Who we are

You’re reading this job description because somebody taught you how. You became “somebody” as a result. At Lit, we’re building a world in which everybody gets to be somebody. We are on a mission to ensure every kid, everywhere is a reader. We help school and system leaders build, implement and sustain reading ecosystems that live at the intersection of research and instructional equity. By bringing the science of reading to Black and Latino students, and to students who come from the experience of poverty, we can open up a world of possibility for children who are too often pushed to the margins of education. Find out more on our website: wearelit.org

Currently, we are incubated under a parent company called Array Education–a non-profit start-up studio. Array Education’s mission is to help start enduring, equity-driven, scalable solutions to our most pressing education challenges.

What You Will Do

We are looking for a Managing Director of Partnerships to join the Lit team and report to the Chief Operating Officer. This is the perfect role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is excited to build the sales and development functions of a successful and growing education services organization. As the Managing Director of Partnerships, you will be responsible for the following functions:

Revenue Management and Execution

• Work with the executive team to internalize and implement Lit’s revenue growth strategy, setting ambitious targets for revenue generation across earned revenue and annual fundraising
• Monitor performance metrics, continuously collate market feedback, analyze trends in sales and fundraising and adjust strategies to achieve and exceed revenue goals
• Work with a cross-functional team to set competitive product and service pricing, create compelling value propositions, manage marketing and sales collateral and ensure effective product positioning

Sales and Fundraising Leadership

• Act as the lead revenue generator for Lit, securing both new sales and renewals as well as philanthropic support from individual and institutional donors so that Lit can double its operating revenue in three years
• Develop and nurture strategic relationships with school districts, educational institutions, philanthropic funders, and other key stakeholders
• Refine and lead the new client acquisition and renewal process across all divisions resulting in meeting ambitious growth and revenue targets and 85% renewal rate
• Define the sales and marketing strategies including crafting positioning, managing sales and collateral materials, determining outreach and funnel strategy and the customer journey
• Create and execute customized cultivation and stewardship for individual and institutional donors, managing an active portfolio of donors and prospects for major gifts
• Ensure that the CEO and relevant executive team members are fully prepared for every significant donor/prospect interaction

Revenue Infrastructure and Analytics

• Design and build the infrastructure required to lead a successful business development, marketing, sales and fundraising function including:
• Maintaining and building the functionality of the customer relationship management database to track pipeline data
• Determining and securing approval for Lit to be on state or district approved vendor lists
• Creating the Sales Roadmap
• Developing necessary marketing tools and materials
• Create data processes to analyze pipeline data and deliver key business insights on demand, pipeline forecast and trends, conversion rates, and anticipated sales for the year
• Develop and maintain accurate sales and fundraising forecasts to support revenue planning and decision-making and to identify opportunities for improvement
• Analyze revenue data and present findings to the executive team, providing actionable recommendations to drive revenue growth
• Consistently analyze and keep a pulse on the market opportunities, incorporating insights into growth strategy

In short, you will ensure that Lit is able to meet its double bottom line – having the margins to reach our mission - every kid, everywhere is a reader.

You are someone who has the following qualifications

• Professional with 6+ years of experience leading and/or growing a business development or fundraising team
• Master Networker: You are the person who can sit on an airplane and by the end of the trip, you have made an acquaintance or a business deal. You live to hear other people’s stories and exhibit deep curiosity about their aspirations, interests and history. You like to use that information to try and make connections and support your network in matching to business opportunities. You maintain deep relationships and networks from across the K-12 education sector. When you play the “degree of separation” game, you always find a common acquaintance.
• Expert Business Developer: You could lead a masterclass on how to develop a long-term, high-profit business development function. You are a skilled listener and use this to fully understand both the expressed needs and the underlying opportunities from each potential customer. Based on your in-depth knowledge of the programs, you match products to the customer needs and help the customer to understand why and how this will result in impact for their organization. You also are able to identify patterns across conversations with partners that you turn into important insights for the overall business development strategy. While you drive significant sales, partners would ultimately say that “customer service” is your middle name.
• Clock Builder (not a time teller): Both the questions you ask and the answers you seek center around the fact that you want to build a durable, long-lasting organization. You know that your role is not just about telling time on current prospects, rather building the clock so you can tell the time for prospect generation over time. You have a proven track record creating the structures, systems and processes to grow revenue across sales, marketing, partnerships, new-product development, and fundraising. You embody the unique ability to see the bigger picture and create detailed project plans and roll-up your sleeves to realize your vision.
• Strategic Leader: Your vision for the future of an organization takes into account best-in-class benchmarks, an analysis of the overall market, and a SWOT analysis of the organization. You have demonstrated success at developing and adjusting plans for increasing donor engagement and growing revenue, leveraging both quantitative and qualitative data to plan. You have a track record of building and refining systems and processes necessary to meet goals.

It would be a plus if you had:

• Technical experience with Customer Relationship Management platforms including FreshSales

You are someone who shares our values

• Be cosmically urgent: You move with cosmic urgency--the vital urge to change things in a way that will benefit all people so everyone feels a sense of “somebodyness.”
• Stay constantly curious: You ask “how might we?” when solving challenges.
• Pursue excellence over perfection: You prioritize individuals and the interactions that will move people to achieve outcomes over following a process that won’t get them there.
• Do hard things in a human way: You choose courage over comfort by facing difficult tasks and conversations rather than avoiding them.
• Invest in our collective success: You get your hands dirty; you will never say, “That’s not my job,” “That’s not my problem to solve,” or “I don’t care.”

Compensation

Compensation: This is a full-time staff, exempt position with an annual salary range of $121,000-$180,000. A compensation offer is based on relevant years of experience in relation to the position as well as location. Because of our strong commitment to equity and growth, Lit does not negotiate or place compensation offers at the top of the range.

Benefits: We provide all full-time employees with a competitive benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, and parental leave. We offer a generous PTO policy and holiday calendar. We also provide an employer-sponsored 401K retirement plan with an annual 3% match.

Perks: Lit offers perks such as paid rest days after work-related travel; stipends for wellness, working-from-home, and professional learning; a community with as much support as your heart desires; and much, much, more!

Expectations to know

Travel: Travel is an essential part of how we support our partners, collaborate with our team, and fulfill our mission. Schedule and timing for travel may vary by team and role, and may change as the company’s business needs continue to evolve. The Managing Director of Partnerships should expect to travel up to 35% of the year.