Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships

About Pursuit Pursuit is a social impact organization building the future of economic mobility in the age of AI. For over a decade, we've transformed lives through immersive training programs that propel adults from low-income backgrounds — often without college degrees — into high-growth tech careers. Our graduates, who we call Builders, have generated nearly $1 billion in lifetime wage gains. As AI reshapes every industry, Pursuit is becoming an AI-native organization — training AI-native talent, embedding AI into our operations, and building scalable systems to extend our impact. From local partnerships to national policy, we're rethinking how opportunity works at scale. The Role Pursuit is hiring a Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships to join our External Affairs team at a pivotal moment of growth. This role sits at the intersection of government and education/workforce partnerships, policy, and execution. You will be the day-to-day operating lead for a multi-year, state-funded initiative that brings Pursuit’s AI-native training to three New York regions in partnership with community colleges, workforce nonprofits, and regional economic development organizations. You'll take it from contract award through partner mobilization to launch, and then help us turn what we learn into a model other markets can run. The ideal candidate is a strong operator and relationship-builder who thrives in complex, multi-stakeholder environments, brings rigor to systems and processes, and understands how partnerships power mission-driven scale. You are comfortable being the person who holds the timeline when multiple organizations each own a piece of it. What You'll Do Partner Management & Delivery • Serve as the day-to-day owner of a portfolio of workforce, higher education, employer, and economic development partners • Run the partnership operating rhythm: recurring check-ins, all-partner convenings, and a shared view of status, owners, and next steps that every party trusts • Shepherd agreements from term sheet to execution in partnership with cross-functional internal stakeholders • Negotiate and hold the line on deliverables, timelines, and shared definitions: who recruits, who teaches, who reports, what counts as success • Surface partner risk early and drive it to resolution rather than reporting it • Onboard new partners and build the templates, briefing materials, and playbooks that make the next partnership faster to stand up Grant & Contract Stewardship • Manage public grants and contracts from post-award through closeout: workplans, milestones, reporting calendars, and modifications • Own reporting, compliance, documentation, and audit readiness, including subrecipient monitoring and pass-through requirements • Serve as the primary operational point of contact for government partners • Partner with Finance on budgets, invoicing, reimbursement mechanics, disbursement schedules, and partner payments Cross-Functional Execution • Translate external commitments into internal project plans with defined scope, timelines, named owners, and deliverables — and hold the org to them • Run the internal cadence that keeps delivery on track: workstream check-ins, milestone or gate reviews, and a single source of truth for status • Partner with Program and Instruction on staffing, curriculum adaptation, train-the-trainer, and cohort calendars; with Admissions and Recruitment on candidate profiles and enrollment targets; with Finance on contracting and subawards • Broker decisions that cross team lines, escalating clearly, with options and a recommendation, rather than letting them sit • Drive internal knowledge sharing and continuous improvement based on partner insights, project learnings, and ecosystem trends • Use AI to