Executive Director, Harmony Academy

📋 Description

• • As the Executive Director of Harmony Academy, you will be the pivotal senior operating and revenue leader, tasked with driving national expansion and scaling the academy's impact. This role is central to achieving ambitious growth targets through a sophisticated blend of integrated sales execution, exceptional client success leadership, strategic partnership development, and astute growth market expansion.
• • You will hold ultimate accountability for end-to-end revenue performance, encompassing new business acquisition, client renewals, expansion opportunities, and the cultivation of multi-year partnerships. Simultaneously, you will ensure the high-quality implementation of Harmony Academy's offerings and the delivery of measurable, positive impact for school districts, state education systems, and national partners.
• • This position demands leadership of a cohesive go-to-market and delivery engine. You will oversee field sales teams, client success initiatives, strategic partnership efforts, and the overarching growth market strategy. Furthermore, you will provide dotted-line leadership to critical functions such as Sales Operations and Inside Sales, ensuring seamless integration and alignment with revenue objectives.
• • Your core responsibility will be meeting and exceeding annual revenue goals, maintaining robust renewal rates, and significantly scaling Harmony Academy's reach to impact an ambitious target of 6 million students annually. This will be achieved through a diversified revenue model including commercial contracts, philanthropic support, and strategic partnerships.
• • The role is benchmarked against market-leading expectations for senior executives in the edtech and education publishing sectors, requiring strong P&L ownership, proven enterprise sales leadership, a disciplined approach to renewals, adeptness in managing partner ecosystems, and the capacity for cross-functional execution at scale.
• • Sales Leadership & Revenue Performance:
• • Take full ownership of annual and multi-year revenue targets for Harmony Academy across diverse client segments, including school districts, state education agencies, national organizations, and large enterprise partners.
• • Lead and strategically direct the field sales organization, defining territory strategies, segmenting accounts, establishing quota structures, and optimizing coverage models to align with overarching growth priorities.
• • Ensure robust pipeline coverage, maintaining a healthy 3–4× ratio, and achieve forecast accuracy within a strict ±10% margin. Drive disciplined execution across all phases of the sales cycle.
• • Establish and rigorously enforce enterprise selling standards, emphasizing excellence in discovery, sophisticated solution design, executive-level alignment, compelling value articulation, and clear definition of next steps.
• • Collaborate closely with Finance and Product teams to oversee pricing and packaging strategies, ensuring both margin discipline and scalability of offerings.
• • Develop and execute targeted expansion and upsell strategies, directly linked to client adoption, demonstrated outcomes, and proactive renewal readiness.
• • Proactively investigate complex sales challenges, conduct thorough analysis of market trends and performance data, and formulate strategic initiatives to accelerate revenue growth.
• • Client Success, Retention & Expansion:
• • Define and lead the Client Success strategy in close collaboration with Academies leadership, ensuring that solutions sold are implemented with fidelity and that client retention is achieved at scale.
• • Own the critical metrics of renewal health, expansion readiness, and overall customer lifecycle performance across all key accounts.
• • Ensure seamless alignment between sales commitments, implementation scope, launch timelines, adoption metrics, and desired success outcomes.
• • Prioritize the development of strong reference accounts, compelling case studies, and impactful proof points that directly support ongoing sales efforts and partnership growth.
• • Leverage usage data, client health scores, and outcome measures to inform renewal strategies and identify opportunities for growth.
• • Strategic Partnerships & Philanthropic Scale:
• • Identify, structure, and scale national, state, district, and channel partnerships that serve as accelerators for both revenue generation and programmatic reach. This includes collaborations with associations, foundations, systems integrators, and national nonprofits.
• • Lead the development of Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), multi-year agreements, referral and channel models, and co-marketing strategies, all tied to measurable revenue outcomes.
• • Oversee the P&L performance of partnership-driven initiatives, including the planning for expansion and the establishment of renewal pathways.
• • Collaborate with NU Advancement and Fundraising Academy teams to secure philanthropic-aligned contracts that facilitate large-scale student reach, with a specific target of impacting 6 million students annually.
• • Establish robust executive governance structures, sponsor mapping, and clear escalation pathways to effectively navigate and resolve complexities in multi-stakeholder deals.
• • Growth Markets & Expansion Strategy:
• • Define and execute strategic initiatives for priority growth markets, encompassing geographic regions, market segments, and industry verticals, ensuring alignment with the NU Academies’ strategic plan.
• • Develop comprehensive multi-year market entry and expansion strategies for large urban districts, state education systems, and national platforms.
• • Lead the development and execution of conference participation, thought-leadership initiatives, and field-based strategies designed to position Harmony Academy as a recognized category leader in areas such as belonging, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), and whole-child outcomes.
• • Partner effectively with Marketing and Product teams to translate market signals into actionable roadmap priorities and ensure launch readiness for new initiatives.
• • Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, & Inside Sales (Dotted Line):
• • Provide executive oversight, via a dotted-line reporting structure, to Sales Operations and Inside Sales functions, ensuring their activities are tightly aligned with revenue goals and field execution requirements.
• • Hold accountability for the effectiveness of Salesforce as the definitive single source of truth for pipeline management, forecasting accuracy, sales velocity, and conversion rates.
• • Establish clear governance standards for sales stages, data hygiene, forecasting processes, and deal inspection protocols.
• • Lead critical monthly and quarterly business reviews with executive leadership, translating operational performance data into actionable insights, identifying risks, and proposing strategic adjustments.
• • Manage executive-level deal governance in conjunction with the Finance department, including approval processes, discount guardrails, and margin checks.
• • Cross-Functional Leadership & People Leadership:
• • Act as the senior integrator, fostering seamless collaboration across Field Sales, Client Success, Marketing, Product, Finance, and Operations teams.
• • Ensure organizational alignment around key revenue priorities, client outcomes, and the imperative for scalable execution.
• • Provide crucial market-driven insights to the Product team to inform roadmap development, packaging strategies, and future innovation efforts.
• • Cultivate a high-performance culture characterized by accountability, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous learning. Model inclusive leadership practices and establish clear performance expectations for all team members.
• • Lead, mentor, and develop the Field Management Team, encompassing leadership across Field Sales, Client Success, and Strategic Partnerships.
• • Build and sustain a high-performance sales organization and an accountable culture grounded in the principles of belonging, clarity, and results.
• • Set unambiguous performance expectations, provide ongoing coaching and development, and conduct annual performance evaluations.
• • Represent National University and Harmony Academy with executive presence, unwavering integrity, and a clear strategic vision.
• • Undertake other assigned duties as required to support the mission and objectives of the organization.