Executive Director, EdX

2U; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 100 000 - 160 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading education technology firm is seeking an Executive Director for their edX platform based in Cape Town. This pivotal role requires a proven eCommerce leader to drive growth and manage P&L for a large-scale B2C platform. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in product strategy, learner acquisition, and collaboration across functions. This position offers the chance to make a significant impact in transforming higher education.

Benefits

Subsidised medical aid

Generous leave policy

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Complimentary short courses

Qualifications

• 15+ years of executive leadership experience in high-growth technology or EdTech.
• Proven P&L responsibility in B2C eCommerce.
• Experience in driving customer acquisition and retention.

Responsibilities

• Own and deliver on all P&L targets for the edX consumer business.
• Develop B2C portfolio strategy and product offerings.
• Lead initiatives to improve learner acquisition and conversion.

Skills

Leadership

eCommerce background

Data-driven decision making

Collaboration

P&L Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

Business Intelligence Tools

Web Analytics Platforms

Job description

Overview

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless – and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives.

What We’re Looking For:

Reporting directly to the CEO, the Executive Director, edX is a pivotal executive leadership role responsible for architecting and executing the strategy for our world-renowned "edX" consumer platform, an integral part of the broader 2U strategy. This leader will own the full P&L and strategic roadmap for the edX business. The primary mandate is to drive consumer growth by developing and maintaining attractive learning products, attracting learners to the platform, and converting them into a loyal, long-term customer base that drives repeat purchases.

This is a unique "build-and-scale" opportunity. The Executive Director, edX must be a proven commercial leader with a strong background in eCommerce who can drive aggressive, immediate revenue through the platform while building a scalable, high-performance organization. This leader must also be a successful collaborator, working across the organization to connect the platform\'s scale to other divisions, including product, marketing, partnership management, and B2B sales.

The ideal candidate is a transformative, data-driven, and resilient executive with deep experience in managing high-growth, large-scale B2C platforms and a proven track record in eCommerce.

Key Responsibilities

• P&L Responsibility: Own and deliver on all P&L targets for the edX consumer business, ensuring its growth and success as an integral part of the broader 2U strategy.
• eCommerce Product Strategy: Develop and execute a diverse B2C portfolio strategy for edX, developing and maintaining a range of attractive learning products (by price, time, and credential type) to meet learners at every stage of their career.
• Learner Acquisition: Lead a cross-functional governance team (Product, Marketing, Analytics, etc.) to attract learners to the platform by growing organic traffic/SEO and optimizing paid marketing channels.
• Conversion & Purchase: Own the consumer journey, connecting learners to the appropriate solution and leading initiatives to dramatically improve conversion funnels and drive them to purchase.
• Loyalty & Retention: Create a long-term relationship with learners to build a loyal customer base and drive repeat purchases. Drive the strategy to launch and scale a competitive consumer subscription offering, increasing learner value and recurring revenue.

Strategic Collaboration & Platform Innovation

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as a key collaborative leader, ensuring constant alignment and successful partnership with cross-functional organizations (Product, Marketing, Partnership Management, B2B Sales, Tech, and Finance) to execute the edX strategy.
• Content Strategy: Partner with content acquisition and learning teams to bring more career- and industry-relevant content to the platform.
• B2B Sales Collaboration: Successfully collaborate with the B2B sales organization by instrumenting the edX consumer journey with effective lead-generation strategies to fuel the sales pipeline.
• Partnership Collaboration: Work closely with the partnership management team to evolve partner contracts (rev share, platform control) in support of the consumer subscription and growth strategy.
• Platform Innovation: Champion initiatives to standardize the learner experience and innovate with AI to enhance learner engagement and outcomes.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 15+ years of progressively responsible executive leadership experience in a high-growth technology, SaaS, or EdTech environment.
• Proven P&L Responsibility: Demonstrable experience managing the full P&L for a large-scale, high-growth B2C eCommerce or consumer platform business.
• Strong eCommerce Background: Must have a strong background in eCommerce with proven experience in:
• Developing and maintaining attractive learning products.
• Attracting learners to a platform and connecting them to the appropriate solution.
• Driving learners to purchase and creating long-term relationships.
• Building a loyal customer base and driving repeat purchases.
• B2C Platform Expertise: Deep expertise in the B2C toolkit, including consumer marketing, product management, subscription models, SEO/traffic acquisition, and conversion rate optimization.
• Collaborative Leader: A proven ability to be successful and collaborate with other parts of a matrixed organization, including product, marketing, partnership management, and B2B sales teams.
• Transformational Leadership: A "builder" profile with proven experience scaling a business unit and building the organizational and technical foundations for growth.
• Exceptional Commercial & Financial Acumen: Ability to meticulously forecast revenue, own a P&L, and model complex business trade-offs.
• Executive Presence: Superb communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus and C-suite/Board-level credibility in a highly matrixed organization.
• Data-Driven & Resilient: A bias for action and a relentless focus on data to drive decisions, comfortable executing at speed in a complex, evolving "building phase" environment.
• Prior experience with CRM, BI Tools, and web analytics platforms is essential.

Benefits & Culture

Our global employee base is a diverse collection of innovators, dreamers, and doers working together to transform lives through higher education. We believe that every employee can advance our shared purpose, and that life at 2U should be fun and meaningful. If you’re excited by the opportunity to provide millions of learners and counting with access to world-class higher education, then join us – and do work that makes a difference.

We offer comprehensive benefits (unique per country) and excellent work/life balance. Full-time, ZA benefits include:

• 2 complimentary Getsmarter short courses per year
• Subsidised medical aid with Discovery Health Medical Scheme
• 4% 2U contribution towards Discovery Life Pension Fund and Group Risk Benefit
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Generous leave policy including time off to volunteer for non-profit organization, study leave, sports leave and a company-wide festive season break

Diversity & Inclusion Statement

At 2U, we are committed to building and sustaining a culture of belonging, respect, and inclusion. We are proud of the steps we’ve taken to bring together an employee base that embodies diverse walks of life, ideas, genders, ages, races, cultures, sexual orientations, abilities and other unique qualities. We strive to offer a workplace where every employee feels empowered by what makes us different, as well as by how we are alike.

2U is committed to providing reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process. If you need assistance or accommodations, please reach out to us at: [e-mail].

About 2U

2U partners with the world's top universities and companies to develop and deliver education programs that accelerate careers and transform lives. Through partnerships with the world’s leading colleges, universities, and companies, 2U delivers thousands of online programs to millions of learners worldwide on edX, its global learning platform. From executive education and professional credentialing to master’s degree programs and free, open courses, 2U transforms how top institutions deliver workforce-aligned online education, enabling professionals to advance without pausing their careers. Learn more at 2U.com.