DIRECTOR, HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR FINANCE - NEW BUSINESS & RETENTION (REMOTE)

Job Summary

This role is the perfect opportunity for a finance leader looking to shape the Higher Education Sector’s growth and client retention strategy while developing critical skills for continued career advancement:

• Offer Strategy: Lead the financial strategy and direction of high-impact new business and retention offers, strengthening strategic decision-making across the Higher Education Sector.
• Revenue & Profit Optimization: Develop and influence offer strategies that support revenue growth, client retention, and sustainable profitability.
• Contract Negotiation: Provide financial leadership in negotiating new and renewed client agreements, balancing competitiveness, client value, risk, and return.
• Presentation Skills: Present complex offer economics, investment recommendations, and commercial strategies to senior leadership and clients with clarity and confidence.
• Influence & Stakeholder Leadership: Drive alignment and decisions across sector, operations, sales, retention, and corporate stakeholders without direct authority.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Influence sales, retention, operations, marketing, and sector partners to deliver successful client outcomes.
• Risk Management: Identify and mitigate financial and commercial risks in new and retention offers, supporting sustainable Sector growth.
• Executive Visibility: Serve as a key advisor to Higher Education Sector leadership through regular engagement on new business, retention, and investment decisions.
• Career Advancement: Build a strong foundation for future senior leadership roles by mastering strategic finance, commercial decision-making, executive influence, and enterprise partnership.

The Director, Higher Education Sector Finance - New Business & Retention leads the financial strategy and execution of new business and client retention offers across the Compass Higher Education Sector. This role shapes the financial and commercial approach to high-value, complex opportunities and renewals, ensuring offers are competitive, strategically structured, client-focused, and aligned with long-term financial objectives.

Acting as a strategic partner to sector, sales, retention, and operations leadership, the Director oversees pricing strategy, contract structuring, investment evaluation, and financial risk assessment across the new business and retention pipeline. This role provides executive-level guidance on offer economics, ensuring financial models, assumptions, and proposals support growth, client retention, and sustainable profitability.

The Director serves as an influential finance partner across the Higher Education Sector, establishing best practices in financial modeling, benchmarking, and offer development while driving consistency, rigor, and alignment across new business and retention processes.

Responsibilities

Strategic Offer Leadership: Lead offer-level financial strategy for high-value and complex Higher Education new business and retention opportunities, shaping pricing, investment structures, contract terms, and financial positioning.

Partner with sector, sales, retention, and operations leadership to define offer strategy, balancing competitiveness, client value, profitability, and risk across the opportunity pipeline.

• Establish and recommend pricing strategies, guarantee structures, capital investment recommendations, and financial frameworks for new and retention offers.
• Evaluate offer economics, margins, cash flow, and return profiles, ensuring opportunities meet internal performance thresholds and strategic objectives.
• Provide financial oversight of labor models, operating assumptions, enrollment projections, participation rates, and meal plan economics to ensure alignment with operational realities, client commitments, and financial targets.
• Lead financial risk assessment and mitigation strategies, including scenario modeling and sensitivity analysis for key new business and retention variables.
• Provide executive oversight of labor models, operating assumptions, enrollment projections, participation rates, and meal plan economics to ensure alignment with operational realities and financial targets.
• New Business & Retention Offer Support

Oversee development and validation of financial models and proformas for new business and retention offers, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and alignment with strategic objectives.

• Review and interpret RFP and renewal requirements, contract terms, client financials, and campus operating environments to identify risks, opportunities, and structural considerations.
• Support contract negotiations by providing financial guidance on pricing, guarantees, investments, and commercial terms for new and retained partnerships.
• Present financial strategies, offer structures, investment recommendations, and key risks to senior leadership during proposal, retention, and approval reviews.
• Evaluate auxiliary revenue opportunities, capital projects, and long-term investment strategies associated with prospective and existing client partnerships.
• Evaluate auxiliary revenue opportunities, capital projects, and long-term investment strategies associated with client partnerships.

Influence & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Influence cross-functional stakeholders and senior leaders to drive sound financial decisions, consistent offer practices, and alignment on new business and retention strategies.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement through strong partnership, clear financial insights, and constructive challenge.

Process Improvement & Strategic Partnership

• Drive standardization and continuous improvement of financial modeling tools, benchmarking methodologies, and new business and retention offer processes.
• Collaborate with operations, culinary, marketing, finance, sales, retention, and sector leadership to align financial strategy with service delivery and client expectations.
• Provide ongoing insight into market trends, enrollment dynamics, competitive positioning, client priorities, and benchmarking data to inform new business and retention strategy.
• Serve as a key financial advisor to Higher Education leadership, influencing strategic decisions across the new business and retention pipeline.
• Partner with executive leadership to support capital allocation decisions, investment prioritization, and long-term growth initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related field required
• 7-10+ years of progressive finance experience, with exposure to pricing, deal modeling, new business development, client retention, or contract renewals
• Experience in Higher Education, foodservice, hospitality, outsourcing, or support services industries strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to influence senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders, build alignment, and drive decisions without direct authority
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial modeling
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with ability to convey complex financial concepts clearly
• Willingness to travel up to 15-20% of the time.