, and operational risks early. Present forecast changes, corrective actions, and recovery plans when expected results fall below target.
Operations Alignment and Commercial Execution
Support collaboration with SVPs, RVPs, and local operators to validate program design, staffing, facilities, capacity, launch timing, and financial assumptions before making district commitments.
Ensure DOPs coordinate proposals, pricing, and negotiations with Finance, Legal, and Operations within approved authority and margin expectations. Provide oversight for contracting milestones through SESI’s established Ironclad process.
Own commercial coordination through contract execution and a documented handoff of district commitments, scope, economics, and launch requirements. Operations owns implementation and service delivery; jointly monitor risks to planned starts.
Partner with Operations on renewal and retention risks and identify additional classrooms, services, and district expansion opportunities. Define account-level ownership and escalation responsibilities in joint account plans.
Leadership Projects and Strategic Initiatives
Lead quarterly territory reviews covering growth attainment, state-plan execution, pipeline sufficiency, forecast risk, DOP performance, and required leadership decisions.
Translate funding and legislative developments into qualified growth opportunities with verified buyer demand, funding pathways, and operational feasibility.
Lead cross-regional pilots or improvement projects as prioritized by the VP, with defined outcomes and capacity requirements aligned to core revenue and team responsibilities.
Measures of Success
Individual and combined territory attainment against approved new-business and expansion targets, with retention responsibilities defined where assigned.
Qualified pipeline coverage, buyer-supported stage advancement, conversion, opportunity aging, and slippage.
Forecast accuracy, timely risk disclosure, and complete, reliable CRM information.
DOP success and revenue target attainment, onboarding and ramp progress, and sustained growth and improvement against documented performance expectations.
State-plan execution, adherence to approved commercial terms, and complete handoffs supporting planned program launches.
Qualifications
Experience and Expertise
10+ years in education-focused sales or business development, including demonstrated leadership of sales professionals and personal ownership of complex opportunities.
Proven success growing comparable territories, exceeding revenue targets, winning complex K–12 district contracts, and developing high-performing sales talent.
Knowledge of K–12 service delivery, particularly special education, alternative education, and district partnership models.
Strategic Execution
Ability to turn state and territory strategies into prioritized actions, disciplined execution, and measurable growth.
Demonstrated proficiency in opportunity qualification, MEDDIC/SPIN, forecasting, and CRM governance; experience with Dynamics and Power BI preferred.
Strong commercial judgment in pricing, contract economics, negotiation, procurement, and translating contract timing into realistic revenue expectations.
Funding and Legislative Knowledge
Ability to assess education funding and policy developments and connect them to viable district opportunities in partnership with internal subject-matter experts.
Leadership and Collaboration
Proven ability to set expectations, coach effectively, address performance gaps, and build independent, accountable sales professionals.
Executive presence with district leaders and effective collaboration with Operations, Finance, Legal, Marketing, and Sales Operations and Enablement.
Proactive ownership, sound prioritization, and consistent follow-through across geographically dispersed territories.
Compensation
Competitive base salary and performance-based incentive compensation tied to clearly defined individual and combined territory results. The annual compensation plan establishes measures, weightings, opportunity crediting, and payout terms; leadership and execution expectations are documented in the annual performance plan.