Vice President, Business Relations

LIFELONG LEARNING ADMINISTRATION CORPORATION

Full Time, Monday - Friday

This position will be located in the Midwest region, serving Michigan and Ohio.

The Lifelong Learning Advantage

At Lifelong Learning, our mission is to support our client schools so they can concentrate on improving educational outcomes and student success. We continue to be a strong, positive force, pioneering the way education is delivered to all students. Learn more about us at https://llac.org/

How You Will Make an Impact

The Vice President, Business Relations is a strategic executive role responsible for cultivating and managing high-level relationships with stakeholders, clients, and charter authorizers across both states. This position leads efforts to expand regional business partnerships, ensure charter compliance, and enhance organizational visibility and influence. The Vice President, Business Relations navigates complex multi-state environments, driving strategic initiatives, and fostering collaboration across departments. This includes working closely with Business Operations and Business Development to align efforts and maximize impact. This position reports to the Chief Operating Officer and serves as a liaison between executive leadership, charter authorizers, and community stakeholders.

RESPONSIBILITIES/DUTIES
This job description is intended to accurately reflect the position's duties, responsibilities, and requirements. It is not intended to be and should not be construed as an all-inclusive list of all the responsibilities, skills, or working conditions associated with this classification. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Develop and implement regional strategies to strengthen business and charter relationships.
• Cultivate strategic partnerships with schools, community leaders, board members, and authorizers to support national growth.
• Collaborate with internal teams and support work with charter petitions, renewals, MOUs, and compliance documentation for national expansion schools.
• Maintain and deepen relationships to ensure satisfaction, engagement, and long-term success.
• Lead strategic sales initiatives to promote and expand the organization’s programs.
• Conduct field research and contribute to development of new market opportunities favorable to both business and charter operations.
• Work in collaboration with various departments such as legal, marketing, business development, governance, and school operations to align strategies.
• Collaborate with External Affairs to support regional policy initiatives.
• Attend regional conferences, board meetings, training courses, and other offerings to increase working knowledge of education landscape.
• Perform administrative duties, responsibilities, and activities as assigned, which may be changed or modified from time to time.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES

• Strong communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strategic thinker with problem-solving and decision-making capabilities.
• Background in sales, with the ability to identify opportunities, build client relationships, and drive program adoption.
• Experience with CRM systems, performance metrics, and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to manage complex projects and multi-stakeholder relationships.
• Comfortable with travel and adaptable to various work environments.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field required or 2 years equivalent work experience demonstrating applicable skills in relevant industry or discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in progressive leadership experience in business development, sales, client relations, or external affairs.
• 5+ years of combination experience in a leadership and management role.
• Knowledge and/or experience in project management, program development, organizing, prioritizing, coordinating, implementing, and managing multiple programs, projects, tasks and building teams.
• Strong autonomy, reliable, responsible, dependable and willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Background in sales, with the ability to identify opportunities, build client relationships, and drive program adoption.
• Proven track record of managing strategic partnerships across sectors.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders.
• Intermediate level of skills in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and other applications.
• Must reside full-time in Michigan, with the ability to travel up to 75% to Ohio as required for job duties

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Vision: Ability to read small print and view a computer screen for prolong periods, prepare, or inspect documents and operate office equipment. 
• Hearing: Ability to hear average or typical conversations and receive ordinary information.
• Speech: Ability to be understood in face-to-face communication, in person or remote, to speak with a level of proficiency and volume to be understood over a telephone or computer. 
• Mental Demands: Ability to read, write, understand, interpret, and apply information at a moderately complex level essential for successful job performance; math skills at a high school proficiency level; judgement and the ability to process information quickly; learn quickly and follow verbal procedures and standards; give verbal instruction; rank tasks in order of importance; copy, compare, compile and coordinate information and records. Frequent multi-tasking, changing of task priorities, repetitious exacting work. Understand how to manage stress. high workflow management, high project coordination, and high people engagement.
• Upper Body Mobility: Ability to use fingers to make small movements such as typing, picking up small objects, or pinching fingers together, use hands to grasp, and manipulate small objects; twist and bend at wrist and elbow; extend arms to reach outward and upward; use hands and arms to lift objects; turn, raise, and lower head.
• Strength: Ability to lift, carry, push, and pull objects weighing up to 10 pounds. 
• Environmental Requirements: Ability to encounter constant work interruptions; work cooperatively with others; work independently; work indoors. Prolonged period sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Work in a low to moderate noise environment with frequent deadline pressures.