Managing Director, Research Partner Success

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other-that's why we are always working to make sure our employees love their jobs and are invested in their communities. See how we've been recognized for this dedication to our employees by checking out our recent awards.

For more information, visit our Careers page.

The Role in Brief:

Managing Director, Research Partner Success, Advancement

The Managing Director (MD) of Research Partner Success leads EAB's Advancement Advisory Services (AAS) partner success team, a $6M business, overseeing approximately 30 accounts directly and managing two Strategic Leaders across the larger AAS pool. The MD fosters partner executive relationships and serves as a subject matter expert, ensuring high-impact delivery of advancement content and strategic alignment. This role will collaborate closely with stakeholders across EAB's Research division and advancement colleagues in the Marketing and Enrollment Solutions division, to navigate emerging market competition, address partner retention risk, and identify and execute strategies for inflection of Comprehensive Research Partners (CRPs) by deploying advancement strategies aimed at accessing and engaging with Presidents and Boards.

This position may be based in Washington, DC; Richmond, VA; or remotely within the continental United States.

Primary Responsibilities:

Advancement Expertise and Advisory Services

• Deploy a deep and evolving understanding of key industry issues and communicate EAB points of view to help partners set and execute advancement strategy
• Serve as a lead advisor and content expert on advancement topics, delivering content to Presidents, Cabinets, and Boards
• Leverage EAB insights, tools, and data to bring clarity and context to partner challenges, driving decision making and implementation of best practices aligned to institutional priorities
• Share partner and market intelligence across EAB Research & Marketing & Enrollment Solutions to foster a unified service approach, inform research and product development, and identify opportunities for convenings around critical partner challenges
• Support Strategic Leaders in providing partners with a unique perspective on improving their business which could mean challenging partner assumptions

Build & Manage Relationships

• Manage a defined portfolio of high-impact advancement partnerships (~30 AAS accounts)
• Support strategic leaders in developing and maintaining relationships with main points of contact including executive relationships and key influencers
• Develop deep relationships with senior executives, leveraging in-person interactions to advance partner outcomes
• Conduct strategic discovery and scoping to understand partner challenges, develop service plans, assess progress, and identify key decisions, timelines, and stakeholders to drive accountability and impact
• Manage AAS partner escalations as well as situations that cross EAB products, leading turnaround strategies for high-risk partner relationships

Strategic Partner Improvement & Optimization Planning

• Drive meaningful utilization; manage team toward prescriptive delivery and measurable partner outcomes
• Build and execute success plans that articulate shared goals, timelines, and outcomes, managing self, colleagues, and partners to maintain momentum
• Conduct regular territory planning and maintain oversight of partner performance using strategic pool management and segmentation
• Champion and reinforce EAB's value narrative in all partner interactions, re-selling services and providing unique, perspective-shifting guidance to support institutional improvement
• Collaborate with colleagues across the research, commercial, and other EAB product teams to serve our partners in a coordinated manner, especially with comprehensive research partners
• Help develop best practices/scripting/collateral for the larger Partner Success department to improve overall service delivery

Commercial/Growth Management

• Identify growth opportunities, generate leads, and facilitate warm introductions for sales colleagues
• Support sales colleagues on visits as product side support
• Collaborate with the renewal team to diagnose risk and lead save strategies for AAS and CRP partners
• Contribute to principal and key account management as needed, supporting growth, retention, and executive engagement
• Hit annual and semi-annual personal and team revenue targets
• Use utilization data to assess & manage risk, inform strategic pool management, and to inform products & service needs

Leadership & Management

• Manage two Advancement SLs, providing coaching and oversight to ensure excellence in delivery, partner strategy, and commercial outcomes; support career development for each member of team
• Lead partner success team skill development and education initiatives
• Lead and mentor staff during critical intervention moments (e.g. in person visits, executive transitions, interactions with Presidents and other senior executives
• Identify and share market trends to guide product innovation
• Maintain collaborative relationships with key leaders and stakeholders in other functional groups, within Research and Advancement Marketing Services
• Lead initiatives for the Research division aligned to partner success efforts and champion AAS initiatives, cross-functional Research collaboration, and other workstreams
• Partner with sales and renewal teams to provide key partner knowledge including partner health metrics, etc. Create case to goal on commercial KPIs for team and support strategic leaders on the same
• Lead a monthly Advancement partner success business review to report on progress towards KPIs, market trends, strategies and risk

Time in market (via zoom or in-person): 80%

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited College/University
• 10-15+ years of professional experience in client management, consulting, or commercial leadership (owning sales and/or renewals), including 5+ years managing teams
• Willingness to travel up to 30% (maximizing activities at conferences as well as campus visits)
• Valid Driver's License
• Demonstrated knowledge of higher education subject matter and higher education advancement subject matter
• Proven record of professional success
• Ability to communicate effectively with senior executives, both spoken and written; strong presentation and facilitation skills
• Excellent relationship building and collaboration skills; ability to build relationships with and engage and challenge senior-level executives
• Proven ability to deliver results, meet goals and deadlines, and hold accountability for business outcomes
• Experience developing personal organization tactics to meet business goals

Ideal Qualifications:

• MBA or other relevant master's or doctorate degree
• Experience working with client executives, either at a college, university, or as a consultant or advisor
• Analytical thinking skills and ability to manage processes, projects, and operations
• Proven experience managing multiple, competing priorities to deliver strategic impact
• Experience finding multiple solutions to complex problems and ability to comfortably manage complexity
• Ability to successfully overcome challenges or obstacles
• Ability to lead change and advocate for partners and staff
• Commitment to embracing a continual learning environment and contributing to a dynamic and welcoming culture of fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB's mission, values, and aspiration.

If you've reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome new perspectives and learn from each other's unique experiences. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.

Compensation:

The anticipated starting salary (base) range for this role is $110,000 - $160,000 per year. Actual salary varies due to factors that may include but not be limited to relevant experience, skills, and location. At EAB, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the starting salary range for their role.

This hire will additionally be eligible for discretionary bonus or incentive compensation. Variable compensation may depend on various factors, such as individual and organizational performance.

Benefits:

This opening is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time; EAB will thus consider candidates who possess U.S. work authorization that does not require employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

At EAB, we believe that to fulfill our mission to "make education smarter and our communities stronger" we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and are committed to fostering a workplace where each team member is valued, respected and heard.

To that end, EAB is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law.