Director of Corporate Partnerships, College of Connected Computing

Vanderbilt University • Nashville, TN

110d

About The Position

The Director of Corporate Partnerships will build deep and lasting partnerships between the university and corporate partners ranging from corporate, government agencies, non-profit and community organizations, as well as other strategic external entities that result in significant investment via student hires, co-marketing, executive education, advisory boards, and sponsored investments. The Director will provide a concierge service to partners and connect them with key CCC resources which may include individual faculty, research centers, or academic & student programming leaders. The Director of Corporate Partnerships role will work closely with the Vanderbilt University Corporate Partnership Team which is currently housed in the Career Advancement and Engagement Division. This team consists of individuals that serve as the primary interface for an assigned portfolio of strategic external partner organizations on behalf of Vanderbilt University, continuously connecting these clients with VU programs and initiatives—as well as other key partners—to solve their business needs and fulfill partnership interests. This CCC counterpart will serve as a liaison with this Vanderbilt Corporate Partnership team to collaborate on opportunities and share relationships with the broader Vanderbilt community. This position requires careful attention and guidance to manage expectations, facilitate experiences, and drive results. Insightful and continuous matchmaking, progress tracking, story capturing, best practices research, and co-creation are essential aspects of advancing such partnerships. Providing a single point of contact for the primary interface for a portfolio of strategic partner organizations with Vanderbilt, to organize across and support holistic engagement across the university, is essential to create and grow these lasting partnerships.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited higher education institution is required.
• Minimum 7 years of related professional work experience is required.
• Significant experience engaging corporate stakeholders and understanding their priorities creating new opportunities.
• Experience expanding industry research, corporate gifts, executive & professional programs, student career opportunities, and student/industry programming.
• Prefer experience working with faculty and higher education leaders developing corporate relationships.
• Prefer experience in implementing and scaling Salesforce or similar CRM.
• Consultative Sales and relationship building skills with proven results in building sustainable partnerships.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required.
• Ability to exercise good judgment in the handling of confidential information is required.
• Capacity to perform in an intellectually rigorous and complex academic environment is required.
• The ability to work independently, take initiative, manage multiple projects simultaneously, meet deadlines, and adapt to changing priorities is required.
• A professional attitude, with the ability to exhibit considerable tact, persuasion, and judgement in interactions with internal and external constituents is required.
• Demonstrated ability to work successfully with high-level executives is required.

Nice To Haves

• A master’s or doctoral degree is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the College of Connected Computing focal for an industry engagement working closely with the Dean of the school to capture and understand the needs of potential corporate prospects.
• Create and implement client account plans to map existing alignment and forge strong, value-added relationships through achievement of identified partner business objectives.
• Drive collaboration, engagement, and accountability to align solutions for client needs that are achieved on schedule, on budget, and meet/exceed expectations.
• Deliver repeatable engagement processes to achieve client’s desired solutions and outcomes.
• Assist with inquiries and/or answering questions on university capabilities, aligning visits and/or providing tours, making presentations, making referrals, and facilitating the achievement of official partnership agreements where appropriate.
• Represent the department on committees and initiatives as delegated by leadership.
• Work closely with Dean’s leadership team as prospects turn into opportunities that need to be executed upon.
• Facilitate and maintain deep collaborations with colleges and departments to develop and cultivate key relationships with researchers, faculty, academic leadership, administrative and research units.
• Assist leadership in development of internal programs to increase visibility and opportunities for industry/business engagement for faculty and staff.
• Proactively measures client satisfaction and resolve any issues or potential process breakdowns.
• Collaborate on designing and implementing client focused policies and procedures.
• Capture data and partner engagement to effectively allow marketing and communications to 'tell the story' of transformational outcomes.
• Help design and populate systems for progress metrics collection and reporting.
• Advise leadership on issues, opportunities and best practices associated with partnership relationship management.
• Direct and implement special projects and/or perform related duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree