We just announced some exciting news about the future of ACT and wanted you to know. This announcement includes information about the unification of ACT and Encoura, a wholly owned ACT subsidiary, as well as about the investment in ACT from Nexus Capital Management.

At ACT Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power - a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for equity in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better - we've never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to an important mission: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing the mission internally, by helping team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable environment in which every team member has an opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, 401K with company contributions, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.

Location: REMOTE

The Program Director or Senior Program Director for State Partnerships position identifies, strategizes, leads, secures, and analyzes complex state contracts by understanding the needs of the client to leverage ACT's products and services in a manner that focuses on achieving the client's goals and objectives. This position also establishes key relationships with state influencers (e.g. State Department of Education, State Department of Higher Education, State Department of Workforce Services etc.) to build support for current and potential ACT solutions and ensure long-term continued success in the states for which they are responsible.

You will be joining an experienced, knowledgeable and well-established team made up of dynamic leaders who have engaging relationships with state leadership.

The Finalist will be hired at a salary commensurate with their qualifications. For this position, we anticipate offering an annual salary in the range of $100,000 - $130,000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including, skills, experience, and internal equity. The position is incentive eligible.

What you will be working on:

Assumes leadership and oversight in the state procurement process and acts as the business sponsor working with the RFP Team in development and submission of proposals and/or other procurement activities to successfully secure ACT state business
• Leads new business opportunities in support of ACT solutions and products to state clients with a focus of achieving and exceeding sales revenue goals
• Identifies key state business opportunities while protecting existing state contracts
• Develops and executes a comprehensive sales plan of assigned states, collaborating across ACT units as necessary, to maintain and grow current contracts and capture new business
• Provides visibility into sales efforts and key client activities by effectively sharing information through the company CRM as well as other required reporting
• Leads strategic negotiations and decision making, with a focus of providing a win/win for both the state customer and ACT
• Analyzes state assessment landscape, gathers competitive intelligence about opportunities or challenges and provides advice and strategic support to leadership that can drive future business decisions

Program Director level - requires at least 7 years of progressively responsible experience in education and/or workforce industry, preferably with account management or sales experience.

Senior Program Director level - requires at least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in education and/or workforce industry, preferably with account management or sales experience as well as previous experience and demonstrated success leading, managing, and building teams.

Minimum requirements for both levels:

• Ability to gain and apply working knowledge of ACT's products and services, including how those products and services are collectively used to provide solutions to state clients
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage key state executives
• Ability to gather and use competitive intelligence to create strategies that advance and/or protect ACT's interests
• Ability to work effectively with individuals inside and outside the organization
• Actively seeks, engages with and promotes diverse perspectives and invites a sense of belonging
• Strong communication skills including ability to communicate effectively across all levels in the organization, as well as outstanding presentation skills
• Must be able to act decisively with sound judgement; uses data to analyze options and form opinions
• Is able to apply continuous improvement to existing processes and programs and develop ideas that are new, better, or unique
• Ability to manage change and navigate positively in an environment experiencing change at a fast pace
• Takes initiative using self-starter approach, ability to multi-task, proactively anticipates and acts on information and details needed, willingness and ability to learn
• Takes responsibility and follows through on commitments
• Skills and knowledge required for success in this position attained through experience, education (Bachelor's degree in Education or Business Administration or related area of study), or a combination of both

It's a plus if you have:

• Assessment industry experience
• Experience working with individuals at the state executive level
• Experience developing educational programming or support/training of college and career planning/readiness initiatives
• K-12 experience that includes deep knowledge of the state and district landscape
• State education agency experience

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry-helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life's transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We're doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we're all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That's why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!