AVP, External Affairs (Remote or Hybrid: Blmgtn or St Peter, MN)

The Associate Vice President, External Affairs leads external relations efforts to drive enterprise partnerships aligned with Scholarship America's goal to double our distributions to students from $300M to $600M per year by the end of 2027. In this role, the AVP of External Affairs will establish new partnerships to build and maintain referral channels that generate sales via qualified leads of entities seeking scholarship design or scholarship management services, including government entities that will be executed via Scholarship Design. The AVP of External Affairs works cooperatively cross-functionally to align communication strategies across departments, including marketing, scholarship design, scholarship management, legal, and compliance. The AVP of External Affairs is responsible for four core functions: enterprise growth initiatives, public relations and government relations, communications (internal and external), and stewardship programming (including events). In this capacity, the AVP of External Affairs is responsible for the overall productivity and effectiveness of the external affairs team and has direct management responsibilities over staff.

Position Expectations:

• Collaborates with Chief Growth Officer (CGO) on strategy and tactics to meet annual goals
• Meets or exceeds KPIs, which will focus on revenue generation, channel lead creation, press mentions, grant attainment donor acquisition and retention, and fundraising
• Executes on transformative external partnership opportunities created by and with the CGO; engages and manages external stakeholders to align on terms, mitigate risks, and execute transactions and on-going partnerships
• Coordinates with internal stakeholders to ensure Scholarship America delivers on channel partner and donor obligations
• Sources both new and "lookalike" opportunities aligned with strategy and on-going efforts, including content syndication partnerships
• Manages details of channel launches, including media, government, and stakeholder engagement and risk assessments
• Engages media and government contacts, and supports executive engagement, where beneficial for organizational growth, including briefing materials, pre-meetings, etc.
• Manages the communications team (which is responsible for internal communications, ScholarshipAmerica.org, grant writing, and board communications) to ensures operational and brand alignment with organization, industry standards. Includes looking for opportunities that will support our position as a thought leader in this space
• Manages the stewardship function (which includes our major gifts program and events program), including staff and contractors, to hit fundraising targets and ensure operational and brand alignment with organization, industry standards

Minimum Requirements:

• Proven ability to develop and execute external partnerships to meet goals and objectives, including with corporations, non-profit, local, state, and federal government entities
• Demonstrated experience securing sponsorships and donations from corporate and philanthropic entities, as well as individuals
• Strong understanding of public relations, government relations, and communications best practices, as it relates to establishing ongoing relationships (partnerships, sponsorships, funding)
• Ability to build, lead, and engage high-performing teams, including contractors and staff
• Eight years of work experience, at least four years of experience working for a government entity or in close collaboration with a government entity
• Direct experience securing government grants or appropriations
• 3+ years of experience building and managing high performing teams. management experience
• Experience working with media, tracking government activities, and understanding potential risks and opportunities for the organization, including crisis communications experience and experience leading internal communications
• A passion for improving student outcomes and a commitment to serving marginalized students of need
• Position may require approximately 10-20% travel.

Preferred Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree - or equivalent experience

Full Pay range: Exempt ($101,300 - $126, 600 - $151,900)

This is the pay range for our staff in this position, from entry to fully independent and proficient in the role utilizing our propriety systems and processes. The candidate selected for this position will be offered a wage applicable to their background and skill set as aligned to our business. This will result in an initial offer between $101,300 - $125,000 annually for this position.

Reports to: Chief Growth Officer

Application deadline: Monday, September 30th (by 11:00 pm CT)

At Scholarship America, our team members are motivated by our core values: Student Impact, Teamwork, Inclusion and Curiosity. Our vision is to empower an America where those with the most need have the opportunity to thrive through equitable pathways to education and training, and we are seeking fantastic team members to make that happen.

We know the best person for the job could be anywhere, and that's why this position can work remotely within the continental United States or in a hybrid manner from either our office in Bloomington or Saint Peter, MN. Our employees enjoy a team-based, flexible work schedule, allowing them to flex around our core hours of Monday-Friday from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Central Time. Scholarship America is committed to our team's work/life balance, and our strong learning and development culture supports knowledge growth and professional development for all employees across foundational and job-specific skills.

Scholarship America offers employees a robust total rewards package, focused on supporting their health and well-being now and in the future. We offer comprehensive choices for the following:

• Insurance (medical, dental, vision, basic life)
• Disability (short-term & long-term)
• Flexible spending accounts (medical & dependent care)
• 403(b) retirement fund with a 3% company match

In addition to schedule flexibility, we also provide paid time away from work (vacation, sick, personal, up to fifteen paid holidays annually), plus employee & dependent educational reimbursement programs which support our overall mission.

Details on our company mission, vision, values and goals can be found at www.scholarshipamerica.org.

We are an equal opportunity employer and believe in the power of a diverse workplace to better serve a broad range of student needs. Research shows that women and other candidates from marginalized backgrounds only apply when they meet 100% of qualifications. All qualified candidates who meet the minimum requirements are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, parental or marital status.