Manager of Strategic Partnerships

Manager of Strategic Partnerships Position Overview The Manager of Strategic Partnerships serves as a frontline ambassador for Edverum, developing relationships with prospective institutional partners and guiding opportunities from initial engagement through partnership development and transition to implementation. This position sits at the intersection of strategic partnerships, educational technology, and consultative business development . The Manager of Strategic Partnerships represents Edverum at conferences, trade shows, industry events, demonstrations, institutional meetings, and other external engagements; develops prospective institutional relationships; conducts discovery to understand organizational needs and challenges; communicates the capabilities and value of the Edverum platform; and helps prospective partners determine how Edverum may support their institutional objectives. This is not a traditional transactional software sales position. Success requires the ability to build credibility with academic, administrative, executive, operational, and technology stakeholders; ask thoughtful questions; understand institutional environments and workflows; and translate identified needs into relevant technology solutions. The successful candidate will combine strong commercial instincts with a consultative approach, technical curiosity, product knowledge, and the ability to develop trusted institutional relationships. As partnerships transition into implementation, technical onboarding and implementation teams will assume primary responsibility for deployment and technical execution. The Manager of Strategic Partnerships will facilitate a structured handoff while remaining engaged as a relationship liaison to preserve continuity, context, and partner confidence. Essential Functions Strategic Partnership Development • Identify, develop, and cultivate prospective institutional partners within higher education and related education markets. • Build relationships with executives, academic leaders, administrators, technology teams, operational stakeholders, and other key decision-makers. • Proactively develop new relationships through conferences, industry events, referrals, inbound opportunities, professional networks, and other appropriate channels. • Conduct timely and consistent follow-up with prospective partners to develop relationships and advance qualified opportunities. • Develop trusted relationships through knowledgeable, responsive, consultative, and solutions-oriented engagement. • Support the development of strategic relationships with industry associations, professional organizations, and other entities that may expand Edverum's market presence and partnership opportunities. Product Representation and Industry Engagement • Serve as a highly visible frontline ambassador for Edverum at conferences, trade shows, expos, professional associations, institutional meetings, and other industry events. • Represent Edverum professionally and confidently with academic leaders, executives, administrators, technology professionals, and other stakeholders. • Conduct and coordinate product presentations and demonstrations tailored to prospective partners' needs, priorities, workflows, and use cases. • Clearly communicate Edverum's capabilities, differentiators, applications, and value proposition to technical and non-technical audiences. • Develop sufficient product expertise to conduct meaningful conversations, respond to questions, identify potential solutions, and recognize when additional technical or subject-matter expertise should be engaged. • Maintain awareness of emerging trends, technologies, challenges, and opportunities within higher education and educational technology. Consultative Business Development • Guide qualified opportunities from initial engagement through discovery, demonstration, proposal, decision, and close using a consultative and relationship-driven approach. • Conduct discovery conversations to understand institutional goals, operational challenges, workflows, use cases, technology environments, timelines, decision-making processes, and implementation considerations. • Identify and document prospective partner requirements, desired capabilities, integrations, workflows, priorities, and potential barriers to adoption. • Translate institutional challenges and objectives into relevant Edverum applications and potential solutions. • Coordinate with internal stakeholders to develop appropriate demonstrations, proposals, presentations, solutions, and partnership approaches. • Maintain proactive communication and appropriate follow-up throughout the decision-making process. • Support partnership discussions and negotiations in collaboration with organizational leadership. • Maintain accurate CRM records reflecting prospective partner activity, key stakeholders, opportunity status, commitments, next steps, and relevant relationship intelligence. • Maintain appropriate visibility into partnership pipeline activity and anticipated opportunities to support organizational planning. • Contribute to partnership growth objectives while maintaining a strong focus on institutional fit, partner value, and long-term relationship potential. Partner Transition and Relationship Continuity • Facilitate a structured transition from partnership development to Edverum's technical onboarding and implementation teams. • Ensure internal teams receive clear and complete information regarding institutional objectives, stakeholders, requirements, workflows, expectations, commitments, timelines, and implementation considerations. • Participate in transition, kickoff, and other partner meetings as appropriate to support continuity between partnership development and implementation. • Remain engaged as a relationship liaison during onboarding and implementation while technical teams assume primary responsibility for technical execution. • Help maintain continuity of communication and expe