[Remote] Founding Head of Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem Growth

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Actual Education is a stealth-stage startup focused on building an ecosystem at the intersection of artificial intelligence and education. They are seeking a Founding Head of Strategic Partnerships & Ecosystem Growth to help establish strategic partnerships and develop the ecosystem from the ground up, engaging with various stakeholders to create long-term institutional value.

Responsibilities

• Identify and engage high-value partners across corporations, universities, foundations, investors, governments, accelerators, training institutions, and innovation ecosystems
• Build a global partnership pipeline across priority cities, sectors, and strategic categories
• Develop partner targeting strategies for education institutions, workforce organizations, entrepreneurship programs, AI communities, research networks, and professional ecosystems
• Create structured outreach systems that generate qualified conversations with senior decision-makers
• Build repeatable partnership processes from first contact to meeting, pilot, collaboration, and long-term relationship
• Maintain organized tracking systems for targets, conversations, follow-ups, priorities, and outcomes
• Reach founders, executives, university leaders, investors, program directors, ecosystem builders, and institutional decision-makers
• Use warm introductions, cold outreach, events, communities, and network mapping to create strategic conversations
• Represent the startup in high-level conversations with external stakeholders
• Build trust quickly with sophisticated partners who may not yet understand the category
• Turn ambiguous opportunities into concrete next steps
• Help leadership enter every major conversation with clear context, partner intelligence, and strategic positioning
• Identify exceptional individuals and organizations globally who should become part of the ecosystem
• Help expand the network of founders, researchers, investors, educators, operators, students, and future builders
• Support the launch of new programs, competitions, events, partner pilots, city initiatives, and ecosystem collaborations
• Help design partnership models that create value for the startup, the partner, and the broader capability network
• Convert conversations into collaborations, collaborations into projects, and projects into measurable ecosystem growth
• Help build a long-term global institution, not just a short-term product
• Help clarify how the startup should be presented to different partner categories
• Translate a complex AI-era capability system into language that institutions, investors, universities, and ecosystem partners can understand
• Identify which messaging angles resonate with different audiences
• Help refine partnership materials, outreach language, pitch narratives, briefing memos, and follow-up documents
• Bring market feedback back into the organization to improve strategy and execution
• Help create early pilots, joint events, institutional collaborations, talent programs, research conversations, and strategic initiatives
• Support partnership models with training institutions, universities, professional communities, startup accelerators, and city-level ecosystem partners
• Help move relationships from exploratory conversations into signed agreements, pilot programs, and long-term initiatives
• Identify partners who can become long-term nodes in the global ecosystem
• Support ecosystem expansion across multiple countries and priority markets

Skills

• Experience in strategic partnerships, business development, ecosystem growth, venture networks, corporate innovation, founder's office, community building, or growth leadership
• Proven ability to build relationships with high-value individuals and institutions
• Ability to move from introduction to meeting, from meeting to collaboration, and from collaboration to long-term value
• Strong instinct for which relationships matter and how to activate them
• Ability to create opportunities without waiting for a fully defined playbook
• Comfort operating in a founding-stage environment where the path does not yet exist
• Strong interpersonal judgment and executive presence
• Ability to communicate credibly with founders, investors, executives, academics, policy leaders, and institutional partners
• Skilled at building trust with sophisticated stakeholders
• Able to represent an ambitious early-stage project with professionalism and confidence
• Strong follow-through and relationship management discipline
• Comfortable asking for introductions, creating momentum, and moving conversations forward
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to explain complex ideas clearly and powerfully
• Strong sense of positioning, framing, and audience psychology
• Ability to make a new category feel concrete, urgent, and credible
• Strong judgment about when to educate, when to listen, and when to move toward action
• Ability to prepare thoughtful outreach, briefing notes, partnership memos, and meeting follow-ups
• Resourceful, proactive, and comfortable building from zero
• Able to operate independently while working closely with leadership
• Strong organizational systems and pipeline discipline
• Comfortable balancing strategy with hands-on execution
• Able to manage multiple partner conversations at once
• High ownership, high accountability, and high discretion
• Strong interest in AI, education, workforce development, human capability, entrepreneurship, or future talent systems
• Curious about how institutions will evolve as AI changes the value of knowledge and skills
• Excited by the challenge of helping define a new category
• Motivated by building a long-term ecosystem rather than simply closing short-term deals
• Relevant experience may come from: Strategic Partnerships, Ecosystem Development, Venture Capital Networks, Startup Accelerators, Founder's Office, Corporate Innovation, Business Development, Community Building, Growth Leadership, University Entrepreneurship Programs, Global Talent Networks, Education or Workforce Development, AI, EdTech, or Future of Work Platforms
• Existing network across founders, investors, universities, accelerators, corporations, or innovation ecosystems
• Experience building partnerships across multiple countries or regions
• Experience launching new programs, summits, competitions, accelerators, fellowships, or ecosystem initiatives
• Experience working directly with founders or executive leadership
• Experience with strategic outbound, relationship mapping, and high-level institutional outreach
• Experience in AI, education, workforce transformation, talent assessment, or future of work
• Experience creating partnerships with universities, training institutions, foundations, or government-adjacent organizations
• Experience using CRM tools, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo, Airtable, HubSpot, Notion, or similar systems
• Ability to travel occasionally for important meetings, conferences, ecosystem events, or partner development
• Chinese language proficiency is a plus, but not required

Benefits

• Competitive salary, performance incentives, and significant long-term upside for exceptional candidates

Company Overview