Partnerships & Business Development Lead

About Crimson Education

Crimson Education is a global EdTech company founded in 2013 with the idea that through personalised education and technology, we can transform students into the world leaders of tomorrow. We’re the world’s leading college admissions consultancy, with over 1,330 Ivy League offers and 2,140 to the US Top 15. With a passionate team of 800+ that's rapidly expanding across 30 markets, our unique tech platform connects expert-led guidance and proven data-driven strategies from 3,000 tutors and mentors with students worldwide. We help ambitious students unlock their dream career pathways, and Crimson students are 7x more likely to get into the Ivy League. What sets us apart is our unmatched scale and expertise. We have the largest team of Former Admissions Officers and College Counselors globally. Every student is matched with a carefully-chosen team of admissions experts who laser focus on different parts of their college application — from essays to extracurriculars — ensuring every detail is expertly executed. Valued at over $1B NZD and backed by over $147M NZD in funding from top-tier global investors, including Tiger Global and Ice House Ventures, we are just getting started. We were recently featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Crimson Education is seeking an experienced Partnerships & Business Development Lead to drive strategic growth initiatives across the United States. This role will be responsible for developing, managing, and scaling partnerships and business development relationships that contribute directly to revenue growth and brand expansion. This is a full-time position, fully remote position, based in the United States.

The Partnerships & Business Development Lead will contribute to identifying, negotiating, and executing strategic partnerships and business development agreements with institutions, organizations, and aligned businesses. The role requires strong commercial judgment, stakeholder management, and ownership of revenue derived from partnerships. This position will work cross-functionally with internal teams and report to senior leadership.

Main Responsibilities for this Role

Partnerships

• Identify and develop strategic partnerships with relevant institutions, associations, and organizations
• Support the negotiation, structuring, and execution of partnership agreements
• Coordinate partnership lifecycle activities, including onboarding, performance evaluation, and renewal
• Organize and oversee partnership-led initiatives and events, both in-person and virtual
• Track partnership performance and prepare regular reports for internal stakeholders
• Maintain and expand existing partnerships to drive sustained value and growth
• Act as the primary relationship manager for all assigned partners

Business Development

• Identify and secure new business development relationships aligned with Crimson’s target market
• Negotiate and formalize business development agreements that deliver measurable commercial outcomes
• Develop long-term relationships with established businesses serving a similar client demographic
• Maximize revenue opportunities through strategic alliances, referrals, and co-marketing initiatives
• Collaborate with partners to design and deliver joint events and engagement activities

Key Performance Indicators

• Number and quality of new partnerships and business development relationships secured
• Revenue generated through partnerships and business development channels
• Effectiveness of partnership tracking, reporting, and performance measurement
• Successful negotiation and execution of contracts and commercial agreements
• Ongoing communication and alignment with internal and external stakeholders
• Leadership and coordination of partnership marketing resources
• Delivery and impact of live and virtual partnership and business development events

Required Skills and Experience

• 3-5 years of experience in partnerships and business development or strategic alliances
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with experience owning partnership revenue or growth targets
• Experience leading or supporting partnership-driven events
• Ability to build and maintain stakeholder relationships and support agreement negotiations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Highly organized with strong analytical and reporting capabilities
• Experience managing high-value or long-cycle partnership relationships

Bonus Points If You Have...

• Experience in education, professional services, or premium client-focused industries
• Comfort working cross-functionally with marketing and sales teams

Why Work for Crimson Education?

• Rapidly growing start-up, with a flexible working environment where you will be empowered to structure how you work
• Limitless development and exposure - our internal promotions/role changes made up 33% of all recruitment last year
• $1000 individual training budget per year, we love to ‘Level Up’ (it’s one of our core values)!
• Psychologist on staff
• Insightful fireside chats and workshops to help support our high-performing and ambitious team
• Radical Candor is a feedback approach we live by
• We’re a global player with 28 markets (and growing) across the globe. Most roles have the option to work from one of our many offices or remotely!

Key skills/competency

• Partnership Management
• Business Development
• Strategic Alliances
• Revenue Growth
• Negotiation
• Stakeholder Management
• Commercial Acumen
• Analytical Reporting
• Relationship Building
• EdTech Industry Knowledge