Lead Student Success Manager

Rs Consult; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational consultancy in South Africa is looking for a Lead Student Success Manager to drive the success of their Career Accelerator programmes. This role involves leading a team, enhancing learner experiences, and developing strategies for retention and progression. The ideal candidate has strong leadership skills and extensive experience in student success within higher education or EdTech. A passion for improving learner outcomes is essential.

Benefits

Redefining higher education initiatives

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in student success, retention, or learner engagement.
• Proven leadership in managing and developing teams.
• Strong analytical thinking and decision-making skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Student Success team.
• Own and drive the careers-first learner journey strategy.
• Champion learner outcomes and satisfaction.

Skills

Student success management

Team leadership

Analytical thinking

Empathy and sensitivity to learner needs

Job description

Your MissionAs Lead Student Success Manager, you will drive innovation, lead strategic thinking, and implement new approaches for scaling the success of our Career Accelerator (CA) programmes.

You'll be accountable for the full learner journey, from onboarding to completion, with a clear focus on driving progression, satisfaction, outcomes, and careers-first success metrics. You'll lead a high-performing team of Success Managers and set the gold standard in student experience, retention, and satisfaction.

Beyond leadership, you'll shape scalable success strategies that align with FourthRev's commitment to transformative, careers-first education—ensuring every learner feels supported, enabled, and equipped to achieve their career goals.

What You’ll Do

1. Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Student Success teamGuide and performance-manage Success Managers to deliver exceptional learner experiences.Foster a culture of continuous improvement and data-informed decision-making.Act as point of escalation for complex learner cases with sensitivity and care.Enhance systems and processes to scale effectiveness across partnerships.
2. Own and drive the careers-first learner journey strategyLead delivery of learner journeys across orientation, progression, and communications.Partner with Product and Delivery teams to design cohesive, high-impact journeys.Create learner-facing content, assets, and engagement strategies that drive confidence and outcomes.Ensure student communities flourish through belonging, motivation, and progression.
3. Champion learner outcomes and satisfactionDefine and own OKRs and KPIs across retention, satisfaction, and completion.Analyse learner sentiment and engagement data to drive improvement.Report insights and outcomes to leadership, ensuring accountability and iteration.
4. Lead a strategic focus area within the Student Success teamOwn one specialism such as Resource Development & Systems Implementation or Specialist Support, Wellbeing & Behavioural Change.Develop scalable playbooks and frameworks for future programme rollouts.

Requirements

What You’ll Bring

• Extensive experience in student success, retention, or learner engagement within higher education or EdTech.
• Proven leadership in managing and developing teams within learner support or coaching.
• Strong analytical thinking, decision-making, and data interpretation skills.
• Deep empathy and sensitivity to diverse learner needs and contexts.
• Ability to balance exceptional learner experience with commercial awareness.

Desirable

• Background in postgraduate or professional learner engagement.
• Experience in community management, service design, or automation of support systems.
• Coaching or wellbeing qualification.
• Understanding of digital skills industries and emerging career pathways.

Benefits

Why FourthRev?

We're redefining higher education through world-class Career Accelerator programmes, built in collaboration with top universities and global industry leaders.

Join us in shaping the next generation of transformative, careers-first learning experiences.