Director, Strategic Partnerships and Alliances

Union/Affiliation: Administrative Professional Excluded Staff
Pay range: $122,570 to $158,620 annually SFU Department Descr: SFU's Partnerships Hub
Position Grade: 14
# of openings: 1
Biweekly Hours: 72

Who We Are

Simon Fraser University is a leading research university, advancing an inclusive and sustainable future. Our purpose – the essence of SFU – is to create and connect knowledge, learning and community for deeper understanding and meaningful impact. We are committed to fostering excellence, innovation, belonging and community in all that we do.

Based on SFU’s Burnaby Campus, SFU’s Partnerships Hub (SPH) advances SFU's growth priorities through advance key external partnerships and delivering on the strategic opportunities they represent. Working in close collaboration with the Vice-President, Research and Innovation and the Vice-President Advancement and Alumni Engagement portfolios, SPH plays a key role in positioning SFU as an active and responsive partner to industry, government, and community organizations. Our goal is to create value with and for SFU’s external and internal partners.

About the Role

The Director, Strategic Partnerships & Alliances provides senior leadership to advance SFU’s growth priorities through high value external partnerships. Reporting to the Executive Director, the role translates strategy into active partnership pipelines that deliver measurable impact—strengthening SFU’s reputation, advancing partnerships, and delivering sustainable revenues. Leading a team of Strategic Partnerships Managers, the Director enables scalable, revenue generating alliances with industry, government, and community partners. The role oversees the identification, negotiation, and long-term stewardship of complex, multi-year agreements, aligning SFU’s strengths with external market needs. With a strong focus on outcomes, the Director converts SFU’s value proposition into collaborative initiatives that expand SFU’s reach and position the university at the forefront of innovation and engagement.

The Director is a partnership and growth leader with an entrepreneurial mindset and a proven ability to translate strategy into disciplined pipelines and measurable outcomes. They bring strong experience converting strategy into market-informed pipelines, while advancing partnerships through rigorous opportunity development. With a track record of structuring and stewarding complex, high-value partnerships across industry, government, or innovation driven sectors, they balance ambition with disciplined prioritization and risk management. As a people-focused leader, they develop and empower high-performing teams to drive momentum from opportunity development through to negotiation and long-term stewardship—delivering value for both SFU and its partners.

Qualifications

Master's degree in Business Administration or a related discipline and eight years of related experience in areas such as strategic alliances and account management, corporate business development and deal structuring, revenue generation, or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

• Excellent leadership, strategic, and business development skills.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives and secure complex, multi-million dollar partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating complex partnership and funding agreements, including standard, nonstandard, and multiparty arrangements, aligned with policies and effective risk management.
• Strong understanding of partnership strategy, alliance development, and business development practices in industry, government, and innovation driven environments.
• Demonstrated ability to develop business cases, cost-benefit and ROI analyses to inform decision-making.
  

What We Offer

At SFU, our goal is to ensure our people are valued and supported by promoting a healthy work-life balance, professional growth and development, as well as a safe and respectful workplace. We offer continuing employees who belong in the Administrative Professional Excluded Staff group (APEX):

• 4 weeks’ vacation (prorated for the first year)*
• Hybrid-work program for eligible positions
• Employer paid defined benefit pension plan
• On-campus tuition waiver for employees and their immediate family members*
• Off-campus tuition reimbursements and professional development funds*
• And more!

*Prorated for part-time employees

Additional Information

The pay range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for the position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the pay range.