State Partnerships & Government Affairs Director

Role Overview

The State Partnerships & Government Affairs Director will help implement a multistate strategy to achieve Panorama Education’s growth objectives. This role will drive strategy and policy goals with State Education Agencies (SEAs) and national education organizations. The position reports to the Vice President of Government Affairs & State Partnerships and will collaborate cross-functionally to achieve goals. This role will focus on business development at the SEA level and possess a keen understanding of legislative, regulatory and policy implications for districts and schools.

Candidates must have experience with responsible decision making, building and exceptional experience in maintaining collaborative relationships both internally and externally in a complex and competitive SEA and Top 50 district education space.

The State Partnerships & Government Affairs Director will play a pivotal cross-functional role in helping design, implement, and coordinate the company’s strategic direction as it relates to outreach, messaging, and engagement with elected officials, government officials and their staff, SEAs, state Boards of Education and Top 50 district school boards. The successful candidate will deeply understand substantive state procurement processes and business issues affecting a leading education technology company. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Build and Maintain Key State Partnerships and Government Affairs Relationships.
• Develop and implement strategies to establish and maintain Panorama as a trusted partner with SEAs and top 50 district decision-makers. 
• Build and maintain relationships in assigned states with key stakeholders such as department of education leadership, legislators, governors and staff, education associations, and other strong state-level influencers and groups. Internal collaboration, and communication and coordination with Panorama’s revenue and marketing team is required as part of building and maintaining key external stakeholder relationships for this role. 
• Develop and deliver high level, dynamic presentations to further Panorama’s position in the state marketplace and national policy arena. 
• Participate in national education organizations and conferences to further the mission, goals, and policy agenda of Panorama. 
• Influence complex political situations in an agnostic manner. 
• Enterprise Sales and Product Support.
• Support the strategy for enterprise (Top 50 district and state) RFPs or state lists to successfully influence RFP/RFI language; effectively position Panorama’s  products and solutions in the state and district marketplace. 
• Demonstrate successful skills in strategic and consultative sales practices.
• Manage lobbyists in support of sales strategy as well as policy and advocacy goals.
• Translate complex customer business requirements and legislative/policy regulations for internal product development and product management teams.   
• Grant Funding.  
• Help lead sustainable grant funding work at Panorama to support states and top 50 districts in securing funding for our products and services. Support the sales team in finding state-level grant opportunities for our partners. Work with our marketing team to help build campaigns to support districts in capturing grant funding (federal and state) for our products and services.
• Education Policy Expertise and Support.
• Monitor and maintain knowledge of current education legislation and policy trends, and share that knowledge with relevant Panorama stakeholders as appropriate.
• Support Panorama policy campaigns and government affairs initiatives as needed. 
• The Director, State Partnerships & Government Affairs is expected to travel at least 25% of the time to attend meetings with SEAs, top 50 district decision-makers, government officials, and represent Panorama at education conferences.

The ideal candidate will exhibit qualifications including:

• Strong listening and communication skills – both oral and written 
• Strong interpersonal and customer centric skills 
• Ongoing learner – able to learn and incorporate new and complex concepts quickly Results oriented – follow through to complete assignments 
• Able to work independently, with minimal direction from a remote office 
• Ability to search for information through a variety of sources 
• High attention to detail and ability to follow complicated directions 
• Effective decision making, ownership, and accountability 
• Able to handle ambiguity and favorably navigate through pressing deadlines 
• Able to coordinate with external partners and internal staff in a collaborative team environment
• Demonstrate integrity, ethical standards, and a professional demeanor 
• Strong organizational and time management skills along with the ability to multitask 
• A self-starter, disciplined and competitive professional 
• Comfortable in a fast-paced environment 
• Excellent problem solving and analytical capability  

Minimum Candidate Qualifications 

• 8+ years of relevant government affairs and/or state or district education leadership experience, with proven relationship and coalition building skills 
• Advanced degree in Education Policy or Education Leadership
• Political relationship expertise, which may include federal or state legislators and education government agencies 
• Experience managing lobbyists and negotiating sponsorships with national partners in the education policy space
• Demonstrated understanding of substantive policy issues in the education, technology, or privacy sectors 
• A track record of ownership in managing objectives and engaging with stakeholders, both internal and external 
• Experience in responding to state-level RFPs and grants

The base salary range for this role is $130,500-$174,000