Strategic Partnerships Manager

The context:

Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school – but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.

About us:

We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250,000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and now Rwanda.

Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools. In June 2024, one of our private schools in Sierra Leone - Rising Academy Waterloo - was shortlisted in the Top 10 for the World's Best School Prizes in the Overcoming Adversity category. Sierra Leone's Minister for Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Hon. Mr. Conrad Sackey, helped announce this honor.

We have recently closed our Series A funding round and won a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to accelerate the development of our digital ed-tech solutions for low-income students across the globe. Our ‘Bambai’ suite of digital tools already includes a school information system, school observation tool, chatbot tutor, accelerated learning program and teacher coaching app. This is just the start. We want to expand our range of digital products to help improve the quality of education for millions of students around the world. If you want to make a difference to the lives of teachers, students and parents, then we are the right place for you.

About the role:

Over the last few years, we’ve been seeing increasing demand from governments, other education organisations and private schools to get access to the digital tools that power Rising’s schools. Tools like Rori, our multi-award-winning virtual maths tutor. We are looking for a highly competent Strategic Partnerships Manager to help maximize the interest in our tools, and ensure our digital products are reaching as many schools and students as possible, and building more and more evidence of efficacy and impact.

The Strategic Partnerships Manager will:

• Identify and Develop Opportunities: Proactively identify and establish new Rori PPP partnership opportunities, aiming to reach more than 50,000 children by September 2025
• Manage and Track Prospects: Ensure opportunities linked to Rising’s Digital tools are accurately tracked in Rising’s BD Tracker, and effectively communicate updates to relevant teams.
• Project Manage Partnerships: Oversee Rori opportunities through to project inception, converting them into school-based partnerships and ensuring pilots meet agreed start dates and milestones.
• Enhance Partner Engagement: Foster strong relationships with partners, ensuring they are enthusiastic about Rori, understand project results and are satisfied with communication and reporting.
• Expand and Transition Contracts: Collaborate with Delivery Teams to transition successful pilots into full multi-year contracts, expanding partnership scope and impact.
• Work Independently and Collaborate: Demonstrate strong independent work capabilities while embracing collaboration with internal teams and stakeholders, managing a varied and busy workload effectively.

Location and reporting:

This role can either be a full-time or long term consultancy position. The role can be done as a fully remote role, or from one of Rising’s operating countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia). The role will report directly to Rising’s Chief Strategy Officer.

Application deadline: Target start date for this role is November 2024.

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience:

• Proven track record of success in business development, fundraising, sales or related roles, preferably within the international education or edtech space.
• Great networks and strong in strategic partnerships.
• Minimum university level undergraduate degree. A Masters degree is preferable, but not required.
• Relevant certifications in business development, project management, or sales can be advantageous.

About You:

• Passionate about Rising’s mission and excited by the Rising’s digital tools.
• The ability to coordinate and influence, so that Rising is effectively managing and growing it’s portfolio of funders and partners
• You excel at building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, both external partners and internal teams
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey Rising’s mission and goals to potential donors or clients.
• Strategic thinking skills to identify opportunities and create plans to achieve fundraising or business development goals, including identifying target audiences, developing fundraising strategies, and evaluating the success of campaigns.
• You have the ability to develop and manage project budgets with precision.
• You are a quick learner who stays informed about organizational changes and industry trends.
• Creativity in developing new ways to generate revenue and support for the organisation, such as through innovative fundraising events, campaigns, or partnerships.
• Strong organisational skills to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously, including setting priorities, managing deadlines, and keeping track of project progress.
• Flexibility and adaptability to changing circumstances, including adjusting fundraising strategies or business development plans based on feedback or market changes.

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits.

Rising’s goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.

The benefits we offer are built to have a strong added value on our staff’s well-being and we are excited to discuss this further with you in the process.

Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.

Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.