About EAB
At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We work with more than 2,800 institutions to drive transformative change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. From kindergarten to college to career, EAB partners with leaders and practitioners to accelerate progress and drive results across enrollment, student success, institutional strategy, data analytics, and advancement. We work with each partner differently, tailoring our portfolio of research, technology, and marketing and enrollment solutions to meet the unique needs of every leadership team, as well as the students and employees they serve.
At EAB, we serve not only our partner institutions but each other—that's why we are always working to make sure our employees love their jobs and are invested in their communities. See how we've been recognized for this dedication to our employees by checking out our recent awards.
For more information, visit our careers page.
The Role in Brief:
Associate Director, Research Advisory Services
EAB is the leading global provider of research and advice to higher education and K-12 institutions. Our research programs help executives at client organizations educate stakeholders, make research-informed decisions, and speed implementation of industry best practices.
EAB Research Advisory Services (RAS) is a division within our research business, providing consultative support and expert advice to our education clients. RAS staff work directly with boards, presidents, and other senior academic and business leaders to help them make meaningful and strategic process toward their most pressing financial and mission-consequential issues. Through strong communication and storytelling, RAS provides high-impact, outcome-focused presentations, workshops, and unscripted conversations to help partners understand and implement EAB’s advice.
We deliver our advice to clients through peer conferences, expert phone consultations, virtual meetings, and onsite at client institutions. In addition to working with current clients, our advisors also support sales efforts in new client development.
This position will spend about 80% of time in the market, working with partners both in-person and virtually, and requires 40-50% travel. This position is based in Washington, D.C.; the role is also open to hiring in other EAB offices (e.g., Richmond, VA) or open to remote employment within the continental United States.
Key Responsibilities:
- Research new potential markets/countries
- Lead market listening interviews with existing and potential partners to assess strength and weakness of current research and test potential new products
- Craft marketing strategy, including key themes, event agendas, conference planning, and top-of-funnel content
- Help sales staff craft strategy, pitch, and/or collateral for individual sales pursuits, participating directly in some commercial interactions as needed
- Track competitors and develop sell-against scripting
- Build and maintain relationships with thought leaders and influencers, such as professional associations, in key markets
- Support partner success teams in creating service plans for most important international partners
- Adjust, supplement, and/or reframe research content as needed for international audiences
- Analyze existing product sales and renewal performance to develop priorities for sales and renewals
- Manage and coach junior-level researcher staff on specific projects, as needed, by developing critical skills, providing actionable feedback, and managing workloads
Position Responsibilities:
Terrain Mastery: including advancement, business operations, generative AI, and international student recruitment and engagement. Store & curate EAB’s perspective across the breadth of research terrains to give partners the most direct access to EAB’s advice.
The candidate will leverage EAB’s insights, best practices, tools, and data to help clients make decisions and implement best practices and develop a deep understanding of assigned terrain, market trends, and evolving client needs.
Content Delivery and Facilitation: Work directly with partners to diagnose their problems, challenge their assumptions, guide decisions, and suggest solutions. Deliver EAB’s point of view and advice through phone consultations, virtual meetings, conferences, and on campus presentations to:
- Make EAB insights and data accessible and impactful for our partners, bringing clarity and context to their understanding of their challenges;
- Present partners with new ideas and potential solutions to those challenges and advocate for adoption;
- Act as an expert outside voice, building consensus and educating committees and staff.
Combine functional knowledge with an understanding of higher ed’s unique organizational dynamics, enabling partners to set strategy, lead their institutions, and manage their operations more effectively by:
- diagnosing and giving voice to dynamics that are often felt, but not addressed;
- supporting leaders as they align effort and teams around institutional priorities;
- pathing partners through ranges of viable solutions and their pros and cons;
- recommending paths for improvement and serving as their guides and accountability partners as they progress;
- connecting partner institutions and creating learning experiences.
Customer Success and Commercial Support: Collaborate with the research partner success team to execute on a scalable and impactful client delivery model and deliver high-impact client interactions. Support sales in new client development.
Research Collaboration: Leverage terrain expertise to generate original insight and content in assigned areas (e.g., blog posts, social media posts, briefings, presentations, etc.). Actively participate in ongoing research processes and share market insights with research colleagues to inform future EAB insights and deliverables.
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree with an excellent academic record and 5+ years of post-graduate professional experience or 4+ years of post-graduate professional experience and advanced degree
- In-depth understanding of education industry and the specific role that senior institutional leadership has in setting strategy and decision making in areas such as strategic planning, academic programing, and advancement
- Superior verbal, written, facilitation, and presentation skills
- Ability to create a compelling narrative through data visualization, graphics, and slides
- Excellent relationship building and collaboration skills; ability to build relationships with and engage and challenge senior-level executives
Ideal Qualifications:
- Advanced degree
- Experience working with client executives, either at a college, university, district, or school or as a consultant or advisor
- Demonstrated ability to distill market and terrain insights, drawing on client interactions
- Experience producing written content and deliverables for an executive-level audience (e.g., blogs, social media feeds, reports, briefings)
- Commitment to valuing diversity, practicing inclusive behaviors, and contributing to an equitable working and continual learning environment in support of EAB’s DE&I Promise
If you’ve reached this section of the job description and are unsure of whether to apply, please do! At EAB, we welcome diversity of background and experience. We would encourage you to submit an application if this is a role you would be passionate about doing every day.
Compensation:
The anticipated starting salary (base) range for this role is $65,000 to $100,000 per year. Actual salary varies due to factors that may include but not be limited to relevant experience, skills, and location. At EAB, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the starting salary range for their role.
This hire will additionally be eligible for discretionary bonus or incentive compensation. Variable compensation may depend on various factors, such as individual and organizational performance.
Benefits:
Consistent with our belief that our employees are our most valuable resource, EAB offers a competitive and inclusive benefits package.
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance; dependents and domestic partners eligible
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- 20+ days of PTO annually, in addition to paid firm holidays
- Daytime leave policy for community service or fitness activities (up to 10 hours a month each)
- Paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents
- Phase Back to Work program for employees returning from parental leave
- Infertility treatment coverage and adoption or surrogacy assistance
- Wellness programs including gym discounts and incentives to promote healthy living
- Dynamic growth opportunities with merit-based promotion philosophy
- Benefits kick in day one, see the full details here.
At EAB, we believe that to fulfill our mission to “make education smarter and our communities stronger” we need team members who bring a diversity of perspectives to the table and are committed to fostering a workplace where each team member is valued, respected and heard.
To that end, EAB is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we make employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need. We don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law.