Director - Consumer Growth & Market Expansion

Nelnet•Lincoln, NE

2d•$90 - $130

About The Position

Nelnet is a diversified and innovative company committed to enriching lives through the power of service as a student loan servicer, professional services company, consumer loan originator and servicer, payments processor, renewable energy solutions, and K-12 and higher education expert. For over 40 years, Nelnet has been serving its customers, associates, and communities. The perks of working at Nelnet go beyond our benefits package. When you join the Nelnet team, you're part of a community invested in the success of each individual. That support comes through in our work, as we are united by our mission of creating opportunities for people where they live, learn, and work. The Director, Growth & Market Expansion role exists to find what’s next and determine whether the NDS Consumer team is ready to serve it. We are looking for a hands-on builder to lead our growth efforts: exploring external market opportunities, stress-testing them against real customer problems, and honestly assessing our organizational readiness (product, operations, tech, risk, scale) before we invest. You will be given the space and ownership to explore the external market honestly, move fast, and help the organization invest where it truly has the right to win.

Requirements

5+ years building and validating new businesses, products, or growth initiatives
Proven ability to lead cross-functional work in ambiguous environments
Hands-on experience with venture creation, pilots, and go-to-market execution
Demonstrated success leading cross-functional work in ambiguous environments
Strong customer-first mindset with direct validation experience
Strategic generalist across product, finance, marketing, sales, and operations
Sound judgment in capital allocation, risk management, and prioritization
Ability to make decisive, sometimes unpopular, calls

Nice To Haves

MBA, advanced degree, or equivalent entrepreneurial experience
Founder or early-stage/startup experience
Exposure to AI-enabled products or emerging technologies

Responsibilities

Market Expansion & Opportunity Identification Engage with customers, partners, startups, and market ecosystems
Identify unmet needs, emerging behaviors, and market gaps
Translate insights into clear, testable venture hypotheses aligned with NDS Consumer’s business goals
Opportunity Pipeline Management Build and operate a repeatable system to evaluate new opportunities
Source and synthesize opportunities across markets and domains
Define qualification criteria (strategic fit, differentiation, risk-to-ROI)
Collaborate with Finance, Operations and IT to ensure resource alignment and execution readiness
Readiness Assessment Evaluate product, operational, technical, and delivery readiness
Identify and communicate gaps early
Recommend whether to build, partner, pause, or discontinue initiatives
Decision-Making & Governance Present opportunities and insights to executive leadership and influence decision making
Lead regular opportunity reviews with clear outcomes (continue, pivot, terminate)
Prevent sunk-cost bias and avoid sustaining low-value initiatives