Higher Education Community & Partnerships Manager

About the role

This role focuses on expanding Figma's presence within higher education by cultivating relationships with educators and institutions. The work involves identifying key university and bootcamp programs, engaging with faculty, and providing them with resources to integrate Figma into their teaching. A core part of the job is to ensure that Figma's free education program is known to incoming students through partnerships with campus technology centers.

Success in this position means establishing strong ties with academic leadership, including deans and department chairs, at leading design schools. The manager will be responsible for laying the groundwork for institutional partnerships, defining the path for broader university collaboration, and creating compelling programming that encourages professors to advocate for Figma in their courses. This requires a strategic approach to community building and resource development.

The role demands close collaboration with the broader Figma EDU team to ensure alignment between institutional efforts and student programs. Measuring effectiveness through data is crucial, involving tracking adoption, engagement, and the depth of institutional relationships to understand what strategies are most impactful and how to refine them over time. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating with an entrepreneurial mindset in evolving environments.

The annual base salary for this full-time remote position ranges from $105,000 to $221,000 USD, with additional benefits including equity and a competitive package.

Skills that matter here

• academic partnerships: This role requires experience in forming and maintaining relationships with educational institutions to drive program growth.
• faculty engagement: The manager will need to actively involve and support university faculty in using Figma for teaching.
• higher ed community programs: Building and managing programs specifically for the higher education community is a key responsibility.
• institutional relationship management: This involves cultivating close ties with university leadership and technology centers to achieve institutional outcomes.
• communication skills: Exceptional written and verbal communication are necessary to tailor messages effectively for academic and institutional audiences.
• community building: The role involves creating and nurturing communities of educators and institutions around Figma's educational offerings.

Who this role suits

• Someone with a background in academic partnerships or institutional relationship management in higher education.
• A person who thrives on building new programs and communities from the ground up, even with limited resources.
• An individual adept at influencing university leadership and tailoring communication for academic audiences.
• A professional who is entrepreneurial and comfortable navigating ambiguous environments.

From the employer

• Build and grow an educator community: identify, engage, and cultivate a network of educators at top university and bootcamp programs who are bringing Figma into their classrooms and giving them the resources and recognition to go deeper.
• Drive curriculum integration: identify high-impact courses and partner with educators on teaching resources, assignments, and course packs that make Figma the easiest tool to teach with.
• Partner with university technology centers: work with campus tech centers to make sure every incoming student knows about Figma's free education program from day one.
• Cultivate institutional relationships: build close ties with program deans, department chairs, and leadership at the world's leading design schools programs.
• Lay the foundation for institutional growth: do early work that positions Figma to partner with universities at an institutional level and help define what that path looks like.
• Create compelling professor programming: design and launch events, resources, and community activations that give professors genuine reasons to champion Figma in their courses and recommend it to colleagues.
• Partner with the broader Figma EDU team: work closely across the team to make sure our institutional work and our student programs are pulling in the same direction.
• Measure success through data: track adoption, engagement, and relationship depth across institutional partnerships to understand what's working and iterate accordingly.

• 5+ years of experience in academic partnerships, faculty engagement, higher ed community programs, or institutional relationship management.
• Demonstrated success engaging and influencing university leadership — including deans, department chairs, and technology center directors — to drive institutional outcomes.
• Experience building programs or communities from scratch with limited resources and without a defined playbook.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to tailor messaging for academic and institutional audiences.
• A scrappy, entrepreneurial approach, comfortable operating in an ambiguous and resource-constrained environment.

While it's not required, it's an added plus if you also have:

• Experience as an educator or working directly within a university setting.
• Familiarity with design education, HCI programs, or creative disciplines.
• Experience working at a high-growth tech company or startup.
• Background in community building and education marketing.
• Familiarity with sales or business development in an institutional or academic context.

• Figma offers equity to employees, as well a competitive package of additional benefits, including health, dental & vision, retirement with company contribution, parental leave & reproductive or family planning support, mental health & wellness benefits, generous PTO, company recharge days, a learning & development stipend, a work from home stipend, and cell phone reimbursement.
• Figma also offers sales incentive pay for most sales roles and an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles.
• Annual Base Salary Range: $105,000 — $221,000 USD.