Senior Manager

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Management_Executive 610Pay Range: $130,600.00 - $235,100.00

Job Description

The Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships will accelerate WGU’s mission by cultivating and managing high-impact partnerships that expand our reach, enhance innovation, and generate new pathways for learners and employers.

This leader will bridge the academic, corporate, and non-profit ecosystems, identifying opportunities for collaboration, co-development, and strategic investment aligned with organizational-wide priorities.

Primary Responsibilities

Partnership Development

• Build proactive plans for co-development, joint initiatives, and first-of-its-kind collaborations for products, technologies, or market-shaping programs that advance enterprise priorities and deliver measurable impact.
• Coordinate across internal stakeholders—academic and business unit leaders, WGU Labs, Enterprise Tech, Marketing, Legal, and Operations—to ensure alignment, risk management, and delivery readiness.
• Negotiate effective partnership structures that maintain WGU’s mission integrity, financial stewardship, and brand strength.

Partner Success & Portfolio Management

• Oversee progress and performance across all partnership initiatives—from concept to launch to operational scale.
• Ensure both partners and WGU meet milestones and achieve intended outcomes, measuring jointly defined success metrics.
• Identify opportunities to deepen relationships or, where impact and alignment diminish, responsibly sunset partnerships.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Serve as the primary bridge between internal teams and partner organizations, translating vision into execution.
• Lead cross-functional workstreams (e.g., tech validations, research collaborations, go-to-market pilots, joint marketing activities) that deliver measurable value.
• Promote knowledge sharing and playbooks for partnership management across SVG and the broader WGU system.

Measurement & Reporting

• Establish partnership success metrics and dashboards to assess reach, impact, and return on investment (ROI).
• Leverage insights to refine partnership strategy, report outcomes to senior leadership and the Board, and contribute to the annual enterprise strategy review.

External Engagement & Representation

• Represent WGU at major industry events, conferences, and consortia related to education, workforce, and technology innovation.
• Position WGU as a trusted collaborator and thought leader in the talent economy ecosystem.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and mentor a small, high-performing team fostering collaboration, curiosity, and excellence.
• Model cross-functional leadership, influence without authority, and build capacity for partnership management across the SVG function.

This job description includes a general representation of job requirements rather than a comprehensive inventory of all required responsibilities or work activities.  The contents of this document or related job requirements may change at any time with or without notice.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Solid understanding of workforce trends, and the interplay between education, technology, and labor markets
• Familiarity and experience working solution providers in the talent economy: education and learning, workforce management, GenAI
• Strategic thinker with the ability to see connections across entities and initiatives and translate them into actionable partnership
• •Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, capable of engaging diverse audiences—from executives to external stakeholders.
• Strong negotiation, contract structuring, and project management skills.
• Highly data-driven, organized, and comfortable working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
• Skilled in coaching and empowering team members to take ownership of partnership initiatives, manage complex workstreams, and deliver measurable results.

Education

• Bachelors Degree

Experience

• 7+ years of professional experience in strategic partnerships, corporate development, product management, or innovation strategy.
• 3+ years leading a team, either in a direct management role or complex cross-functional project lead role
• Proven experience managing complex cross-sector relationships and delivering measurable results through multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• Demonstrated success in building and managing partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, venture-backed startups, or innovation labs.
• Experience negotiating and executing multi-party agreements (MOUs, joint initiatives, or sponsored research partnerships).
• Proven ability to translate organizational goals into partnership strategies that deliver measurable outcomes (funding, pilots, co-development projects, etc.).
• Familiarity with innovative philanthropic funds including corporate venture capital, startup accelerators, and research commercialization.
• Experience working in or alongside academic institutions or mission-driven organizations, understanding how to bridge public and private sector objectives.

Additional Requirements

Experience in lieu of education

• Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strategic partnership experience in higher education, edtech, workforce development, corporate learning, or mission-driven sectors.

Location

• This position will be working out of our corporate office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Relocation assistance will be provided for any candidate living outside of a 50 mile radius of the office.

This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed.  Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.