Business Development Manager, University & Employer Partnerships

Arizona State University • Tempe, AZ

5d • Onsite

About The Position

Arizona State University (ASU), ranked the nation’s #1 university for innovation, seeks a driven and entrepreneurial business development professional to grow university and employer-sponsored learning partnerships within its Learning Enterprise. This is a new-business-focused role for a successful B2B seller who is energized by opening doors, uncovering customer needs, and building long-term partnerships that expand access to learning opportunities and help people develop new skills, advance their careers, and create new possibilities for their futures. Reporting to the Executive Director of Employer Partnerships & Business Development, you will identify and win new university and employer partners for ASU’s Career and Professional Learning portfolio. You will prospect into priority accounts, engage decision-makers, diagnose workforce and talent challenges, and collaborate to develop compelling learning solutions that create measurable value for employers and their employees and university learners. You will own opportunities throughout the sales cycle—from initial outreach and discovery through solution development, proposal, negotiation, and close. ASU’s Career and Professional Learning portfolio includes more than 500 courses, certificates, bootcamps, and professional learning opportunities in high-demand areas including artificial intelligence, microelectronics, healthcare, sustainability, leadership development, and professional skills. Rather than selling a single product, you will learn to bring the breadth of ASU’s capabilities to employers and build solutions around their most important workforce challenges. This role offers an opportunity for a high-performing mid-market seller to take the next step in their career by developing the skills required to win larger, more complex enterprise partnerships. You will gain experience navigating multiple stakeholders, engaging senior executives, developing sophisticated solutions, and leveraging the resources and reputation of one of the largest and most innovative universities in the country. At the core, this is an opportunity to build a business while advancing a mission. The partnerships you create will expand access to career-relevant learning, help organizations develop their talent, and create new pathways to economic mobility for learners. This role is based at ASU’s Tempe campus. Regular business travel is expected. A fingerprint background check is a mandatory step in the hiring process.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and five (5) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field including two (2) years managerial experience; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.
• Demonstrated success meeting or exceeding new-business, bookings, revenue, or sales targets in a B2B environment.
• Proven ability to manage a B2B sales cycle from building a pipeline and initial discovery through proposal, negotiation, and close.
• Track record of success selling to mid-market organizations and demonstrated readiness to navigate larger, more complex accounts involving multiple stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Proven ability to build relationships with HR, Talent, Learning & Development, Workforce Development, or other business leaders and decision-makers.
• Demonstrated ability to develop persuasive proposals, presentations, or business cases that communicate measurable customer value.
• Proficiency using CRM systems to manage prospecting activity, pipeline, forecasts, and opportunities; HubSpot experience is preferred.
• Experience collaborating with marketing, product, operations, customer success, or other cross-functional teams to advance and close opportunities.
• A fingerprint background check is a mandatory step in the hiring process.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated success selling learning, workforce development, professional education, training, SaaS, consulting, talent solutions, or another complex B2B solution is preferred.
• Track record of expanding newly acquired customers or partners into larger, longer-term relationships is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a high-quality pipeline of new university and employer opportunities sufficient to achieve annual bookings and revenue targets.
• Develop and execute targeted prospecting strategies across priority industries, employer segments, and accounts.
• Consistently generate new opportunities through outbound prospecting, networking, referrals, events, marketing-generated leads, and other business development channels.
• Own opportunities from initial outreach through discovery, solution development, proposal, negotiation, and close.
• Build relationships across multiple levels of prospective organizations and develop internal champions who can advance opportunities.
• Maintain disciplined pipeline management, forecasting, account planning, and CRM practices that provide clear visibility into progress against revenue goals.
• Lead discovery with prospective employers to uncover workforce priorities, business challenges, skills gaps, and talent development needs.
• Translate employer needs into compelling learning solutions leveraging LE’s Career and Professional Learning portfolio and our internal Instructional Design team.
• Develop persuasive proposals and business cases that clearly articulate the value of partnering with ASU.
• Navigate increasingly complex sales processes involving multiple buyers, influencers, procurement requirements, and internal ASU stakeholders.
• Partner with internal teams to develop solutions that balance customer needs with scalable, repeatable delivery models.
• Build credibility and trusted relationships with HR, Talent, Learning & Development, Workforce Development, and other business leaders.
• Establish strong relationships with new partners that create opportunities for renewal and long-term expansion.
• Identify opportunities to expand successful partnerships across additional learner populations, programs, business units, or workforce priorities.
• Partner effectively with Partner Success and other internal teams to transition newly closed partnerships from sale to implementation while maintaining continuity in the employer relationship.
• Collaborate with Marketing on account targeting, campaigns, events, and other activities that generate qualified employer opportunities.
• Partner with Product, Academic, Instructional Design, Operations, and Partner Success teams to develop and deliver compelling employer solutions.
• Bring customer feedback and insights from sales conversations into Learning Enterprise to help strengthen offerings, positioning, and partnership models.
• Operate as an effective internal advocate for prospective employers while balancing customer needs with Learning Enterprise’s strategic and operational priorities.
• Develop expertise in priority industries, workforce trends, employer buying behavior, and competitive solutions.
• Identify emerging market opportunities and translate insights from prospective customers into actionable recommendations.
• Test new messages, market segments, and business development approaches and share learnings with the broader Employer Partnerships team.
• Help strengthen Learning Enterprise’s position as a trusted workforce education partner through insights and relationships developed in the market.
• This position requires regular local travel (40% or 8 days per month) to develop employer relationships, pursue new business opportunities, and participate in networking and partner engagements. Limited national travel may also be required for conferences, industry events, and other business development opportunities.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• In addition to base salary, this position may be eligible for performance-based compensation opportunities, subject to organizational performance and applicable approvals.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level