Academic Operations and Partnerships Lead

Position summary

The Academic Operations and Partnerships Lead owns Pacific West Academy’s university partnership pipeline and relationship management, while also maintaining the academic, compliance, and cross-functional operating system that keeps the school stable and scalable. This role is the internal owner of partnership development, articulation/credit pathways, and “practical semester” style collaboration efforts with universities. This position works closely with the Head Instructor (who owns day-to-day training execution) to ensure training delivery and academic/compliance infrastructure stay aligned.

• On-site:
  Van Nuys, CA and our Lancaster, CA locations
• Schedule:
  
  Full-time; must be available to support partner meetings and peak training/compliance cycles as needed.

• Reports to:
  
  President / Executive Leadership
• Works closely with:
  Head Instructor (Training Operations), Admissions, Marketing, Operations/Facilities, Finance/Student Accounts
• External relationships:
  University partners, accreditor and compliance stakeholders, lender/tuition program stakeholders
• GI Bill coordination:
  Works with the School Certifying Official (SCO) on GI Bill compliance items

This is the highest-priority area of ownership for the role.

• Own the full partnership lifecycle: identify targets, conduct outreach, manage follow-ups, advance negotiations, and maintain long-term partner relationships.
• Lead development of university partnership structures, including “practical semester” concepts, student referral pathways, and repeatable partner programs.
• Drive college credit articulation efforts and partner pathway development (credit mapping, documentation coordination, and agreement progression where feasible).
• Build and maintain a partnership pipeline system (CRM or equivalent) with defined stages, activity expectations, and reporting to leadership.
• Create repeatable partner materials and playbooks (one-pagers, partnership decks, talking points, FAQs, outcome summaries).
• Coordinate internally to ensure partner commitments are operationally deliverable (capacity, schedules, student experience standards, documentation needs).
• Represent PWA professionally in partner meetings and maintain a high-trust, high-follow-through reputation with external stakeholders.

1) Academic operations and quality

• Maintain and continuously improve the academic calendar, curriculum standards, learning outcomes, and course delivery expectations.
• Coordinate syllabi, instructor expectations, and student experience consistency across programs and disciplines.
• Implement and monitor academic policies (as applicable) including progress standards, remediation pathways, and completion documentation.
• Maintain systems for student progress monitoring, including visibility into attendance/grade performance trends and escalation paths in partnership with the Head Instructor.
• Maintain operational infrastructure that supports delivery (e.g., Google Classroom setup/structure, documentation workflows, instructor playbooks).

2) Compliance, accreditation, and audit readiness

• Own documentation discipline required for ACCET alignment: evidence gathering, recordkeeping systems, and process consistency.
• Maintain audit-ready records tied to training delivery, student outcomes, and operational controls in collaboration with the Head Instructor and admin teams.
• Work with the School Certifying Official (SCO) on GI Bill compliance items, ensuring the school’s internal processes support timely and accurate execution.
• Maintain compliance calendars, deadlines, and evidence readiness for internal and external requests.

3) Cross-department operations and alignment

• Run a clear operating rhythm across Admissions, Marketing, and Operations so departments function as one system (handoffs, expectations, accountability cadence).
• Translate enrollment targets and pipeline realities into operational implications (cohort planning inputs, capacity constraints, policy impacts).
• Partner with Finance/Student Accounts on tuition-related process requirements and…