Senior Director, Employer Partnerships

College Board – Global Policy and External Relations (GPER) 

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). 

Type: This is a full-time, permanent, salaried position 

About the Team 

The Global Policy and External Relations (GPER) team is responsible for developing and executing national and state partnerships and policy at the College Board. You will be joining a team focused on expanding College Board’s impact by building new partnerships and entering new markets. We work closely with our GPER colleagues, the executive leadership team, other business units, and external partners to identify opportunities and incubate solutions that improve educational opportunities and outcomes, particularly for low-income, first-generation, and students of color.   

About the Opportunity 

As the Senior Director of Employer Partnerships, you will be instrumental in contributing to strategic planning and execution of employer engagement and endorsements for the College Board’s new AP Career Kickstart courses. You will help millions of high school students access meaningful credentials through forging and maintaining strategic relationships with partners including national employers, state employers, and education-to-workforce stakeholders. Your efforts will support key initiatives such as AP/Career Kickstart Business Principles and Cyber I / II courses and credentialing, the SAT, and BigFuture. This role involves strategic planning, sales/business development, and internal cross-functional collaboration to drive the College Board's mission forward. 

In this role, you will: 

Conduct Strategic Research and Proposal Development (20%) 

• Conduct thorough research to understand the needs and priorities of potential employer partners and markets. 
• Craft compelling pitches, meeting materials, and proposals that highlight the mutual benefits of collaboration. 
• Work closely with various internal teams to ensure all necessary components are in place to execute career strategies and close deals. 

Build and Maintain Employer Relationships (65%) 

• Build, develop, and sustain connections with employers in sectors like Financial Services, Technology (Cyber), and Health Sciences as well as employers who see the clear benefit of their workforce coming in knowing foundational skills for in-demand industries.  
• Lead and facilitate productive meetings between the College Board and employer partners. 
• Negotiate terms and manage ongoing employer relationships to ensure mutual benefit and alignment with organizational goals. 
• Support outreach efforts by senior executives, including the CEO, to strengthen partnerships and expand the network. 

Internal Stakeholder and External Vendor Oversight (15%) 

• Provide guidance and support to internal stakeholders, fostering a collaborative and high-performing work environment.  
• Supervise a small team of consultants and vendors, ensuring their work aligns with the strategic goals and is done with a high level of excellence. 

About you, you have: 

• a proven track record of building and nurturing employer and industry partnerships, leveraging your deep understanding of education and workforce, to create mutually beneficial collaborations. 
• experience driving channel partner pipelines and leveraging Salesforce CRM to track success metrics.  
• a strong drive to succeed, with a strategic mindset that enables you to think critically and work effectively to achieve desired outcomes. 
• the ability to prioritize tasks, ensuring you manage responsibilities efficiently in fast-paced and dynamic environments. 
• outstanding written and verbal communication skills, allowing you to convey ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences. 
• a natural curiosity and a keen interest in solving problems, especially in ambiguous or complex situations. Your adaptability helps you navigate and thrive in uncertain contexts. 
• experience engaging with teams across various organizational verticals, each with different goals and priorities, fostering effective collaboration and alignment. 
• a knack for identifying opportunities for innovative solutions, whether working internally or with external partners, to advance organizational priorities and fulfill the mission. 
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time for business related events as well as to our NYC or Reston, VA office    
• You are authorized to work in the United States 

About Our Process   

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue unti