Director of Research & Proposals

Open Up Resources; North Carolina; On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare (employer-paid)

Dental (employer-paid)

Vision (employer-paid)

401k matching

Paid time off

Job summary

Open Up Resources, part of Activate Learning, is seeking a Director of Research & Proposals to lead high-quality responses to national and state proposals, expanding access to curricula across the country. The role will strategically guide research on competitors and trends and coordinate cross-functional teams to support sales objectives.

You will oversee the RFP process, collaborate with the EVP/VP of Sales, and ensure timely, accurate submissions while aligning with organizational goals and

Qualifications

• 5+ years leading strategic, national account engagement or sales in K-12 education.
• Strong understanding of district and state adoption proposals cycles.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Experience engaging with large urban school districts.
• Background in educational technology preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and grow the proposals team.
• Manage all aspects of RFP responses and deadlines.
• Coordinate content accuracy with Academics and internal stakeholders.
• Oversee Adoptions/RFP Committee and state adoption processes.
• Ensure timely submission of samples and contracts with districts.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Proposal management

Cross-functional collaboration

Team coaching

Budget management

Tools

Online Bid Portals

Content Library Management

Analytics tools

Job description

Who We Are

Activate Learning and Open Up Resources have come together as one organization, united by a shared commitment to transform teaching and learning through high-quality instructional materials and meaningful classroom implementation. Together, we provide K–12 science, mathematics, and English language arts programs that empower educators to engage students in rigorous, meaningful, and educational experiences.

Our portfolio is supported by professional learning, implementation services, digital capabilities, and hands‑on instructional materials.

We are an outside‑in organization, measuring our success first by the impact we have on educators and students. Grounded in trust, high‑fidelity implementation, and affordable access for all, we are committed to building lasting partnerships with schools and districts and driving measurable outcomes for every learner.

The Role

The Director of Research & Proposals is responsible for identifying, creating and submitting the highest quality responses to all proposals in order to bring the full portfolio of curricula to all students across the country by increasing sales and brand awareness.

The Director will strategically lead and execute the combined organization’s research endeavors by gathering and disseminating knowledge of competitors and trends in the marketplace.

The Director may lead other individuals in this work, as well as facilitate systems and tools aligned to national proposals. This position reports into the EVP/VP of Sales.

Key Responsibilities

Cross-Functional and Executive Leadership

• Lead, coach and grow direct reports
• Create annual goals, KPIs and a sustainable vision for the proposals team
• Partner with the CFO to manage and maintain the proposals annual budget
• Represent the combined organization with state leaders, districts, partners and vendors
• Oversee and facilitate the Adoptions/RFP Committee

Research

• Provide consistent trend reporting in the marketplace to better position the combined organizations
• Share intelligence regarding competitor strategies and pricing with Sr. Leadership and Sales teams
• Identify potential grant opportunities

Sales and Marketing

• Manage all aspects of RFP responses
  • Review RFPs based upon the current curriculum portfolio and present to the RFP Committee
  • Partner with the Academics team and other internal key stakeholders to ensure content accuracy
  • Proofread, edit, and approve final response submissions
  • Facilitate all legal documents for the responses
  • Ensure all responses and samples are submitted before district deadlines
  • Support the organization of the Sales teams regarding district requests for presentations
  • Partner with districts to ensure successful pilots of the curricula
  • Communicate with subcontractors regarding district contracts throughout the length of the awarded contract
• Manage all aspects of the State Adoption Process
  • Collaborate with internal stakeholders regarding state adoption requirements before moving forward in the adoption process
  • Partner with the Academics team to ensure proper correlations and samples are received by the state
  • Manage an internal team around needs for state specific curriculum
  • Review and update tracking of state curriculum adoption schedules on a continual basis
  • Partner with the Sales team for accurate financial forecasting
  • Partner with the Marketing team, and Product Marketing Managers, for proper outreach within the allowed time frames, pricing trends, and market awareness

Systems & Tools

• Content Library Management: Oversee maintenance of centralized knowledge base for all programs
• Online Bid Portal Management: Ensure districts, state and subscriptions to agency bid sites are up to date and checked in a timely manner. Including approving subscription annual renewals.
• Collaborate with the Operations’ analytics team to continuously improve reportable data for proposals

Organizational Core Competencies:
Ethics and Integrity: Behave in a fair and ethical manner toward peers, partners, and customers; instill mutual trust and confidence; acts with honesty and integrity.
Planning/Organizing/Goal Setting: Demonstrates the ability to organize people and tasks; develops realistic action plans while being sensitive to time constraints and resource availability; defines realistic, specific goals and objectives; prioritizes objectives
Teamwork and Collaboration: Works with colleagues to build morale and team commitment to goals and objectives.
Diversity: Understands that each individual is unique and celebrates individual differences including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, marital status, veteran status, education, training, position, level of authority, seniority, full-time or part-time status.
Solution Oriented: Able to take action in solving problems, using reason and a systematic approach.

• 5+ years experience in leading and managing strategic, national account field engagement and/or in sales in K-12 education arena
• Demonstrated understanding of the district and state adoption proposals cycle
• Strong command of K-12 education concepts related to science, math and ELA
• Experience engaging with large urban school districts
• Superior written and oral communication skills
• Background in educational technology preferred
• Must be self directed and comfortable working remotely
• Must have extreme attention to detail
• Willingness to travel up to 10%

At Activate Learning and Open Up Resources, we believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We are a virtual organization.

We offer highly competitive total rewards packages that include employer-paid healthcare, dental, vision, 401k matching, generous paid time off, and much more!

This is a benefited, full-time, exempt position with a base salary range of $80,000 - $110,000 annually + an incentive package.