Education Vertical Leader
Location: Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ or Salt Lake City, UT (with regular travel to client sites)
Role Summary
We are seeking an experienced consulting leader to head our Education Vertical. Robots & Pencils blends cloud-native infrastructure, human-centered design, and pragmatic AI to deliver measurable outcomes for clients. The Education Vertical Leader will own the end-to-end performance of the education industry portfolio, including P&L, client satisfaction, sales growth, and delivery excellence.
Responsibilities
• Own P&L responsibility for the Education Vertical, ensuring revenue growth, profitability, and high client satisfaction.
• Build and expand senior executive relationships across higher education, K-12, and edtech clients.
• Oversee account management, project delivery, and client outcomes across all education accounts.
• Lead and mentor a team of account managers, project managers, and product managers.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Experience (UX/UI/Creative) practice leaders to deliver high-quality client programs.
• Drive sales expansion within existing accounts while identifying new opportunities in the education sector.
• Ensure delivery excellence and pragmatic application of cloud and AI technologies to client challenges.
• Represent the firm as a thought leader in education, client forums, and industry events.
Qualifications
• 12-18 years of professional services experience, with strong delivery leadership at top consulting firms (e.g., Accenture, EY, etc.).
• Proven track record of growing client accounts and delivering large-scale transformation programs.
• Direct experience working in or with the education sector (higher ed, K-12, or edtech).
• Strong understanding of cloud-native platforms and applied AI; able to guide clients in adoption and outcomes (SME-level expertise not required).
• Career path that combines large consulting firm experience with leadership in mid-sized consulting environments.
• Excellent client relationship skills, with the ability to engage senior executives and influence strategic decisions.
Preferred Experience
• Background that includes both large-scale consulting (4-6 years at a firm like Accenture, EY, or similar) and hands-on leadership at mid-sized professional services firms.
• Experience at a cloud provider (e.g., AWS) or within an innovation-focused consulting group.
• Strong presence in the Phoenix/Scottsdale or Salt Lake City markets, with established professional networks.
Location & Travel
• Based in Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ or Salt Lake City, UT.
• Willingness to travel regularly and engage face-to-face with clients.