Please Note: This is a fully remote position with a primary focus on serving the Northern and Mid-East regions of Michigan. The individual who fills this position should live within the assigned region or the Upper Peninsula. Regular travel within this region will be required.

Merit Network, a nonprofit leader providing advanced networking, cyber security, and connectivity to Michigan's research, education, and public service communities, is looking for a Community Engagement Manager to support our members across the Northern and Mid-East regions of Michigan. This role is perfect for someone who enjoys building relationships, engaging communities, and helping organizations connect to the technology and services that support their missions. 

Reporting to the Executive Director of Member Services and Community Engagement, you will identify, organize, and execute efforts to support the needs and strategies required of our Northern and Mid-East 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 and 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.

Have questions about the role or want to learn more before applying? 

Join our informal, open-forum Zoom sessions to connect with the hiring team! Drop in at any time during the hour and stay as long as you'd like - whether you have specific questions or just want to listen in. 

Thursday, March 19 | 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM EST | Click Here to Join the Meeting

Responsibilities 

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

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

Engagement & Procurement Activities (70%):

• Be the primary contact for existing and potential regional accounts and related strategic stakeholders (E)
• Provide customer focused engagement with key stakeholders within member and prospective member organizations (E)
• 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 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 Community Engagement Managers, 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 Network 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 has no supervisory responsibilities.  

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, cloud-based systems, and AV/teleconferencing software & equipment.

Physical Demands

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

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

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in business administration, with an emphasis on customer service and information technology or related field or equivalent combination of education, certification and experience
• At least six (6) years of experience in account management, customer service, out-bound sales or equivalent consulting experience
• Experience leading technical projects and/or technical consulting 
• Business development experience including writing, preparing, and responding to proposals,  developing and leading community meetings, writing plans, and creating a collaborative engagement process
• Expertise in taking a consultative approach to aligning technology needs with solutions in municipal, non-profit or educational markets
• Experience presenting information (can be of a technical nature) to both large and small groups
• Demonstrated experience with negotiation and communication
• Independently establish priorities and consistently meet prescribed deadlines
• Strong attention to detail and timely customer responsiveness

• Demonstrated experience in the design, delivery and management of complex projects, with an emphasis on telecommunications and infrastructure design and delivery
• Understanding of Network and Security technologies and services (including: Internet, Transport, VoIP, Firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, Cloud Applications, and Wireless) 
• Direct experience serving K-12 institutions or other educational, governmental and non-profit institutions
• Experience and knowledge of Universal Service Fund programs and/or other federal broadband funding programs
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive economic development
• Experience building successful collaboration within communities
• Experience managing multi-faceted projects with a diverse group of stakeholders

Please Note: This is a fully remote position with a primary focus on serving the Northern and Mid-East regions of Michigan. The individual who fills this position should live within the assigned region or the Upper Peninsula. Regular travel within this region will be required.

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 with your supervisor and may change if necessary. 

Working on-site will be required on a regular rotation that will be determined in partnership with your supervisor. In addition, ad-hoc on-site meetings and events may be needed with adequate notice provided. Our main office is located at: 

Merit Network, Inc.

880 Technology Dr., Suite B

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or remote work modes 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. 

There may be some occasional work required outside of the established schedule, which may include evenings, weekends, and holidays. 

Travel

This position requires travel within the Northern and Mid-East Regions of Michigan.

Local and statewide travel is occasionally required, which may be outside of normal business hours. 

Starting salary range is $77,000-$82,000, depending on experience and credentials. 

Enjoy comprehensive benefits that support your health, well-being, and future, including:

• Full access to medical and dental insurance for you and your eligible dependents
• Generous 2:1 retirement matching to help you plan for your long-term goals
• Paid vacation, sick time, holidays, and additional paid time off to support work-life balance
• Access to a variety of well-being programs, resources, and campus perks
• Professional development opportunities and educational assistance to further your career
• And more, discover the complete benefits package at careers.umich.edu/benefits 

If you have any other questions regarding this role, please contact hr@merit.edu.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.