At Horace Mann, we're dedicated to supporting educators and helping them achieve lifelong financial success. We're seeking a strategic and relationship-driven Partner Success Manager to expand and strengthen our network of education-focused partnerships that drive meaningful engagement, lead generation, and business growth.
This role owns the full lifecycle of strategic partnerships—from identifying and securing new opportunities to activating, measuring, and expanding existing relationships. You'll work with higher education institutions, educator organizations, and other influential partners to create programs that increase educator reach and deliver measurable business impact.
The ideal candidate is equal parts relationship builder, strategist, and marketer—someone who thrives on creating partnerships that generate long-term value for both Horace Mann and our partners.
What You'll Do
Strategic Partnership Development
- Build and manage a portfolio of strategic partnerships across higher education institutions, trusted educator organizations, and emerging market segments including homeschool, alumni, broker, carrier, and affinity groups.
- Identify, pursue, and secure new partnership opportunities through direct outreach, referrals, networking, and business development efforts.
- Negotiate and structure partnership agreements that align with Horace Mann's distribution strategy, marketing objectives, and educator engagement goals.
- Evaluate potential partnerships based on growth potential, scalability, and return on investment.
Partnership Activation & Campaign Execution
- Own post-signature partnership execution, ensuring every partnership launches with a clear engagement and marketing strategy.
- Translate agreements into measurable partnership initiatives, including:
- Email marketing
- Direct mail initiatives
- Conferences and events
- Co-branded marketing programs
- Lead generation campaigns
- Partner closely with Marketing, Compliance and Legal, Web, Sales, and Operations teams to ensure successful execution.
Relationship Management & Growth
- Serve as the primary relationship owner for strategic partners.
- Lead renewal, renegotiation, and expansion discussions to maximize partnership value.
- Identify opportunities to increase partner engagement, educator reach, lead volume, and revenue contribution.
- Convert successful partnerships into scalable, long-term programs that support enterprise growth objectives.
Performance & Analytics
- Establish and monitor partnership performance metrics and KPIs.
- Evaluate campaign effectiveness, lead generation results, engagement metrics, and ROI.
- Present performance insights and recommendations to leadership and key stakeholders.
- Use data to optimize partnership strategies and identify future opportunities.
Qualifications & Experience
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Insurance & Financial Services, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- 5–7 years of experience in partnerships, strategic alliances, business development, sponsorships, channel marketing, or relationship management.
- Proven success in negotiating contracts and developing mutually beneficial business relationships.
- Demonstrated experience managing renewals, partner growth initiatives, and benefit expansion strategies.
- Strong organizational, communication, and strategic planning skills.
- Ability to identify and prioritize high-value partnership opportunities.
Preferred
- Experience working with education-focused organizations, associations, higher education institutions, or affinity groups.
- Experience in insurance, financial services, employee benefits, or related industries.
- Experience mentoring, coaching, or providing leadership to others in partnership execution.
- Strong understanding of marketing performance metrics, lead generation, and ROI measurement.
Salary Range:
$89,800.00 - $125,500.00 annually
Salary is commensurate to experience, location, etc.
Horace Mann was founded in 1945 by two Springfield, Illinois, teachers who saw a need for quality, affordable auto insurance for teachers. Since then, we’ve broadened our mission to helping all educators protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow. And with our broadened mission has come corporate growth: We serve more than 4,100 school districts nationwide, we’re publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: HMN) and we have more than $12 billion in assets.
We’re motivated by the fact that educators take care of our children’s future, and we believe they deserve someone to look after theirs. We help educators identify their financial goals and develop plans to achieve them. This includes insurance to protect what they have today and financial products to help them prepare for their future. Our tailored offerings include special rates and benefits for educators.
EOE/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status
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Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, Insurance & Financial Services, Communications, or related field or equivalent experience
- 5-7 years experience in partnerships, strategic alliances, business development, sponsorships, channel marketing, or relationship management
- Proven success negotiating contracts and developing mutually beneficial business relationships
- Experience managing renewals, partner growth initiatives, and benefit expansion strategies
- Strong organizational, communication, and strategic planning skills
- Ability to identify and prioritize high-value partnership opportunities
- Experience working with education-focused organizations, associations, higher education institutions, or affinity groups
- Experience in insurance, financial services, employee benefits, or related industries
- Experience mentoring, coaching, or providing leadership to others in partnership execution
- Strong understanding of marketing performance metrics, lead generation, and ROI measurement
What We Do
Horace Mann was founded in 1945 by two educators in Springfield, Ill., who believed teachers deserved affordable auto insurance. Originally called the Illinois Education Association Mutual Insurance Company, our name was changed to honor the father of the American public education system, Horace Mann. We are proud to share his name. At Horace Mann, the hard work, commitment and dedication of our employees are the foundation of our success. And today we are the largest, national multiline insurance company dedicated to serving America’s educators and their families. Our purpose is to provide lifelong financial well-being for educators and their families through personalized service, advice, and a full range of tailored insurance and financial products. Through our professional agents and their staff, we offer insurance and financial products to the educational community across the United States.
