Team Manager, Sales (Career Ready Workforce Programming)

Team Manager, Career Ready Workforce Programming

(Market aligned with Senior Manager / Director roles in Higher Education Partnerships and Workforce Learning)

At Pearson, we believe learning should open doors at every stage of life. As industries evolve and skills shift, institutions are looking for new ways to connect education to real workforce outcomes. Pearson’s Career Ready portfolio is focused on helping colleges and universities deliver workforce-aligned learning programs that support adult learners, career advancement, and employer needs.

We are building a new business focused on workforce programming distributed through higher education partners, including continuing education, professional education, and workforce development channels. This role will help bring that vision to market.

What You Will Do

This role is both strategic and hands-on. You will help launch and scale a new workforce learning portfolio by building partnerships with higher education institutions and shaping the commercial approach for this emerging business.

You will:

• Lead the go-to-market strategy for Pearson’s Career Ready workforce programming with colleges and universities
• Build relationships with leaders across continuing education, workforce development, and professional education
• Source and close new institutional partnerships, helping secure the first wave of partner institutions
• Work closely with product, marketing, and strategy teams to shape how the offering is positioned and sold
• Translate feedback from universities into insights that improve product-market fit, packaging, and messaging
• Establish a repeatable sales motion including target segmentation, pipeline development, and account strategy
• Help define how this business will scale, including the future commercial model and team structure

You will also play a key role in representing Pearson externally as a trusted partner in workforce-oriented higher education innovation.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means helping turn a promising concept into a scalable business.

You will be successful if you:

• Secure early partnerships with institutions that validate the model
• Build a strong pipeline of universities aligned to workforce programming growth
• Develop a clear and repeatable commercial approach for institutional partnerships
• Provide insights that shape product direction, pricing, and positioning
• Help Pearson establish credibility as a partner in workforce-aligned higher education programs

This role requires someone who is comfortable building something new, operating in ambiguity, and balancing strategic thinking with direct sales execution.

What Will Challenge You

This is an incubation-stage business inside a large organization.

That means you will need to:

• Build structure where it does not yet exist
• Navigate complex higher education buying processes
• Sell a new offering while helping shape the product itself
• Balance long-term strategy with near-term commercial results
• Work across multiple internal teams to bring the offering to market

If you enjoy building new markets, forming strategic partnerships, and turning early ideas into scalable growth, this role offers a rare opportunity to do exactly that.

What You Need to Be Successful

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in sales, partnerships, or business development within higher education, workforce education, or adjacent markets
• Experience selling solutions to colleges, universities, or postsecondary institutions
• Strong understanding of continuing education, professional education, or workforce development ecosystems
• Demonstrated ability to navigate complex institutional decision processes
• Experience launching or scaling a new product, business line, or commercial channel
• Strong commercial judgment and ability to translate market feedback into strategy
• Ability to work cross-functionally with product, marketing, and operational teams

Who Thrives in This Role

You are likely someone who:

• Enjoys building new initiatives rather than inheriting mature ones
• Is comfortable combining strategy and direct selling
• Can influence stakeholders both inside Pearson and within partner institutions
• Brings curiosity about how education and workforce needs are evolving
• Takes ownership and moves quickly in ambiguous environments

Compensation at Pearson is influenced by factors including skill set, experience, and loc