Senior Scholarship Advisor (Remote - Option for Hybrid in MN)

Are you passionate about making a difference? Would you like to spend your working hours changing lives and building a better world? Do you want to help eliminate barriers to higher education for students in need? Consider joining the amazing team at Scholarship America, where we're hard at work creating brighter futures for students-and growing our impact so we can do even more.

As a Senior Scholarship Advisor (SSA), you will serve as a strategic partner to senior leaders at Fortune 500 companies, foundations, and donors, managing relationships while influencing and shaping innovative scholarship programs. The Senior Scholarship Advisor has two core responsibilities: sales and account management of scholarship programs. Senior Scholarship Advisors respond to incoming leads (prospective sponsors) seeking scholarship management services and/or design of new scholarship programs. SSAs manage the sales process - including scholarship design - from lead to deal closing. SSAs also generate leads via referrals from existing scholarship sponsors, as well as formal referrals, channel partners, and their own networks.

In addition to managing and executing a sales pipeline, a Senior Scholarship Advisor is responsible for working directly with assigned Key Sponsors as a trusted advisor and complex, high-profile scholarship and education assistance programs requiring creativity, strategic insight, and strong cross-functional collaboration. In this external-facing position, the Senior Scholarship Advisor serves as the primary contact and relationship manager for identified sponsors with overall responsibility for their retention and profitable growth, collaborating and consulting with other members within the organization to ensure the highest level of relationship management while proactively identifying creative solutions and program improvements to protect the user experience for our Key Sponsors and scholarship applicants.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

• Responds to incoming leads, creates proposals, and closes new deals, managing personal sales pipeline and designing innovative new scholarship programs
• Manages relationships with assigned Key Sponsor(s), working as a trusted partner to retain and grow those relationships by providing updates, recommending improvements, and managing the annual reporting and contract renewal process.
• Meets with prospective and current sponsors, primarily by video/phone and as needed in person, to understand their goals, connect them to the SAI mission, and design tailored, creative solutions that inspire sponsor engagement.
• Creates and delivers high-impact presentations, proposals, conceptual agreements, and other executive-level materials for sponsors, demonstrating both subject-matter expertise and creativity.
• May provide operational insight on new feature requests as a part of the organization's standard prioritization processes.
• Position may require approximately 10-20% travel.

These essential and additional job functions are not to be construed as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job-related marginal duties as assigned.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Strong background with strategic relationships at senior levels of client organizations, including demonstrated ability to drive opportunities independently throughout a grant or sales cycle to reach successful conclusion
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively, efficiently, and cooperatively with other people cross-functionally in on-site and virtual environment; strong time management & prioritization skills to manage competing priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to present key concepts and recommendations to with executive presence to senior external audiences, including C-suite executives, in both formal and informal settings, through effective professional communication skills (verbal, written, and visual).
• Proficiency with CRMs, MS Office Suite (including PowerPoint and Excel), and familiarity with AI tools and Canva, with the ability to craft polished, creative sponsor-facing materials. Bachelor's Degree in areas such as business, marketing, or education - or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years' experience working in a advising or managing senior external clients, strategic partners, or C-suite leaders in complex, relationship-driven roles
• A passion for improving student outcomes and a commitment to serving students with financial need.

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Proven success achieving revenue targets in the form of sales, grants, or government contracts
• Experience managing high profile or senior clients
• Previous account management experience or complex stakeholder management experience
• Industry association experience

Full Pay range: Exempt ($70,900 - $88,600 - $106,300)

This is the pay range for our staff in this position, from entry to fully independent and proficient in the role utilizing our propriety systems and processes. The candidate selected for this position will be offered a wage applicable to their background and skill set as aligned to our business. This will result in an initial offer between $70,900 - $90,000 annually. In addition, this position will participate in our 2025 Scholarship Design Incentive Plan (with an annual target incentive compensation of $10,000) to reward staff for successfully achieving their annual growth targets for our organization.

Application deadline: September 7th, 2025

At Scholarship America, our team members are motivated by our core values: Student Impact, Teamwork, Inclusion and Curiosity. Our vision is to empower an America where those with the most need have the opportunity to thrive through equitable pathways to education and training, and we are seeking fantastic team members to make that happen.

We know the best person for the job could be anywhere, and that's why this position can work remotely within the continental United States or in a hybrid manner from either our office in Bloomington or Saint Peter, MN. Our employees enjoy a team-based, flexible work schedule, allowing them to flex around our core hours of Monday-Friday from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Central Time. Scholarship America is committed to our team's work/life balance, and our strong learning and development culture supports knowledge growth and professional development for all employees across foundational and job-specific skills.

This position is only open to candidates who reside in the United States during their employment. Applicants outside the U.S. will not be considered.

Scholarship America offers employees a robust total rewards package, focused on supporting their health and well-being now and in the future. We offer comprehensive choices for the following:

• Insurance (medical, dental, vision, basic life)
• Disability (short-term & long-term)
• Flexible spending accounts (medical & dependent care)
• 403(b) retirement fund with a 3% company match

In addition to schedule flexibility, we also provide paid time away from work (vacation, sick, personal, up to fifteen paid holidays annually), plus employee & dependent educational reimbursement programs which support our overall mission.

Details on our company mission, vision, values and goals can be found at www.scholarshipamerica.org.

We are an equal opportunity employer and believe in the power of a diverse workplace to better serve a broad range of student needs. All qualified candidates who meet the minimum requirements are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, parental or marital status.