Sr. Manager Strategic Partnerships & Alliances

Job Description

Senior Manager Strategic Partnerships & Alliances
• Organization: Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
• Location: Gurgaon, India
• Experience: 8 - 10 years of experience in corporate alliances or strategic partnerships.
• Role Type: Full-time / Mid-to-Senior Management
About Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) is an educational foundation and a world-renowned organisation established to promote science, mathematics, computer education & AI, and English language skills among school children. For over three decades, SOF has been the pioneer in organising large-scale competitive examinations, connecting with millions of students across thousands of schools globally.As we expand our footprint and evolve our offerings into Classroom-to-Career talent ecosystems, we are looking for a high-calibre partnerships leader to bridge the gap between academic achievement and corporate/institutional opportunity.Position OverviewWe are seeking an entrepreneurial, strategic, and highly networked Sr Manager Strategic Partnerships & Alliances with 810 years of experience. In this role, you will be responsible for designing, negotiating, and executing high-impact collaborations with corporate giants, leading tech firms, premier higher-education institutes, and global skilling ecosystems.The ideal candidate will know how to monetise and leverage SOFs massive distribution network while protecting our strict academic and school-compliance boundaries. You will move away from transactional event sponsorship and instead focus on building deeply integrated, multi-year talent pipelines, teacher capacity-building programs, and early-career pathway ecosystems.Key Responsibilities
1. Strategic Partnership Development
• Identify, pitch, and secure high-value partnerships with major corporate entities, technology companies, global ed-tech players, and universities.
• Design custom collaboration frameworks that map corporate talent needs to SOFs unique student base.
• Transform standard outreach budgets into structured, multi-layer talent discovery initiatives.
1. Ecosystem & Institutional Alliances
• Build and maintain relationships with premier educational bodies, global universities, and academic partners to enhance the value proposition for SOF participants.
• Structure Hub-and-Spoke engagement models that enable partner brands to interact meaningfully with schools, educators, and parents without disrupting institutional compliance.
• Lead alliances focused on teacher enablement, including co-developing digital resource kits, capacity-building webinars, and micro-credentials.
1. Deal Structuring & Commercial Negotiation
• Own the entire partnership lifecycle: from lead generation, proposal writing, and senior-level pitching to contract legalities and financial closure.
• Ensure all commercial models align with SOFs financial objectives while maximizing ROI for the partner.
• Collaborate with internal legal and compliance teams to draft robust Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and partnership agreements.
1. Program Execution & Governance
• Act as the primary interface between partner stakeholders and SOFs cross-functional execution teams (Operations, IT, Marketing, and School Coordination).
• Monitor, analyze, and report on the performance of alliance initiatives, ensuring all milestones are met with strict adherence to quality.
• Run post-campaign analytical reviews to showcase partnership outcomes, retention metrics, and future scale possibilities to executive leadership.
Required Profile & Competencies
• Education: MBA or Masters degree from a Tier-1/Tier-2 business school in Marketing, Strategy, International Business, or a related field.
• Proven Track Record: 810 years of professional experience, with at least 5 years explicitly dedicated to managing strategic partnerships, large corporate accounts, or high-value B2B alliances. Experience within the EdTech, Corporate Training, Higher Education, or Enterprise Software/SaaS ecosystems is highly preferred.
• The Consultative Sales Mindset: Ability to pitch intangible, ecosystem-level ideas to C-level executives (CXOs, HR Heads, CSR Directors). You must be comfortable selling value and access, not just banner space.
• Exceptional Communication: Stellar verbal and written communication skills. The candidate must be adept at building elegant, crisp executive proposals and tabular alignment frameworks.
• Negotiation & Legal Acumen: Deep understanding of structuring complex financial agreements, joint ventures, or multi-year marketing alliances.
• Execution Focus: A rare combination of high-level strategic thinking and a hands-on, execution-focused work ethic.

Keyskills :
strategic planningbusiness planningalliancessponsorship strategycommercial negotiationssponsorship