Director of Partnerships (Full-Cycle Sales)

About the Constructive Dialogue Institute

The Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to heal the deep divisions tearing our country apart. We build educational tools to transform college campuses into inclusive learning environments that support dialogue across differences. To accomplish this goal, CDI translates the latest behavioral science research into educational resources that are evidence-based, practical, and scalable for campus leaders, administrators, faculty, staff, and students. While our educational tools are built primarily for use in higher education, they are also used in workplaces and high schools.

CDI was co-founded by psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the bestselling author of The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind. Since launching in 2017, our tools have been in more than 600 educational institutions and workplaces across the country.

About our values

At CDI, we believe in the power of dialogue to bridge divides. We expect team members to engage respectfully with diverse perspectives and to approach conversations with curiosity and respect, including when encountering perspectives that may be challenging or contrary to one's own. This approach is vital to our effort to be perceived as truly non-partisan by our audience. If you are passionate about reducing political polarization and can demonstrate an authentic commitment to engaging respectfully with a broad spectrum of political beliefs, we encourage you to apply.

About the role

The Director of Partnerships will oversee CDI’s efforts to scale our programs by developing high-impact, strategically-aligned, partnerships. The Director will be responsible for leading outreach to prospective partners and managing inbound leads generated from CDI’s brand awareness, thought leadership, and referrals. In all cases, the Director must quickly build authentic relationships, move discussions through the sales/partnership development cycle, and secure partnership commitments in order to reach CDI’s partnership and earned revenue goals. For higher ed partnerships, the Director of Partnerships will effectively hand off the relationship to the Director of Program Implementation once the partnership is confirmed. For partners in CDI’s secondary sectors, the Director of Partnerships will provide ongoing support for simple workplace, government, and K12 engagements. The Director will also represent CDI at conferences, networking events, and other convenings (both virtual and in-person), with the goal of connecting with key decision-makers within higher education and CDI’s secondary sectors (high school, public service, and corporate). The Director of Partnerships will report directly to the VP of Growth and will work closely with the VP on outreach, relationship building, and partnership scoping. The Director will likely travel 3-5 days per month.

Roles and Responsibilities

Relationship Stewardship

• Expand CDI’s network of potential partners and collaborators through outreach and networking, with a focus on campuses and organizations that could most benefit from CDI’s programs and resources.
• Manage inbound inquiries, ensuring timely and effective follow-up to nurture quality leads and potential partnerships.
• Evaluate and filter leads and opportunities based on CDI's priorities, capacity, and decision-making criteria.
• For inbound inquiries and leads generated at external events and through networking, create and maintain records in HubSpot, provide consistent follow-up, and always follow through on commitments in a timely manner.
• Develop close relationships that can be effectively handed off to the Director of Program Implementation.
• Collaborate with the Operations team to steward partners through contracting and billing processes.

Represent CDI at Conferences and Convenings

• Serve as an effective spokesperson for CDI at conferences, public speaking engagements, and networking events. Quickly and inspiringly communicate CDI’s mission, vision, and industry-leading resources.
• Build rapport and generate high-quality partnership leads with key decision-makers and potential partners.
• Log and track leads and relevant notes at events and conferences to facilitate effective follow-up.

Implementation Management

• For partners in CDI’s secondary sectors (high school, public service, corporate), confirm partnerships that can be impactful, self-sustaining, and implemented without major bespoke programming.
• Provide support to these partners throughout implementation and renewal.

Strategy and Growth

• Lead the development of CDI’s outreach strategies, with a focus on high-leverage opportunities that efficiently use limited budgets for conferences, travel, and sponsorship.
• Center CDI’s partnership development and earned revenue goals in all activities, track investments of capacity and funds towards those goals. Provide analysis to the VP of Growth and the whole CDI team on the effectiveness of each strategy to inform future strategies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with Growth team members and cross-departmentally to align goals and seamlessly execute CDI programming.
• Foster open communication and coordination to enhance cross-functional collaboration.

Job requirements

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of experience in sales, partnership development, or related roles within nonprofit organizations, EdTech, or higher education
• Highly effective and engaging communicator and public speaker
• Exceptionally skilled at building authentic, long-lasting relationships
• Ability to quickly identify opportunities most aligned with CDI’s strategy and understand a potential partner’s context and needs
• Proficiency in CRM software, ideally HubSpot, and project management tools like Asana
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks, priorities, and stakeholders simultaneously
• Demonstrated understanding of the complexity and importance of dialogue work, particularly on college campuses
• Experience with startups or small, agile teams; curious and fast learner
• U.S.-based with valid U.S. work authorization

Why work with us

• A Mission-Driven Culture — we practice what we preach, so our internal culture is rooted in intellectual humility, continuous improvement, and open-mindedness
• Remote-First — CDI was founded as a remote-first organization, and we work hard to foster a strong culture across vast distances—we also gather in-person twice a year for team-building and collaboration!
• Compensation — salary ranging from $110,000 - $140,000, commensurate with expertise and experience
• Unlimited PTO
• Other Benefits — employer-supported health, vision and dental plans, subsidized parental leave, 401(k) program (not matched), short- and long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance, flexible spending account (FSA), $1,000 annual professional development budget; more details here.

Studies have shown that women and people of color may be less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every qualification. We simply want to find the best candidate for the job, and encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every qualification. We especially want to hear from you if you share our passion for dialogue and bridging divides!

Referral Bonus

Know someone perfect for this role? Refer them, and you could receive a $2,000 bonus! The candidate just needs to note your referral in their application, and you'll receive the bonus after they've been on the team for 6 months.