Enterprise Partnerships Director - Institution Strategy & Ventures

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Enterprise Partnerships Director accelerates WGU’s mission by cultivating and managing high-impact partnerships that expand its reach, enhance innovation, and create new pathways for learners and employers. The role connects academic, corporate, and nonprofit organizations, identifying opportunities for collaboration, co-development, and strategic investment aligned with WGU-wide priorities. The position is based at WGU’s Corporate Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, and requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including attendance at designated company summits, conferences, and business-related visits. The Director oversees the strategic partnership portfolio from opportunity assessment through launch and operational scale. This includes advising executive leadership on partnership and investment opportunities, developing partnership structures and governance, coordinating with internal stakeholders, negotiating agreements, monitoring jointly defined outcomes, and refining or sunsetting partnerships as appropriate. The role establishes metrics and dashboards, reports results to senior leadership and the Board, and contributes to enterprise strategic planning. The Director represents WGU with senior external stakeholders and serves as an advisor to executive leadership on ecosystem trends, market risks, and strategic positioning. The role also leads and mentors a small team and builds partnership-management capability across Strategy & Ventures. This is a full-time, regular position classified as 40 standard weekly hours and eligible for bonuses and the benefits described in the posting.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of the job in lieu of a 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.
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.
Ability to translate organizational goals into partnership strategies that produce 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 how to bridge public- and private-sector objectives.
Solid understanding of workforce trends and the interaction between education, technology, and labor markets.
Familiarity with solution providers in the talent economy, including education and learning, workforce management, and GenAI.
Strategic thinking and 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.
Ability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams while fostering collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
Skill in coaching and empowering team members to own partnership initiatives, manage complex workstreams, and deliver measurable results.
Ability to travel occasionally, up to 20%, including attendance at designated company summits and other business events 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, assess market opportunities, identify priorities, and advise executive leadership on investments, partnerships, and ecosystem engagement.
Initiate outreach to potential partners and identify the appropriate people within those organizations to evaluate and implement agreements.
Identify opportunities for offer co-development, innovation, go-to-market coordination, and market-shaping activities that align WGU’s goals with partner benefits.
Coordinate internal stakeholders, including academic and business unit leaders, WGU Labs, Enterprise Tech, Marketing, Legal, and Operations, to support alignment, risk management, and delivery readiness.
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, ensuring partners and WGU meet milestones and intended outcomes.
Identify opportunities to deepen partnerships or responsibly sunset those whose impact or alignment diminishes.
Serve as the primary bridge between internal teams and partner organizations, translating strategic vision into execution.
Lead 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 success 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 insights and recommendations to enterprise strategic planning, including market positioning, strategic opportunities, and partnership investments.
Represent WGU with senior leaders, funders, workforce organizations, and other stakeholders, and influence external stakeholders and internal executives to advance enterprise partnerships.
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 and build partnership-management capacity across Strategy & Ventures.
Contribute insights from external relationships to WGU competitive analysis and strategy development.
Perform other related duties as assigned.