The Engagement Manager leads client engagements in Higher Education, oversees project delivery, manages teams, and ensures alignment with institutional goals through transformation initiatives.
Job Description:
The Groove is seeking an Engagement Manager (EM) with deep Higher Education experience to lead client engagements and ensure successful delivery of transformation initiatives across Student, HR, and Finance domains. This role is responsible for managing client relationships, overseeing delivery teams, and ensuring outcomes align to institutional goals. The ideal candidate brings strong program leadership, Higher Ed domain expertise, and experience delivering enterprise solutions in complex environments.
Your Responsibilities
Client Leadership
- Serve as the primary point of contact for client leadership, including IT, functional leaders, and executive sponsors
- Build trusted relationships and act as a strategic advisor throughout the engagement
- Align project objectives to institutional priorities, balancing stakeholder needs across academic and administrative functions
Delivery Oversight
- Lead end-to-end delivery of projects, ensuring quality, timeliness, and client satisfaction
- Manage scope, budget, timeline, and risks across engagements
- Partner with technical and functional leads to ensure cohesive, high-quality delivery
Program & Team Management
- Lead cross-functional teams, including consultants, engineers, and analysts
- Drive accountability across the team for deliverables and outcomes
- Coach and develop team members while fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture
Higher Ed Expertise
- Guide clients through transformation across Student, HCM, and Finance systems
- Navigate the complexities of Higher Ed environments (shared governance, decentralized decision-making, compliance requirements)
- Bring best practices and insights specific to colleges, universities, and system offices
Change & Adoption
- Ensure alignment between technology, process, and people
- Support change management efforts including stakeholder engagement, communications, and adoption strategies
- Identify risks to adoption and develop mitigation strategies
Your Qualifications
Experience
- 5–8+ years of experience in consulting, program management, or enterprise system delivery
- Proven experience leading client-facing engagements
- Significant experience working with Higher Education institutions
Domain Expertise
- Strong understanding of Higher Ed operations, including student lifecycle, academic structures, and administrative functions
- Experience with enterprise platforms such as Workday, Student Information Systems (SIS), or ERPs
Leadership Skills
- Ability to lead and influence across diverse stakeholder groups
- Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate complex topics into clear, actionable insights
- Experience managing multiple workstreams and competing priorities
What Sets You Apart
- Experience with Workday implementations (Student, HCM, or Financials)
- Background in large-scale Higher Ed transformation programs
- Ability to operate effectively in complex, matrixed environments
- Passion for improving outcomes for students, faculty, and administration
Why The Groove
- Work on meaningful transformation initiatives across leading Higher Education institutions
- Be part of a collaborative, values-driven consulting team
- Opportunity to shape delivery practices and client impact in a high-growth environment
EEO Policy:
The Groove is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ancestry, genetics, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran or marital status.
Ready to embark on an exhilarating journey of innovation and collaboration? Apply now and be part of our exciting team at The Groove!
Similar Jobs
Fintech • Information Technology • Software • Financial Services
Own end-to-end enterprise sales to top US banks: build relationships, conduct discovery, craft solutions, manage multi-threaded sales cycles, lead negotiations, and close deals while collaborating cross-functionally.
Artificial Intelligence • Enterprise Web • Software • Design • Generative AI
Own technical accounting for complex areas (stock-based compensation, capitalized commissions, internally developed software, intangibles, leases); lead month-end close, prepare quarterly and annual financial statements, research and document accounting positions, support auditors and controls, drive process improvements and scalable reporting.
Top Skills:
AINetSuiteWorkiva
Artificial Intelligence • Big Data • Healthtech • Machine Learning • Analytics • Biotech • Generative AI
Provide clinical and technical education to clients about genetic testing, support sales teams, deliver presentations, engage key opinion leaders, field client questions, attend tradeshows, make SFDC entries, and travel roughly 50% within the Tri-State territory.
Top Skills:
MS OfficeNgs (Next-Generation Sequencing)Salesforce (Sfdc)Sanger SequencingWebex
What you need to know about the Austin Tech Scene
Austin has a diverse and thriving tech ecosystem thanks to home-grown companies like Dell and major campuses for IBM, AMD and Apple. The state’s flagship university, the University of Texas at Austin, is known for its engineering school, and the city is known for its annual South by Southwest tech and media conference. Austin’s tech scene spans many verticals, but it’s particularly known for hardware, including semiconductors, as well as AI, biotechnology and cloud computing. And its food and music scene, low taxes and favorable climate has made the city a destination for tech workers from across the country.
Key Facts About Austin Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 180,500; 13.7% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Dell, IBM, AMD, Apple, Alphabet
- Key Industries: Artificial intelligence, hardware, cloud computing, software, healthtech
- Funding Landscape: $4.5 billion in VC funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Live Oak Ventures, Austin Ventures, Hinge Capital, Gigafund, KdT Ventures, Next Coast Ventures, Silverton Partners
- Research Centers and Universities: University of Texas, Southwestern University, Texas State University, Center for Complex Quantum Systems, Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, Texas Advanced Computing Center
