Business Development Manager, Higher Education Vertical Team

Would you like to shape how America's colleges and universities use cloud, AI, and data to create engines for innovation and financial resilience? Would you like to be part of a team helping higher education institutions reimagine their business models by leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS) across student success, workforce development, athletics, advancement, and auxiliary services?

Amazon Web Services is seeking an experienced Business Development Manager to drive growth and adoption of AWS services within the US Higher Education vertical. This is an opportunity to define and execute go-to-market strategy for one of the most dynamic segments in the public sector, encompassing research universities, state university systems, community colleges, regional colleges and universities, and for-profit institutions.

In this role, you will be responsible for identifying, developing, and closing new business opportunities across the higher education sector through direct work with institutions and higher education technology and consulting partners. You will work at the intersection of technology and institutional transformation, helping universities modernize legacy infrastructure, improve student outcomes through analytics, and unlock new revenue through data-driven approaches to continuing education, fundraising, athletics, and auxiliary services. You will leverage your deep understanding of how higher education institutions are funded, governed, and operated to position AWS as the platform of choice for the next generation of institutional solutions.

You should possess a strong background in business development, strategic sales, or institutional leadership within higher education or higher education technology. The ideal candidate demonstrates the ability to think strategically about the full variety of cloud-enabled solutions (from core migration and modernization to Generative AI-enabled automation and personalization to predictive analytics and access to democratized data) and to build and execute plans that match available solutions to institutional needs across multiple revenue streams.

Key job responsibilities
- Develop and execute a comprehensive business development strategy for assigned accounts within the US Higher Education vertical, driving revenue growth and market share across four-year colleges and universities, state systems, community colleges, and for-profit institutions.

- Establish trusted relationships with key decision-makers at higher education institutions, including Presidents, Provosts, CIOs, CTOs, Vice Presidents for Advancement, Athletic Directors, and Auxiliary and Business Services leaders.

- Identify emerging customer needs and market trends by researching institutional budgets, federal funding programs (NIH, NSF, DOE, CHIPS Act), state appropriations, and regulatory changes affecting higher education (e.g., CMMC compliance, outcomes accountability mandates, Title IV changes).

- Develop go-to-market strategies for key solution areas, including solution positioning, partner engagement, and procurement approaches tailored to higher education buying cycles.

- Collaborate cross-functionally with Solution Architects, Professional Services, Partners, Marketing, and leadership to deliver compelling value propositions that address institutional priorities across teaching, research, and administration.

- Serve as the voice of the customer, influencing AWS product roadmaps based on higher education sector requirements and emerging use cases.

- Leverage strategic partnerships with higher-education-focused ISVs (e.g., Salesforce, Ellucian, Instructure, Blackboard, D2L), systems integrators, and consulting partners to accelerate adoption and drive co-sell revenue.

- Deliver business reviews to senior leadership on strategies aligned with revenue growth expectations, including pipeline progression, win/loss analysis, and market intelligence.

- Represent AWS at industry events (e.g., EDUCAUSE, Internet2, ACE, NACUBO, CASE, NCAA) to build brand awareness and thought leadership.


A day in the life
You will differentiate AWS through deep business and technical relationships and your ability to understand higher education institutions' strategic goals, financial pressures, and operational environments. You will engage daily with customers, from technology leaders scaling AI capabilities to Chief Advancement Officers exploring data-driven, AI-enabled fundraising, to Athletic Directors exploring AI to improve team success and optimize revenue. You will collaborate with our ecosystem of partners (consulting partners, ISVs, and education technology companies) to ensure both the near-term success of cloud adoption projects and the long-term digital transformation of American higher education.

About the team
The AWS U.S. Education team is part of the State & Local Government and Education (SLG/EDU) Verticals within Worldwide Public Sector (WWPS). We are experienced professionals with a passion for serving higher education's mission while making history. Our team consists of practitioners-turned-advisors with former higher education and EdTech backgrounds who understand the sector's unique governance, funding, and culture. We obsess about our customers' success and view their long-term goals to advance teaching, accelerate research, and serve students as the purpose of our organization.

Basic Qualifications

- 5+ years of learning design, learning science, instructional design, educational psychology, or similar field experience
- Experience with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday), or experience in identifying, leading, and executing opportunities to improve, automate, standardize or simplify finance or business tools and processes
- Experience in a dynamic environment with a high degree of customer service
- Experience in administrative, technical or non-technical roles (dean, assistant dean, provost, vice provost, CIO, COO, IT Director) in a large university system or other large R1research institution
- A leader within higher education who has requires critical thinking and extraordinary presentation and storytelling skills, along with the ability to build executive level relationships

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience interpreting data and making business recommendations
- Experience identifying, negotiating, and executing complex legal agreements
- Experience designing, implementing, and scaling workforce development programs across large-scale operations, including forecasting workforce needs and leveraging analytics to drive program decisions
- Experience interpreting data and making business recommendations across leadership and cross-functional teams
- Experience using analytical tools for workforce metrics and reporting

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. If you have a disability and need a workplace accommodation or adjustment during the application and hiring process, including support for the interview or onboarding process, please visit https://amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/accommodations for more information. If the country/region you’re applying in isn’t listed, please contact your Recruiting Partner.

The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.

USA, CA, San Francisco - 162,700.00 - 220,200.00 USD annually
USA, CA, Santa Monica - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually
USA, IL, Chicago - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually
USA, MA, Boston - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually
USA, NY, New York - 162,700.00 - 220,200.00 USD annually
USA, TX, Austin - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually
USA, VA, Arlington - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually
USA, WA, Seattle - 147,900.00 - 200,100.00 USD annually