Sr. Manager- Strategic Partnerships (Account Management)

Position: Sr. Manager-Strategic Partnerships (Account Management)

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in Plano, Texas, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is a global leader in digital upskilling, enabling learners across the globe with access to world-class training to individuals and businesses worldwide. Simplilearn offers 1,500+ live classes each month across 150+ countries, impacting over 8 million learners globally. The programs are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or business goals.

About the Role:

As a Senior Manager of Partnerships (Account Management), you will be the custodian of our most valuable assets: our institutional partners. You will take the baton the moment a marquee university (both premier Indian institutions like IITs/IIMs/Top Private Universities and select overseas partners) is acquired, transforming a signed contract into a thriving, long-term, multi-million dollar academic portfolio.

This is not a traditional account management role. You will act as a strategic advisor, project management expert, and institutional guardian, ensuring our programs achieve flawless execution while protecting the academic integrity and brand equity of our partners.

Key Responsibilities

1. Relationship Governance & Strategic Advisory

• Be the Single Point of Contact (SPOC): Build deep, trust-based relationships with university leadership, including Executive Education CEOs, Program co-ordinators. Directors, Deans, and Faculty Heads
• Establish Joint Governance: Set up and lead quarterly leadership meetings and weekly/monthly operational reviews to align on strategic goals, student outcomes, operations and portfolio expansion.
• Navigate Institutional Nuances: Smoothly manage the distinct decision-making dynamics of both highly centralized Indian institutions and deeply decentralized overseas universities.

2. Portfolio Operations & Flawless Execution

• Cross-Functional Orchestration: Work closely with internal Product, Content, Marketing, Student Success, and Delivery teams to ensure programs launch on time and scale efficiently.
• Brand & Quality Guardrails: Act as the internal advocate for the Partner, ensuring all marketing campaigns, course content, and student interactions strictly adhere to co-authored institutional brand guidelines.

3. Retention, Renewal, and Expansion

• Drive Portfolio Growth: Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships by launching new degrees, certifications, or executive education programs.
• Own the Renewal Metric: Accountable for 100% partner retention and NPS (Net Promoter Score) / CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) targets across your assigned university portfolio.
• Data-Driven Review: Regularly present comprehensive data reports to university partners, highlighting enrolments, student retention, career outcomes, and labor-market alignment.

What We're Looking For

Required Qualifications & Experience

• The Academic/Corporate Hybrid: 8+ years of total experience,4+ years ideally blending corporate account management/consulting with exposure to the higher education or ed-tech ecosystem.
• High Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Proven ability to influence and build consensus among academic stakeholders, senior faculty, and corporate executives without structural authority.
• Operational Rigor: Exceptional project management skills; comfortable handling complex timelines, multiple stakeholders, and data-heavy performance metrics.
• Communication Mastery: Impeccable written and verbal communication skills, with the gravitas required to command a room of senior academicians and university board members.