Academic Partner Success Manager

At InStride, people are our purpose. 

We believe that investing in people is the most powerful way to drive success—for individuals and organizations alike. 

As a public benefit corporation, we partner with leading employers to unlock opportunities for their employees, providing access to top-tier education programs that align with their employees’ career goals and the company’s business goals. 

Our mission goes beyond skill-building; we're here to empower our partners’ employees to advance their careers, elevate their expertise, and achieve meaningful personal and professional growth.

No matter the team you’re on, our dedication to the success of our partners and their employees is what drives us. If you're passionate about making a difference and driving educational and professional advancement, InStride is the place for you. 

To get a better feel for our culture, watch more here.

Candidates must be located in one of the following states to be considered eligible for employment: AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, MI, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, TX, VA, WA, WI. 

What we're looking for:

InStride is currently seeking a highly motivated and energetic client Success Manager to join our Academic Partnerships team. With guidance from the VP, Academic Network, but with significant autonomy, this individual will be responsible for maintaining academic partner account management strategy, overseeing partner touchpoints with InStride, delivering on annual targets and retention objectives, and qualifying expansion opportunities for academic partner institutions.

Skills we’d love to see you show off:

Relevant Experience: Bring 4+ years of experience in ed tech customer success, enrollment management, sales, or consulting, applying your expertise to enhance our partnerships and drive success.

Operational Efficiency: Identify opportunities to enhance workflows and processes, driving improvements that increase productivity and streamline operations.

Growth-Oriented Thinking: Embrace a mindset of continuous improvement, seeking new ways to innovate and refine processes that deliver better results.

Higher Education Expertise: Apply knowledge of the higher education landscape (e.g., financial aid, enrollment, student success) to support academic partners. (Experience in this area is a plus but not required.)

Clear Communication: Present data and complex information effectively to both internal and external audiences, ensuring alignment and understanding.

Strategic Attention to Detail: Manage multiple priorities while maintaining a focus on accuracy and aligning your work with broader organizational goals.

Problem Solving in Dynamic Environments: Tackle challenges with a proactive and adaptable approach, thriving in fast-paced, ever-changing contexts.

Building Relationships: Establish and nurture strong partnerships with universities, corporate clients, and internal teams, ensuring effective collaboration and communication across all stakeholders.

Travel & Flexibility: Open to traveling up to 30% to maintain and grow academic partnerships while staying flexible in the face of changing needs.

Purpose-Driven: Motivated by a mission to create social impact through education, combining business success with meaningful contributions to society.

Who you are:

• You excel in collaborative environments, where diverse perspectives drive creative problem-solving and innovation.
• You have a growth mindset, always looking for opportunities to learn, improve, and adapt in dynamic environments.
• You bring a proactive and adaptable mindset, ready to tackle challenges with resourcefulness and positivity.
• You’re committed to building strong relationships and contributing to a high-performing, supportive team.
• You thrive in dynamic, fast-paced settings, embracing change and ambiguity with ease.
• You have a knack for finding solutions, with a practical and results-driven approach.
• You’re motivated by meaningful work and seek opportunities where your contributions have a lasting impact.

How you will create impact:

• Academic Partner Consultant: Serve as a trusted consultant for our academic partners, collaborating with internal teams and external stakeholders to drive enrollments and deliver value.
• Data Management & Reporting: Lead the management of data integrity and program maintenance for your academic partnerships, ensuring accurate and timely reporting.
• University Implementations: Oversee new university implementations in partnership with the Implementations team, troubleshooting any challenges along the way.
• Relationship Building: Build and maintain strong relationships through regular meetings, data presentations, and strategic discussions with both university and corporate partners.
• Performance Monitoring: Monitor and report performance metrics, leveraging insights to improve academic partnership strategies.
• Product Collaboration: Collaborate with the Product team to manage highly detailed, time-sensitive program integrations and data exchanges within the InStride platform.
• Cross-Functional Teamwork: Foster collaboration across Learner Success, Marketing, Engineering, and Product teams to drive success for your portfolio of academic partners.

We are looking for someone who is not only technically skilled, but also enthusiastic about making a meaningful impact. If this description resonates with you, we're excited about the possibility of having you on our team. As a skills-driven employer, we encourage you to apply if there is a skill-fit, even in the absence of years of experience.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At InStride we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role, but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this role!

Benefits @ InStride 

As an organization that champions investing in people, it’s critical we walk the talk. That’s why InStride employees are eligible to enroll in 2,800+ online certificate and degree programs through our Step Forward program. Unlike traditional tuition reimbursement programs, InStride covers your tuition upfront, regardless of your course of study, degree type, or school - eligible to employees starting Day 1. 

This role is also eligible for the following benefits:

• 401(k) plan with company match 
• Flexible vacation policy
• Paid family leave
• Best-in-class health care benefits
• And more!

InStride Diversity and Inclusion Statement

At InStride, we foster a culture of belonging, we support authenticity and intersectionality, and we embrace and appreciate our differences. We do this by building a diverse pipeline of talent and ensuring equitable access to opportunities, information and leadership. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. 

If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let your recruiter know. 

Policies & Disclosure 

InStride recommends employees have their COVID vaccinations. InStride may require employees to have COVID vaccination before entering the office or attending any InStride-related even in the future. However, we do not require this at this time.

 For questions on how we use personal information of job applicants, please refer to InStride's Job Applicant Privacy Policy.

Beware of recruiting scams. InStride does not require a financial transaction or any financial account information to be eligible for employment. If you receive a message purporting to be from InStride asking you for a financial transaction, your financial account information, or any other sensitive information, please do not respond and let us know immediately at recruiting@instride.com.

About InStride

InStride is a tech-enabled services company that is pioneering new approaches to workforce education solutions with a mission of driving meaningful social and business outcomes by unlocking access to life-changing education. In collaboration with quality academic institutions, we enable employers to provide career-aligned, debt-free education through a personalized, digital platform and a consultative service model. To learn more, visit: https://www.instride.com/