Director, Strategic Partnerships and Alliances

Simon Fraser University

$122K — $158K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Master's degree in Business Administration or a related field.
  • 8 years of experience in strategic alliances, account management, or corporate business development.
  • Excellent leadership, strategic, and business development skills.
  • Experience negotiating complex, multi-million dollar partnerships.
  • Strong understanding of partnership strategy and business development practices.

Responsibilities

  • Provide senior leadership to advance SFU's growth through external partnerships.
  • Translate strategic goals into active partnership pipelines.
  • Oversee negotiation and stewardship of complex, multi-year agreements.
  • Lead a team of Strategic Partnerships Managers to drive revenue-generating alliances.
  • Convert SFU's value proposition into collaborative initiatives.

Benefits

  • 4 weeks' vacation (prorated for the first year).
  • Hybrid-work program for eligible positions.
  • Employer paid defined benefit pension plan.
  • On-campus tuition waiver for employees and immediate family members.
  • Off-campus tuition reimbursements and professional development funds.
Full Job Description
Union/Affiliation:

Administrative Professional Excluded Staff

Pay range:

$122,570 to $158,620 annually

SFU Department Descr:

SFU's Partnerships Hub

Position Grade:

14

# of openings:

1

Biweekly Hours:

72

About the Role

The Director, Strategic Partnerships &Alliances provides senior leadership to advance SFU's growth priorities through high value external partnerships. Reporting to the Executive Director, the role translates strategy into active partnership pipelines that deliver measurable impact-strengthening SFU's reputation, advancing partnerships, and delivering sustainable revenues. Leading a team of Strategic Partnerships Managers, the Director enables scalable, revenue generating alliances with industry, government, and community partners. The role oversees the identification, negotiation, and long-term stewardship of complex, multi-year agreements, aligning SFU's strengths with external market needs. With a strong focus on outcomes, the Director converts SFU's value proposition into collaborative initiatives that expand SFU's reach and position the university at the forefront of innovation and engagement.

The Director is a partnership and growth leader with an entrepreneurial mindset and a proven ability to translate strategy into disciplined pipelines and measurable outcomes. They bring strong experience converting strategy into market-informed pipelines, while advancing partnerships through rigorous opportunity development. With a track record of structuring and stewarding complex, high-value partnerships across industry, government, or innovation driven sectors, they balance ambition with disciplined prioritization and risk management. As a people-focused leader, they develop and empower high-performing teams to drive momentum from opportunity development through to negotiation and long-term stewardship-delivering value for both SFU and its partners.

Full Job Description

Qualifications

Master's degree in Business Administration or a related discipline and eight years of related experience in areas such as strategic alliances and account management, corporate business development and deal structuring, revenue generation, or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
  • Excellent leadership, strategic, and business development skills.
  • Proven ability to influence senior executives and secure complex, multi-million dollar partnerships.
  • Demonstrated experience negotiating complex partnership and funding agreements, including standard, nonstandard, and multiparty arrangements, aligned with policies and effective risk management.
  • Strong understanding of partnership strategy, alliance development, and business development practices in industry, government, and innovation driven environments.
  • Demonstrated ability to develop business cases, cost-benefit and ROI analyses to inform decision-making.

What We Offer

At SFU, our goal is to ensure our people are valued and supported by promoting a healthy work-life balance, professional growth and development, as well as a safe and respectful workplace. We offer continuing employees who belong in the Administrative Professional Excluded Staff group (APEX):
  • 4 weeks' vacation (prorated for the first year)*
  • Hybrid-work program for eligible positions
  • Employer paid defined benefit pension plan
  • On-campus tuition waiver for employees and their immediate family members*
  • Off-campus tuition reimbursements and professional development funds*
  • And more! View our benefits brochure

*Prorated for part-time employees

Additional Information

Please note, application review begins on May 28, 2026.

The pay range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for the position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the pay range.

Please include your cover letter and resume in one attachment.

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