Senior Director, Custom Program Development
About The Position
The Senior Director, Custom Program Development is a hands-on, operations-minded leader who translates growth priorities into scalable, consistently delivered custom programs. The role provides strategic leadership for creative program development and establishes operational frameworks that move opportunities from concept to implementation. The Senior Director directly oversees managers and directors responsible for program design, proposal development, budgeting, reporting, and global delivery standards. The role also collaborates with Institutional Relations and Global Operations to improve the custom program lifecycle. The position combines higher education and study abroad expertise with analytical, financial, and project leadership capabilities to develop solutions for university partners, strengthen execution, and support sustainable growth. The Senior Director continuously evaluates practices and the custom program portfolio to streamline work, redirect resources, and discontinue activities that no longer support organizational priorities. Success requires respecting essential processes while challenging assumptions, navigating ambiguity, and turning ideas into action.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in a related field.
- At least 8 years of experience in education abroad, including at least 3 years in a leadership role.
- At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience managing custom and faculty-led initiatives.
- Strong financial acumen, including forecasting, resource allocation, pricing strategy, and profitability analysis.
- Strong analytical and performance management skills, including the ability to translate data and reporting into actionable business decisions.
- Proven ability to take initiative and lead large-scale projects while collaborating with cross-functional teams to align goals, priorities, and execution.
- Experience leading and developing high-performing teams.
- Exceptional communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills.
- Growth mindset and commitment to innovation, continuous improvement, and organizational learning.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Salesforce or a similar CRM.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree or significant senior-level experience leading multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience living, working, or studying in multicultural environments.
- Advanced proficiency in Salesforce, reporting platforms, and data visualization tools.
Responsibilities
- Lead and develop the Custom Program Development team, setting clear priorities, accountabilities, and service standards.
- Supervise the Operations Manager and Director of Global Custom Program Operations, connecting program development with global delivery.
- Build a collaborative, high-performing culture grounded in ownership, accuracy, problem-solving, and follow-through.
- Align team capacity and resources with the highest-priority opportunities.
- Coach the team to balance creativity and responsiveness with quality, financial discipline, and scalability.
- Develop team talent through coaching, mentoring, and career development.
- Lead custom program strategy and development, including design, feasibility, budgeting, pricing, proposals, and delivery handoff.
- Partner with Institutional Relations leaders to evaluate and prioritize high-potential opportunities.
- Support the team in translating US partner needs into academically sound, operationally viable, financially sustainable programs.
- Advance growth through creative solutions without compromising student experience, quality, or execution.
- Lead the strategy to expand custom program capabilities to new markets in alignment with organizational priorities.
- Strengthen the custom value proposition using partner feedback, market insight, and delivery lessons.
- Annually review the custom program portfolio and development practices, recommending where to streamline work, focus resources, and refine or discontinue offerings.
- Align priorities, timelines, and accountabilities across Institutional Relations, Global Operations, and other key teams.
- Lead complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept through implementation.
- Create clarity, resolve competing needs, and sustain momentum when priorities or solutions are undefined.
- Resolve complex development and delivery issues by convening stakeholders and driving decisions.
- Translate complex information into clear recommendations for leaders and teams.
- Collaborate with cross-functional leadership to optimize the custom program lifecycle, from intake and design through delivery, evaluation, and renewal.
- Monitor dashboards and metrics for pipeline, proposals, conversion, forecasting, cycle time, quality, and profitability.
- Use data to identify trends, evaluate trade-offs, and turn analysis into action.
- Partner with Finance to evaluate program economics, set margin and FX assumptions, and align bids with growth, profitability, and sustainability goals.
- Advance global delivery standards aligned with the organization’s Playbook of Excellence and a consistent, high-quality partner experience.
- Improve consistency, quality, and scalability through clear standards, workflows, handoffs, and controls.
- Ensure programs meet organizational standards and The Forum on Education Abroad Standards of Good Practice.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
