Location: Remote + local and national travel

Employment Type: Full-time, exempt

Salary Range: $105,000 - $116,000

Benefits: High-quality health and dental insurance, paid vacation, employer-matched retirement plan

The Organization

At Thrive Scholars, we provide high-achieving students from under-resourced communities the opportunities they need to thrive at top colleges and in meaningful careers.

Our comprehensive and data-driven program model focuses on the key inflection points that can be the difference between graduating from any college and graduating from a top college with the grades, degree, career skills, and network needed to thrive in any career. Thrive Scholars originated in Los Angeles as South Central Scholars (“SCS”) twenty years ago. Over this time, the organization has refined its program model and, in the last five years, has focused on expanding nationally; reaching more high-achieving students from under-resourced communities, growing the number of Scholars we serve; and deepening our program impact. Thrive Scholars has begun to grow its footprint with new summer program offerings in three additional cities. The organization has approximately 75 year-round employees and close to 200 summer employees.

Corporate Partnerships  

As a member of our Corporate Partnerships team, you will play a critical role in helping us sustain and expand our partnerships with the business community nationwide. This team secures investments for Thrive and helps to connect the dots across our programs, providing opportunities for Scholars at each stage of their Thrive journey. Through consultative sales and account management, we craft mutually beneficial partnerships to secure sustainable investments and support our Scholars' access to career exploration, mentorship, networking, scholarships, internships, and entry-level roles with industry leaders. By bridging Thrive’s program and partnerships, our team aims to ensure that Thrive's Scholars are on paths toward economic mobility and are the most competitive applicants when they reach the workforce.

The Position

In addition to honing and implementing our corporate partnership strategies in collaboration with members of our program teams, you will work to ensure that we track and exceed our current partner satisfaction goals and our revenue growth goals. As a team player who contributes to our broader department goals, your collaborative nature, attention to detail, and experience managing complex relationships will help us retain and grow sustainable revenue and employment opportunities within the target industries.

This role is ideal for someone who is motivated by exceeding partner expectations, is entrepreneurial, seeks to build a first class corporate partnership program, and is passionate about unlocking opportunities for highly talented, underrepresented young people. The position also provides a significant opportunity to collaborate cross-functionally. You will partner internally to manage and upsell existing partners and identify new ways to strengthen relationships. You will be based in a major market, and report to the Chief Development Officer.

Key Responsibilities

Partner Management 50%

GOAL: Manage and build an assigned portfolio of partners, with a focus on partner satisfaction, growth, and renewal. 

• Cultivate relationships with corporate leaders, understanding their goals and aligning them with Scholars’ needs and interests to drive toward success.
• Serve as the main point of contact with partners’ leadership to understand partner priorities. 
• Manage all aspects of partner communication strategies and provide  thoughtful and timely responses, as part of delivering high-quality customer service. 
• Successfully meet revenue and expand multi-year commitments within the existing partner base. 
• Using a scholar-centered approach, partner and collaborate with internal teams to align partner strategies with Scholar needs, including Thrive’s College Success and Career Development  and Community Engagement staff to support Scholar recruitment for partner job opportunities, Scholar skills development, and volunteer engagement, as part of the broader partnership strategy.
• Gather and create insights from relationship managers and Salesforce scholar data to tell compelling stories for partners.
• Develop and implement proactive stewardship plans for each corporate partner to ensure a positive experience for all corporate stakeholders, ultimately retaining the relationship for the long term.
• Ensure responsive, top-tier service to maintain 95%+ renewal rate of corporate sponsorships. 
• Identify opportunities and secure commitments to expand current partnerships. 

Partner Engagement 30% 

GOAL: Manage the engagement and fulfillment of corporate partners in assigned portfolios.

• Work with partners to ensure a positive Scholar-centered experience. 
• Manage the onboarding process with new corporate partners and their program staff. 
• Work to support partnership growth and employee engagement.
• Manage partners’ engagement in programmatic activities to deepen the connection between corporate partners, our organization, and our Scholars. 
• Track and manage both partnership activation timelines and deliverables to ensure efficient execution.
• Collaborate across program teams including Career and Community Engagement teams and Regional Executive Directors on partner activations including workshops, internship recruitment, and employee engagement programs.

Data and Administration 20%

GOAL: Ensure strong data and communications infrastructure to support national industry-focused corporate partnership program.

• Accurately project anticipated revenue from corporate partners to support the department's objective to correctly anticipate and receive financial commitments in a given fiscal year.
• Manage, maintain and keep up-to-date data records for corporate partners in Salesforce, including revenue pipeline and forecast.
• Manage/track weekly sales process/activity for current partners (i.e. meetings & notes).
• Contribute to the development team and overall organizational team efforts.
• Assist in development operations initiatives, including Salesforce data review and analysis, gift processing, and donor acknowledgments.
• Collaborate on departmental annual planning. 
• Support local fundraising events and cultivation/stewardship of key decision-makers.

Qualifications and Experience:
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. The qualifications and experiences listed below are intended as a guide; we do not expect candidates to check every box.  If you believe you can meet the expectations and responsibilities of this position, we want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. 

• Bachelor’s Degree required
• 5+ years in strategic partnership management or transferrable skills and experiences in human resources, corporate recruitment, or revenue generation
• 5+ years in STEM, finance, consulting or legal setting, or managing corporate-focused partnerships within one or more of these industries preferred
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, with experience managing partnership portfolios 
• Expertise in and passion around issues related to representation in corporate settings
• Adept at stewarding and donor cultivation 
• Public speaking skills/strong presentation skills 
• Ability to work independently while being an integral and collaborative member of a larger team
• High level of professionalism and excellent judgment in communication and in handling sensitive information
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information into a simple and understandable form; strong ability to develop effective written pitch documents, including presentation decks that frame data in a compelling, audience-centered narrative
• Ability to navigate complex organizations and navigate ambiguity 
• A highly organized individual who can take initiative and prioritize short-term and long-term needs in a fast-paced environment involving multiple projects and stakeholders
• Experience using fundraising or sales databases (knowledge of Salesforce preferred)
• Commitment to Thrive Scholars mission

Compensation and Benefits:

Thrive Scholars offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including high-quality health, dental, and disability insurance, three weeks of paid vacation (four weeks after two years of employment), and access to an employer-matched retirement plan. This is a full-time, exempt position.

Travel Expectations: 

This role can be based anywhere, with a strong preference for major markets: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York. This position will require up to 25% travel.

Equal Employment Opportunities:

Thrive Scholars provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. Knowing their importance to the success of our work, Thrive Scholars is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we aspire to build a diverse staff team and community. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

For more information, please visit thrivescholars.org