About this role
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.