Senior Director, Terrain Lead, Research Advisory Services (Higher Ed Advancement & Strategy)

About EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.

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EAB is the leading global provider of research and advice to higher education and K-12 institutions. Our research programs help executives at client organizations educate stakeholders, make research-informed decisions, and speed implementation of industry best practices.

EAB Research Advisory Services (RAS) is a division within our research business, providing consultative support and expert advice to our education clients. RAS staff work directly with boards, presidents, and other senior academic and business leaders to help them make meaningful and strategic process toward their most pressing financial and mission-consequential issues. Through strong communication and storytelling, RAS provides high-impact, outcome-focused presentations, workshops, and unscripted conversations to help partners understand and implement EAB’s advice.

We deliver our advice to clients through virtual meetings, onsite at client institutions, expert phone consultations, and peer conferences. In addition to working with current clients, our advisors also support sales efforts in new client development.

This position will spend about 80% of time in the market, working with partners both in-person and virtually.

This hire may be based in Washington, DC and is also open to remote employment within the continental United States. The position requires 40-50% travel.

This role is listed as “Senior Director, Research Advisory Services Terrain Lead (Higher Ed Advancement & Strategy)” for posting purposes; the official and internal title of this hire is expected to be “Senior Director, Research Advisory Services” to align with business norms. Research Advisory Services terrain leads and team members bring specific subject matter expertise as well as an understanding of the broader higher education landscape to extend meaningful support to EAB’s partners and prospective partners both within and across terrains.

Work directly with Partners to diagnose their problems, challenge their assumptions, guide decisions, and suggest solutions. Deliver EAB’s point of view and advice through phone consultations, virtual meetings, conferences, and on campus presentations to:

• Make EAB insights and data accessible and impactful for our partners, bringing clarity and context to their understanding of their challenges;

• Present partners with new ideas and potential solutions to those challenges and advocate for adoption;

• Act as an expert outside voice, building consensus and educating committees and staff.

Combine functional knowledge with an understanding of higher ed’s unique organizational dynamics, enabling partners to set strategy, lead their institutions, and manage their operations more effectively:

•  By diagnosing and giving voice to dynamics that are often felt, but not addressed;

• By supporting leaders as they align effort and teams around institutional priorities;

• By pathing partners through ranges of viable solutions and their pros and cons;

• By recommending paths for improvement and serving as their guides and accountability partners as they progress;

• By connecting partner institutions and creating learning experiences.

• Bachelor's degree.
• Minimum 8-10 years of post-graduate professional experience in higher education, research, or management consulting.
• Experience working with Chief Advancement Officers, Corporate Foundation Relations leaders, or Strategy leads at a college, university, or similarly positioned enterprise.
• In-depth understanding of education industry and the specific role that senior institution leadership has in setting strategy and decision making in areas such as transformation; advancement and fundraising strategy; campaign readiness and execution; and donor and alumni engagement.
• Superior verbal, written, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Ability to create a compelling narrative through data visualization, graphics, and slides.
• Excellent relationship building and collaboration skills: ability to build relationships with, engage and challenge senior-level executives.

• Advanced degree.
• Demonstrated ability to distill market and terrain insights, drawing on client interactions.
• Experience producing written content and deliverables for an executive-level audience (e.g., blogs, social media feeds, reports, briefings).
• Commitment to embracing a continual learning environment and contributing to a dynamic and welcoming culture of fairness, authenticity, and belonging in support of EAB’s mission, values, and aspiration

If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome new perspectives and learn from each other’s unique experiences. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.