Chief Growth Officer

Position Title: Chief Growth Officer

Reports to: Executive Director

Team: 2 FTEs on partnerships + 1 marketing contractor

Role Type: Full-Time Employee

About Us:

The Student Basic Needs Coalition (SBNC) is building the national model for connecting students with public benefits and basic needs resources.

Millions of students are eligible for programs like SNAP and Medicaid, yet the majority never enroll due to complex rules, stigma, and administrative barriers. SBNC addresses this gap by partnering with organizations across the country to implement peer-led outreach programs and deploy Navvy, SBNC’s AI-enabled technology platform that screens students for benefits eligibility and supports the enrollment process.

Since launching in 2020, SBNC has grown rapidly. The organization now partners with 100+ campuses nationwide, has screened more than 50,000 students, and has referred students to over $116 million in potential public benefits. In 2024, SBNC hired its first full-time Executive Director and has since grown to a $2 million organization with a team of seven, expanding to ten staff members this year as it scales its national model.

Position Overview:

SBNC is hiring its first Chief Growth Officer (CGO) to turn strong demand and a growing national network into a repeatable growth and earned-revenue model. We already work with 100+ campuses and regularly hear interest from colleges, systems, states, funders, and other partners, but we have not yet built a sales engine or established pricing for our offerings. The CGO will help determine which institutional segments to prioritize, how to position and package our work, what institutions are willing to pay for, and how to move from interest and pilots to recurring paid partnerships. They will work closely with the Executive Director on SBNC’s highest-priority sales and relationships while building the systems, pipeline, and team needed to make growth increasingly repeatable. This role does not own fundraising; the CGO coordinates with the Executive Director so growth, partner, and funder messaging stay aligned.

The CGO will also lead SBNC's marketing, building our brand and positioning with institutional buyers while owning our direct-to-student and alternative distribution strategy. That includes deciding where investments in digital channels, creator partnerships, and non-campus partners such as national nonprofits, food banks, and workforce programs can most effectively connect students to Navvy. Direct-to-student channels are measured on reach and impact; earned revenue comes from institutional partnerships.

Growth doesn't end at a signed agreement. The CGO will own renewal and expansion, build a partner-success model that sets new partners up to launch well, and close the loop between the field and product so partner and student insights shape how Navvy evolves.

This is a player-coach role for someone who can move between strategy and execution: shaping go-to-market and pricing, personally advancing important partnerships, using data to decide where to invest, developing staff, and working closely with product and the executive team as SBNC scales. The ideal candidate's deepest strength will be institutional sales and partnerships, paired with the judgment to lead marketing and use data to test which channels best reach students.

Responsibilities

Growth Strategy & Leadership (15%)

• Set SBNC's growth and marketing strategy across institutional and direct-to-student channels, identifying priority markets, segments, and distribution opportunities based on data, partner feedback, and org positioning
• Achieve targets for Navvy screener adoption, partnerships, and revenue, reporting performance to the executive team, funders, and board on a regular cadence
• Own and evolve SBNC’s go-to-market strategy for paid offerings, including market research, customer segmentation, positioning, packaging, pricing, pilot design, sales motion, and testing what institutions will pay for
• Manage, lead and build the growth function over time, including defining roles, systems, processes, developing staff, and planning future hiring needs as the team expands

Business Development & Earned Revenue (40%)

• Build and manage a strong, nationwide pipeline of campus, state, system, and other institutional partners
• Lead partnership development and sales strategy from initial outreach through negotiation, close, and implementation, with direct personal ownership of the organization's highest-stakes system and state-level relationships and managerial oversight of all partnerships
• Use Hubspot CRM data and forecasting to drive pipeline visibility and data-informed decisions across the growth team
• Diversify and scale SBNC's earned-revenue base so it grows alongside philanthropic revenue, ensuring pricing and packaging decisions preserve equitable student access as well as organizational sustainability
• Hold accountability for the earned-revenue P&L, setting annual and multi-year targets in partnership with the COO

Partner Success & Field Learning (25%)

• Build a scalable partner-success model, ensuring new partners launch successfully with the support, tools, and expectations needed to drive student and staff engagement
• Own renewal and expansion strategy and targets, identifying opportunities to deepen relationships, improve retention, and grow revenue over time
• Partner closely with the Chief Product Officer to ensure Navvy is delivered effectively to campuses/partners, owning the feedback loop so partner and student experience insights inform product development
• Sponsor and sustain the growth team's community of practice among institutional partners, translating field learnings into documented, replicable practices that inform SBNC's tiered engagement model and go-to-market approach
• Track partner satisfaction and account status as core success measures

Marketing & Direct-to-Student Reach (20%)

• Lead demand generation, brand awareness, and growth marketing efforts, managing contractors and external partners as budget allows
• Build SBNC's brand and positioning with institutional buyers through case studies, conference presence, thought leadership, and sales enablement materials that support pipeline growth
• Own SBNC's direct-to-student reach strategy, testing channels such as creator partnerships, social, search, and referral to connect students not served through campus partners
• Build non-campus distribution partnerships (e.g., national nonprofits, food banks, workforce programs) that embed Navvy where students already seek help
• Run a structured channel-testing portfolio with clear hypotheses, success thresholds, and stop criteria, scaling what works and sunsetting what doesn't
• Track reach and efficiency metrics (completed screenings, cost per completed screening, downstream benefit applications)

Skills and Competencies

We recognize that some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don't meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Please don't let that discourage you from applying! We value the unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that each applicant brings, and we encourage you to apply if you believe your background demonstrates the required skills and competencies.

Required for all Roles at SBNC:

• Commitment to SBNC's mission to help postsecondary students connect to the resources they need to stay enrolled, complete their education, and build a foundation for economic mobility.
• Treating students as co-designers, not only people we serve, and prioritizing those facing the greatest barriers first, true to our value of Lead With Students.
• Resourcefulness and a sense of urgency in removing friction between students and the benefits they qualify for, while maintaining a high bar for quality and follow-through, our value of Unlock Every Dollar.
• A commitment to Design for Scale by thinking a step ahead of where the organization is today, prioritizing what matters most, and building for the next campus, policy shift, or student barrier before it arrives.
• Comfort wearing multiple hats, Owning the Outcome, asking for help when stuck, and showing up for teammates when it counts. A startup mentality.
• Treating growth and innovation as an ongoing habit and leaning on the team to Learn Together by seeking feedback, sharing it openly, and adapting when needed.

Required for this Role:

• Functional or executive-level leadership experience with 7+ years of management experience, including significant experience leading growth, partnerships, business development, sales, or a related function, while remaining willing and able to perform individual-contributor-level work
• Personally owned and drove at least $500K in annual recurring revenue from higher education institutions, government agencies, systems, or similarly complex institutional buyers
• Experience leading both new business development and partner success/expansion, including renewals and upsells
• Experience developing and executing go-to-market strategy, including market research, positioning, pricing, pipeline development, and testing what drives adoption
• Experience partnering with or overseeing marketing to drive pipeline or adoption
• Experience building systems, processes, or a team from the ground up in an early-stage or resource-constrained environment, rather than solely optimizing an existing function
• Strong relationship-building and communication skills, with the ability to navigate complex institutions and influence senior decision-makers
• Strategic and analytical mindset, using market feedback, performance data, experimentation, and CRM tools (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce) to refine growth strategy

Preferred for this Role:

• Experience converting grant-funded or free pilots into paid, recurring offerings, including repricing existing partners and managing the shift in partner and funder expectations
• Familiarity with how colleges, systems, and state agencies budget and buy, including procurement cycles, RFPs, and grant-funded purchasing
• Experience pricing offerings in a mission-driven context, balancing access with sustainability (e.g., tiered or sliding-scale models)
• Experience in SaaS or tech-enabled services, partnering with product teams to turn customer feedback into roadmap priorities
• Experience building brand and sales enablement for institutional buyers, such as case studies, conference strategy, and thought leadership
• Experience growing awareness or adoption through marketing or non-enterprise channels, such as digital or consumer marketing, community or channel partnerships, or product-led growth, with fluency in funnel metrics
• Experience reaching students, young adults, or low-income communities through digital channels, creators, or community organizations
• Experience managing external marketing agencies or contractors and deploying a marketing budget
• Knowledge of public benefits programs or student basic needs
• Experience building practitioner networks or communities of practice

Other Logistics

• Location: Fully Remote
• Full-time: 5-day work week, 40-45 hours 
• Salary Range: $170,000 (SBNC posts a single, non-negotiable salary per role) plus a 10% target performance bonus.
• Timeline: Applications will reviewed on a rolling basis until 10/27

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits: 

• Medical insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage, 50% for dependents)
• Flexible PTO (after a 90-day introductory period)
• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• 11 federally recognized holidays
• Paid Org-wide office closures: March (1 week); July (1 week); November (1 week); End of year (2 weeks)
• Starter 401(k) retirement plan
• Home office setup stipend

As a small nonprofit, please note that we do not, at present, provide the following benefits.  

• Disability income insurance or life insurance
• Employer matches for retirement contributions
• Dental or vision insurance

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must reside in and be authorized to work in one of the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia. U.S. territories and work from abroad are not eligible. SBNC does not offer visa sponsorship.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.