Community Engagement Manager, Upper Peninsula Michigan

How to Apply

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position. Your salary will be determined by your qualifications, experience, and education.

Job Summary

Please Note: This is a fully remote position with a primary focus on serving the Upper Peninsula region of Michigan. Regular travel within this region will be required.

Come join a team of passionate individuals at a non-profit serving Michigan's public Universities and Colleges, K-12 EDU, Libraries, Governmental, Healthcare, Tribal and other Michigan Non-profit organizations for over 56 years! You will be an integral part of the Merit team as a dynamic and innovative team member ready to contribute to and execute the mission of Merit.

Reporting to the Director of Member Engagement, you will identify, organize, and execute efforts to support the needs and strategies required of our Upper Peninsula Michigan region members. You will also be part of Merit's Moonshot initiative, an effort to assess and address the digital divide for Michigan communities. This role includes coordinating regional Member needs, broadband expansion, business development, and strategic engagement. You will develop and implement strategic plans to include analysis of member needs and service requirements, including on-going outreach and support. You will be the primary account manager for key accounts also supporting strategy and business development, service sales, and recruitment to support the following:

• Member Engagement - Sales & Account Management outreach activities
• Merit Services sales
• Member recruitment
• Community engagement & business development activities related to broadband expansion

You will work both independently and within a team environment as well as across the organization with other Merit departments. You should be able to manage multiple projects and opportunities in addition to prioritizing and managing your work schedule in a fast-paced environment.

You will become a Subject Matter Expert in local and regional strategic ecosystem building as it relates to network and security technology services, community building, and broadband infrastructure. In addition to care and maintenance of existing Member organizations in the assigned region, this position will focus on the development of community ecosystems and strategic relationships throughout the state.

As an effective team member, you will be a highly organized self-starter, able to work under deadlines, able to juggle multiple assignments simultaneously, proactive, and willing to continually learn.

To learn more about Merit Network, please visit our website: https://www.merit.edu/

What You'll Do

Essential functions for this position are followed by an (E).

As the Community Engagement Manager for the Upper Peninsula Region, your key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Engagement & Procurement Activities (70%):

• Be the primary contact for existing and potential regional accounts and strategic stakeholders (E)
• Provide customer-focused engagement with key stakeholders within member and prospective member organizations (E)
• Be responsible for revenue generation and Membership growth through account management, outreach, and business development activities (E)
• Develop and implement a business plan to grow Membership for strategic market verticals and organizations, and expand adoption of Merit services with a focus on key members (E)
• Engage with decision-makers and technical staff to provide consultation on current and future needs of Merit services and network connections (E)
• Manage with self-sufficiency through the sales process of inquiry, discovery, quoting, presentation, and closing by providing pre and post-sales outreach (this includes RFP responses and quotes) (E)
• Develop, qualify, and close service sales leads, achieving sale and account management objectives set forth by management (E)
• Accurately document all sales and engagement related activities, support documents, and progress in CRM with accurate judgment of projected close dates and contract amounts (E)
• Work with the internal support team to coordinate quoting, installation, and support activities (E)
• Be a resource to Merit's Members in other regions as requested by management
• Attend and conduct lead generation activities at conferences and events in both Michigan and nationally, as required
• Prepare and/or present relevant content at meetings, training sessions, and events
• Work to connect uncoordinated intra-state in a strategic and cohesive manner within your peer Engagement Manager team, escalating opportunities to Merit leadership where appropriate

Sales Engineering (20%):

• Conduct and/or determine scope definition, analysis of Member requirements, WAN designs, performance projections, Member satisfaction measures, and project management (E)
• Acquire and maintain understanding of Network and Security technologies and services (E)
• Facilitate technical sales support discussion with Merit engineers as required
• Conduct capacity planning exercise with assigned Governing Member institutions in coordination with Merit's strategic engineering staff

Development & Support (10%):

• Develop Subject Matter Expertise in the focus area of Merit's services portfolio
• Maintain knowledge about growing technology trends
• Identify diversification and growth opportunities for Merit's service portfolio and collaboration ecosystem
• Serve as Merit's physical presence in an assigned geographical region. When necessary, assist Merit Network Operations, Merit Support Center, and Networking Engineering within geographical region.
• Provide useful product enhancement insight to Merit staff as identified

Other Duties
Please note that this job description is not intended to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of you for this job. Responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Supervisory Responsibility
This position does not require any supervisory responsibility.

Work Environment
This position operates in a professional office environment. You will routinely use standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, cloud-based systems, and AV/teleconferencing software and equipment.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
This is a full-time, remote position. Though the typical work schedule is 8am - 5pm Monday through Friday for most staff, your work schedule will be determined by your supervisor and may change if necessary. There may be some occasional work required outside of the established schedule, which may include weekends and holidays.

If/when required to be on-site, you will report to our main office at:
880 Technology Dr., Suite B
Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent combination of education, certification, and experience
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in consultative sales of technology products
• Minimum of four (4) years of experience in account management, customer service, out-bound sales or equivalent hands-on, in-person consulting experience
• Demonstrated experience strengthening ties with existing clients as well as cultivating customers in multiple sectors of the market
• Demonstrated experience in a technical outreach role including writing, preparing, and responding to proposals, and coordinating meetings with various IT and technical departments to manage and finalize projects
• Ability to interact professionally and proficiently with individuals at all levels of an organization on technical and strategic discussion topics, involving Merit Executive Management as needed
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (particularly related to technical subjects)
• Demonstrated excellence in presentation skills
• Must be self-motivated and work well independently and as part of a team
• Ability to work in a collaborative process to respond, track, and management Member requests and communication in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated performance in revenue generation, retention, and membership recruiting
• Fluency with MS Office applications, email, shared calendaring, CRM, and other collaborative applications (experience with Visio is a plus)
• Strong willingness to understand and to continuously strive to improve knowledge of Merit's services portfolio and technologies in order to be able to communicate confidently about them to the Merit Community
• Business development and consulting experience related to community building, business initiatives, product launches and expansions, public private partnership relations, and technology-related projects

Desired Qualifications*

• Understanding of Network and Security technologies and services
• Experience with state and national agencies and associations
• Experience being a trusted representative to external individuals and groups
• Experience working with higher education, K-12 educational institutions, libraries, government, healthcare, research institutions, and other public sector non-profit organizations, and experience developing public private partnerships within these market verticals
• Experience in marketing and/or sales of technology products and/or service to public sector non-profit or educational markets
• Experience in the USAC Federal Programs that fund K-12, libraries, and healthcare telecommunications services
• In-depth knowledge on federal funding programs for broadband infrastructure investment such as those outlined in the Federal Infrastructure Bill and the American Rescue Plan Act

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Underfill Statement

This position may be underfilled at a lower classification depending on the qualifications of the selected candidate.

Additional Information

We are committed to offering a high-quality benefits package to support staff and their families. Learn more about our 2:1 retirement matching, healthcare plans with nationwide coverage including prescription drug coverage, multiple dental plans, a vision plan, flexible spending account, well-being programs, long-term disability, automatic life insurance, general legal services, multiple early childhood centers, time away from work and work-life programs to promote balance. Learn more at http://careers.umich.edu/benefits/

Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by you (with or without accommodations) to perform the essential functions of the job.

You must frequently work at a computer station, answer telephone calls, emails, and other forms of customer/client communication. You may on occasion move items of varying sizes and weights throughout the office or building.

Travel
Regular travel within the Upper Peninsula Region is required.

Background Screening:
The University of Michigan/Merit Network conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third-party administrator to conduct background checks in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Application Deadline:
Job openings are posted for at least seven (7) calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

Contact Information

• If you have any questions regarding this job, please visit our website: https://www.merit.edu/about/careers/
• Assistance is available if you need help completing this application; please call (734)615-2000, option 1

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

257744

Community Engagement Manager, Upper Peninsula Michigan

Business Systems Analyst Inter

Ann Arbor Campus

Mobile/Remote

Full-Time

Regular

Exempt

Affiliated It Orgs

Merit Network

12/10/2024 - 12/31/2024

$68,000.00 - $72,000.00

Communications & Marketing
Information Technology