Strategic Account Director - Public Sector (Remote)

Guild is hiring a Strategic Account Director - Public Sector to help drive the next frontier of workforce education and career mobility. As a core member of our Public Sector Team, you’ll play a critical role in identifying, assessing, and operationalizing high-potential growth opportunities for Guild to broaden its reach - focusing on partnerships with innovative states and local municipalities to drive outcomes based workforce development initiatives.

This is a strategic and execution-focused role. You’ll be a hands-on builder, responsible for shaping the early stage of a new market initiative - from research and discovery to piloting new solutions and early scaling. You will collaborate closely with the Vice President of Public Sector and cross-functional teams to bring new opportunities to life and advance Guild’s mission in untapped partnerships at the state and local level.

This is an ideal role for a strategic thinker and operator who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys building from scratch, partnering with state and local agencies, has experience executing on new business targets, and is passionate about unlocking access to education and economic opportunity at scale.

Key Responsibilities

Market Research & Opportunity Identification

• Conduct rigorous market research to surface new opportunities across public funding ecosystems and continue to hone in on ideal customer profiles.
• Analyze regulatory landscapes, policy trends, and local/state/federal funding programs to inform market entry strategies and best paths to navigate partnership within a priority state or region.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of market hypotheses and concepts for exploration and begin testing them in assigned territory.

Business Development & Origination

• Partner with B2B Marketing to develop new business opportunities from the ground up (0→1), using creativity, curiosity, and deep ecosystem scanning.
• Engage with state and local stakeholders to uncover unmet needs and explore alignment with Guild’s capabilities.
• Leverage and develop frameworks to assess opportunity fit, strategic value, and long-term scalability within the Guild ecosystem.
• Make go/no-go recommendations based on market traction, financial viability, and mission alignment.

Opportunity Validation & Business Design

• Design and lead early engagements to validate demand, feasibility, and ROI of new market opportunities.
• Develop hypotheses, pilot concepts, and test value propositions with statefunders, partners, and beneficiaries.
• Support the development of new business models and funding structures aligned with Guild’s impact and financial goals as it relates to state and local buyers.

Go-To-Market Strategy & Launch Readiness

• Translate validated opportunities into actionable go-to-market plans in collaboration with marketing, product, learning marketplace, government affairs, and operations teams.
• Define and track key success metrics and leading indicators of market traction - as defined by revenue and total education spend.
• Support initial GTM execution by providing tight feedback loops on market positioning, possible opportunities, and where and if local engagement and advocacy would be needed.

Strategic Enablement & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with internal teams (e.g., Finance, Legal, Policy, Product) to ensure new ideas are viable, scalable, and compliant.
• Help structure strategic partnerships that align with new market goals.
• Serve as a thought partner to senior leadership, offering clear, data-informed recommendations.

You are a strong fit for this role if you have:

• 10 - 12+ years of experience in strategy, business development and sales, consulting, venture building, or innovation roles—preferably with experience in government, philanthropic, or workforce-related sectors.
• Proven track record of evaluating, launching, and iterating on new business ideas or markets
• Experience developing business opportunities from the ground up—including ideation, outreach, diligence, and execution.
• Exceptional analytical skills, with fluency in building and interpreting market sizing, financial models, and business cases.
• Experience designing and running experiments or pilot programs in ambiguous environments.
• Comfortable engaging with senior-level external stakeholders including funders, government officials, and mission-aligned partners.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to synthesize complex ideas into compelling narratives and strategies.
• Mission-alignment with Guild’s vision for unlocking opportunity through education and career pathways.

We are committed to equal pay for equal work and believe in compensation transparency. All salary ranges are standardized nationwide and will not vary by region. This role offers a competitive total compensation package, including a base salary of $200,000, plus variable compensation, commission, and stock options. Compensation offered will be based on a combination of factors such as experience, competencies, and internal equity.

Posting Date: December 24, 2025

This role will be open for a minimum of 3 days.