Enterprise Partnerships Director - Institution Strategy & Ventures

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

7d•$130,600 - $235,100•Onsite

About The Position

The Enterprise Partnerships Director accelerates WGU’s mission by cultivating and managing high-impact partnerships that expand the university’s reach, enhance innovation, and create new pathways for learners and employers. The role connects academic, corporate, and nonprofit organizations, identifying collaboration, co-development, and strategic investment opportunities aligned with WGU-wide priorities. The position is based at WGU’s Corporate Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Director develops and oversees WGU’s strategic partnership portfolio, advises executive leadership on opportunities and investments, and coordinates internal stakeholders to ensure alignment, risk management, and delivery readiness. The role manages partnerships from initial concept through launch and operational scale, establishes governance and performance measures, and uses results to inform strategy and reporting to senior leadership and the Board. As WGU’s executive representative to external partners and stakeholders, the Director builds institutional relevance across the ecosystem, leads cross-functional workstreams, and advises leadership on trends, opportunities, risks, and positioning. The role also leads and mentors a small team and helps develop partnership-management capabilities across Strategy & Ventures. This is a full-time, regular position classified for 40 standard weekly hours. Occasional travel of up to 20% is required, including attendance at designated company summits, typically one to two per year. The listed salary range is $130,600 to $235,100. The role is eligible for bonuses and a range of benefits, including health coverage, retirement savings, tuition discounts, and paid leave.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of the job in lieu of the degree.
At least 7 years of professional experience in strategic partnerships, corporate development, product management, or innovation strategy.
At least 3 years of experience leading a team, either in a direct management role or as a lead on complex cross-functional projects.
Solid understanding of workforce trends and the interplay between education, technology, and labor markets.
Familiarity with and experience working with solution providers in the talent economy, including education and learning, workforce management, and GenAI.
Strategic thinking skills, including the ability to identify connections across entities and initiatives and translate them into actionable partnerships.
Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, including the ability to engage executives and diverse external stakeholders.
Strong negotiation, contract-structuring, and project-management skills.
Data-driven, organized, and comfortable working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams and foster collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
Ability to coach and empower team members to own partnership initiatives, manage complex workstreams, and deliver measurable results.
Proven experience managing complex, cross-sector relationships and delivering measurable results through multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Demonstrated success building and managing partnerships with Fortune 500 companies, venture-backed startups, or innovation labs.
Experience negotiating and executing multi-party agreements, including MOUs, joint initiatives, or sponsored research partnerships.
Proven ability to translate organizational goals into partnership strategies that deliver measurable outcomes, such as funding, pilots, and co-development projects.
Familiarity with innovative philanthropic funds, corporate venture capital, startup accelerators, and research commercialization.
Experience working in or alongside academic institutions or mission-driven organizations, with an understanding of bridging public- and private-sector objectives.
Ability to travel occasionally up to 20%, including attendance at designated company summits; additional business-related travel may be assigned as needed.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Develop and oversee WGU’s strategic partnership portfolio, evaluate market opportunities, identify priorities, and advise executive leadership on investments and ecosystem engagement.
Initiate outreach to potential partner organizations and identify the people responsible for evaluating and implementing partnership agreements.
Identify offer co-development opportunities, including innovation, go-to-market coordination, and market-shaping activities aligned with WGU’s goals and partner benefits.
Coordinate internal stakeholders across academic and business units, WGU Labs, Enterprise Tech, Marketing, Legal, and Operations to ensure alignment, risk management, and readiness to deliver.
Negotiate partnership structures that protect WGU’s mission integrity, financial stewardship, and brand strength.
Advise Strategy & Ventures leadership on ecosystem trends and establish partnership governance, evaluation criteria, and success measures.
Oversee partnership initiatives from concept through launch and operational scale; monitor milestones and ensure partners and WGU achieve intended outcomes.
Identify opportunities to deepen partnerships or responsibly sunset those with reduced impact or alignment.
Bridge internal teams and partner organizations, translating strategy into execution and leading cross-functional workstreams such as technology validations, research collaborations, go-to-market pilots, and joint marketing activities.
Promote knowledge sharing and partnership-management playbooks across Strategy & Ventures and WGU.
Establish partnership metrics and dashboards to assess reach, impact, and return on investment; use insights to refine strategy and report outcomes to senior leadership and the Board.
Contribute partnership-related insights to enterprise strategic planning and recommend market positioning, strategic opportunities, and partnership investments.
Represent WGU with senior leaders, funders, workforce organizations, and other stakeholders; influence external stakeholders and internal executives to advance enterprise-wide partnership initiatives.
Advise executive leadership on emerging trends, partnership opportunities, market risks, and ecosystem positioning; triage incoming partnership requests independently or in support of the President or SVP of Strategy & Ventures.
Lead and mentor a small, high-performing team; model cross-functional leadership and build partnership-management capacity across Strategy & Ventures.
Contribute external relationship insights to WGU competitive analysis and strategy development.
Perform other related duties as assigned.