Director of Business Development

The George Mason University, Continuing and Professional Education Division invites applications for the Director of Business Development position. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason's academic and culturally inclusive environment.

George Mason University is on the move as a leading higher education innovator in 21st century education. This includes the development of the delivery of personalized, customized education and student services for the adult and professional learner. As the largest public institution of higher education in Virginia, we are envisioning new ways of providing entry-level and mid-career professionals access to a George Mason education. Equally, George Mason seeks to foster closer relations with regional employers to create micro-credentials and certifications relevant to the needs of an evolving workforce.

About the Continuing and Professional Education Division: For over 30 years, the Continuing and Professional Education Division of George Mason University has been helping working professionals, adult-learners and entry-level personnel with access to high quality open enrollment education, credentials and training to make them competitive in an evolving job market and regional ecosystems of employers.

About the Position: Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) is seeking a business development leader who can help to redefine the CPE brand and foster exceptional relationships with some of the world's largest and most influential employers, who are headquartered or conduct business in the greater Washington DC - DMV - metropolitan area. Located at Mason's Arlington campus, this role will lead a sales and partnership management team and drive CPE's topline growth goals. This position will report to the Executive Director for Professional Education and Academic Ventures who has a direct line into the University's Office of the Provost.

Responsibilities: As the Director of Business Development within the Continuing and Professional Education division, this role will bring five to seven years of commercial and sales experience, particularly in the area of higher education and business services. The role will be able to support and manage a business development team, establish commercial process and best practices, foster relationships with global corporations and government agencies based in the Greater Washington DC area to support their upskilling needs and ultimately, achieve and exceed CPE annual revenue growth goals. Prior experience with university advancement, sales, partner/opportunity identification and management, pricing, contracting, pipeline management and tactical business development strategies in either commercial or higher education environments is essential. Experience managing commercial and partnering teams in pipeline development, tactical sales strategy, account management, and relationship management is essential. This position will also assist with evaluating strategic and brand opportunities working closely with the Director of Marketing to build and execute a collaborative sales and marketing plan. This position will be responsible for driving growth and margin outcomes for the unit.

The Business Development Director is expected to effectively build long-term relationships with regional employers and their Learning and Development functions, work exceptionally well with all of the key stakeholders across the university to help bring university faculty and curriculum to help support the training, upskilling and talent development needs of our partners, and ensure Mason's mission of "access to excellence" is achieved. A key focus for this role will be to expand our open enrollment opportunities, create customized training/certificate programs for entry to mid-level workers, and support Mason colleges in delivering micro-credentials (continuing education units, or CEUs) and other credit and non-credit offerings they may wish to provide on a custom or open enrollment basis. This role is first and foremost about building relationships - within the campus, with our educational training providers, with national and regional industry associations and our regional employers. Demonstrated relationship building skills commonly possessed by advancement professionals is important for this role.

Reporting to the Executive Director for Professional Education and Academic Ventures, and in partnership with university and external stakeholders including all 11 colleges and academic units, Central Services (i.e., registrar, records, student accounts, etc.), the Office of Digital Learning, the Office of Strategic Budget and Planning Office and Information Technology Services, the Business Development Director will: * Conduct market analysis to value and forecast new partnership opportunities; * Build long-term commercial and academic relationships; * Work with CPE Enrollment Management, Marketing and Finance to ensure sales executed by the Business Development and Partner Management teams align with operational priorities; * Work with external and third-party vendors to create joint revenue opportunities in support of professional development across the Greater Washington DC region; * Collect, analyze and present data from internal and external sources to help mobilize support for CPE and foster a better understanding of opportunities both inside and external to the university; * Ensure commercial and sales goals are established and achieved on a quarterly and annual basis; * Foster an ethos of service in support of our colleges and academic units such that CPE is seen as the service provider of choice in delivering credit and non-credit open enrollment offerings, and training and upskilling objectives; * Identify partnership opportunities (and risks), to provide exceptional business judgment on all commercial agreements entered into by CPE, specifically well documented business cases, budgets and implementation plans; * Maintain consistent and accurate status information, data, documentation and an audit trail for each agreement, to ensure compliance with our state and federal regulatory authorities; * Respond to commercial and governmental RFPs in a timely, accurate and cost-efficient manner, if the opportunity should arise; * Implement a continuous improvement program for the commercial team by incorporating best practices sales team management and account delivery; * Oversight of both sales, partner manager and sales ops team; * Evaluate and implement new CRM applications.

Required Qualifications: * Required advanced degree such as MBA or equivalent combination of education and experience; * 5-7 years of exceptional personal and team commercial achievements in higher education or business services; * Proven relationship building at both university and commercial levels; * Communications and presentation skills that reflect an acute understanding and demonstration of "senior executive presence"; * The ability to work with a diverse population of employers, associations, faculty and staff in a university environment; * Proven ability to self-motivate in team-oriented, commercial environment; * Demonstrated experience in market analysis and sales pipeline management; * Demonstrated experience in two or more of the following: sales staff development, customer relations, sales process design, go-to-market strategy development; * Demonstrated experience coaching and leading sales and account management teams; * Passion for and experience with higher education services and offerings; * Excellent skills in establishing sales and account management priorities and managing resources to achieve both sales and margin goals; * Experience with a Customer Relationship Management data/system and managing an effective prospect recruitment pipeline; * Experience in promotion and recruitment of continuing and professional education programs in a university environment, national training organization, or similar experience.

Preferred Qualifications: * University advancement processes; * Data Analytics; * Six Sigma Sales Process (or equivalent); * Experience selling industry certifications or credentials or training support services to L&D (Learning and Development) functions.

"For full consideration, applicants must apply at https://jobs.gmu.edu/ ; complete and submit the online application; upload a cover letter, resume, a list of three professional references with contact information and a letter of intent."

"Great Careers Begin at Mason!

George Mason University is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in both academics and research. Mason holds a top U.S. News and World Report "Up and Coming" spot for national universities and is recognized for its global appeal and excellence in higher education.

Mason is currently the largest and most diverse university in Virginia with students and faculty from all 50 states and over 135 countries studying in over 200 degree programs at campuses in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William, as well as at learning locations across the commonwealth. Rooted in Mason's diversity is a campus culture that is both rewarding and exciting, work that is meaningful, and opportunities to both collaborate and create.

If you are interested in joining the Mason family take a look at our current opportunities and catch some Mason spirit at jobs.gmu.edu/!

George Mason University, Where Innovation is Tradition."