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Instructure is seeking an SVP of Partnerships & Innovation to establish and lead a company-wide function that shapes the company's strategic direction as AI reshapes education. This role sits above account management, services, and feature delivery, with accountability for partner ecosystem strategy, co-innovation capability, and developing a coherent organizational point of view on the future of education.
The role is structured around three focus areas: Ecosystem Strategy (45%) involves segmenting the education value chain to determine where Instructure builds, partners, or stays out; owning the structure of the partner ecosystem across tiers including big tech strategics, co-sell and channel relationships, and the vendor network; setting partner strategy and priorities; and synthesizing customer signal into product direction recommendations. Co-innovation (30%) extends the ecosystem through partnerships with flagship institutions to co-design pilots and proof points that inform the roadmap, while supporting development of consultative AI adoption capability. Thought Leadership (25%) involves convening research with partner organizations, producing original work on the future of the LMS and AI-native tech stacks, synthesizing insights into a testable point of view, and translating strategy into language internal teams can use.
Key responsibilities include making build-vs-partner-vs-stay-out decisions with accountability for executing relationships; developing the strategic argument for ecosystem market positioning; feeding customer signal directly into both ecosystem and product strategy; and producing research that shapes how the sector thinks about education technology. The role operates with clear boundaries: day-to-day partner operations remain with sales and customer success teams; marketing owns messaging and campaigns; product decisions stay with the Product function; and enablement scales through its dedicated function.
This is a strategic leadership role requiring the ability to synthesize inputs across the leadership team, work directly with customers and partners, and connect external market insights to internal product and go-to-market strategy. The successful candidate will have a vantage point that informs company strategy during a critical moment when AI is reshaping the education value chain.
