Business Development Representative

About the Job

Higher Education Servicing Corporation (HESC) is a nonprofit student loan lender, originator and servicer, as well as, an education loan technology solutions provider for lenders and loan servicing organizations through its for-profit subsidiary, known as HESC Solutions, Inc. HESC also provides outreach services and programs in the North Texas area through its outreach division, known as inspired.

Job Summary

HESC is looking for an experienced Business Development Representative to help increase volume of our private loan products by developing new relationships with potential school clients and lending partners, further develop relationships with current school clients and lending partners, and assist with the development and implementation of marketing strategies to promote our loan products to Texas students and their families as well as to our lending partners to help promote our loan products.

The role will report directly to the Director of Marketing. Within the Organization, the Business Development Representative will work directly with Operations, Loan Originations and Marketing, among other departments.

This is an onsite role and we do not offer relocation services.

Responsibilities

• Meet or exceed organization’s annual private loan portfolio growth expectations.
• Work to expand the organization’s presence on school lender lists and increase visibility and participation across eligible programs.
• Develop relationships with key decision-makers and move opportunities through the business-development pipeline.
• Develop strategic partnerships with credit unions, banks or other organizations to provide our private loan products to their members, supported by appropriate training, marketing collaboration, product education and ongoing relationship management.
• Manage current and prospective school and lending partner relationships, serving as a primary point of contact and developing strong, long-term relationships with key stakeholders.
• Conduct annual meetings, product presentations, program training, and educational sessions for lending partners and school personnel. Ensure partners understand product features, processes, requirements and available resources.
• Provide superior customer service to school partners so that HESC is viewed as an extension of their own Financial Aid Department.
• Work with the Loan Originations department and Director of Marketing to make suggested changes or additions to the organization’s line of private loan products.
• Work in conjunction with the Loan Originations department and Director of Marketing to assist with questions or handle escalated issues with school/lending partners.
• Work with the Loan Originations team, Director of Marketing and other necessary teams to identify, pursue, coordinate and complete school and partner requests for proposals (RFPs), questionnaires and other business-development opportunities.
• Maintain an accurate and current pipeline of prospective partners and business opportunities.
• Conduct market, industry, customer and competitive research to identify trends, opportunities, emerging needs and potential threats. Provide recommendations to the Director of Marketing.
• Attend and present at partner meetings, industry meetings, conferences, conventions, tradeshows, webinars and other events as needed.
• Provide monthly and ad hoc reports on activities.
• Out-of-town, overnight travel is required approximately 30% of the time.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills

• 5+ years of experience in client management and business development with demonstrated success.
• Experience in successfully selling and growing products as well as development of client relationships.
• Excellent communications skills a must.
• Knowledge of B2B and B2C marketing.
• Experience with lead-generation and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms.
• Strong presentation and public-speaking skills with the ability to confidently present products, programs and proposals to both small and large groups.
• Experience with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience managing a sales or business-development pipeline and maintaining accurate CRM records.
• Highly detail oriented with superior organizational and time-management skills.
• Represent the organization professionally and identify opportunities for relationship development and business growth.
• Self-starter with initiative and ability to take on a high level of responsibility and accountability.
• Capable of working well collaboratively or independently.
• Ability to adapt to shifting priorities and work effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Professional demeanor and ability to establish credibility and trust with external partners and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling customer, company, financial, contractual or other sensitive information.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in the student loan, higher education, financial services, credit union, banking, financial technology or financial software industry.
• Experience working directly with colleges, universities, financial aid offices, credit unions, banks, lenders, loan servicers or other education-finance organizations.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, finance or a related field preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with RFPs, RFIs, proposals, contracts or formal business-development processes.
• Experience with CRM platforms such as ActiveCampaign, Salesforce, HubSpot or similar.
• Experience using sales and business-development reporting, pipeline management, forecasting and performance measurement tools.

Compensation

• Commensurate with position and experience
• Health, dental and life insurance benefits
• Generous retirement benefits
• Vacation and other employee benefits

Pay: $85,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 403(b)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person