Director of Partnerships - Digital Learning - UTK at University of Tennessee System in Knoxville, TN

Job description

Reporting to the Executive Director, Head of Outreach, Engagement & Partnerships, the Director of Partnerships provides leadership and oversight of the partnership function within the Digital Learning unit. The Director leads, plans, and directs the development of strategic partnerships with industry and education partners that build enrollment pipelines to the university's fully online degree programs, and establishes the processes and infrastructure that allow the program to launch, scale, and sustain. As the founding hire for this function, the Director owns the full partnership lifecycle, serves as Digital Learning's primary point of contact for partners, advises unit leadership on matters within their area of expertise, and analyzes courses of action to make independent decisions on complex operational issues within scope. This is a builder’s role suited to someone who is equally comfortable in an external, consultative business-development conversation with an HR or talent-development leader and in the internal work of standing up a program from the ground up, including defining workflows, configuring CRM, drafting agreements, and establishing the metrics by which the program is evaluated. The Director operates with a high degree of autonomy, carries enrollment goals, and serves as Digital Learning’s primary point of contact for employer partnerships. Partnership Development • Develop and execute an outreach strategy to identify, prospect, and secure new corporate, government, nonprofit, and organizational partners whose workforce development needs align with the university's online degree offerings. • Cultivate and maintain relationships with leadership and staff at current and prospective partner institutions, including community colleges and other education partners. • Serve as the lead in partnership conversations with organizational decision-makers; translate the university's value proposition into terms that map to an employer's recruitment, retention, and upskilling goals. • Qualify organizational prospects against defined criteria, manage a multi-stage pipeline, and move opportunities from first contact through signed agreement. • Negotiate and structure partnership agreements, ensuring terms are compliant and sustainable. • Monitor market and competitor trends and share intelligence with leadership to inform new, emerging, and enhanced partnership opportunities. Relationship & Account Management • Serve as the primary relationship owner and the consistent face of Digital Learning for a portfolio of active partners through the life of each partnership, ensuring partner satisfaction, regular engagement, and renewal. • Coordinate partner onboarding, including verification of employee eligibility, co-branded communications, and the partner-facing materials needed to activate each agreement. • Serve as Digital Learning's onsite and virtual representative for partners; organize and deliver onsite and virtual recruiting and information sessions and attend partner-hosted events when requested. • Maintain current and thorough knowledge of Vols Online degree programs, transfer credit policies, and the scholarship and financial aid options most relevant to partner audiences. • Coordinate with the recruitment team on prospective student leads generated through partner activity. • Conduct periodic business reviews with partners, reporting on enrollment, student success outcomes, and value delivered. Data, Reporting & Process Build-Out • Define and own the program's key performance indicators. • Build and maintain reporting that tracks pipeline health and program performance, and present results and recommendations to senior leadership on a regular cadence. • Routinely evaluate the ROI of partnership and recruitment efforts and use the data to refine strategy, recommend whether to initiate, expand, restructure, or sunset partnerships, and adjust the tier model over time. • Design and document the end-to-end operational proce