ETCH Jobs of the Week 10/26/24
Fall into Cash: Jobs from This Season’s Top EdTech Fundraisers
ETCH Jobs of the Week (JOTW) is a collaboration between ETCH (now The EdSheet at Whiteboard Advisors), your home for EdTech news and information; and my recruiting practice, Tenzing, which helps orgs positively impacting education efficiently attract, source, vet and hire mission-aligned talent.
This week, we’re featuring a selection of career opportunities from top US-based EdTech fundraisers that have recently been highlighted in The EdSheet - Whiteboard Advisors’ new biweekly publication focused on the latest education business and funding news, written by Matt Tower (the editor of this newsletter). The deal summaries are courtesy of The EdSheet. Subscribe to The EdSheet to receive regular comprehensive updates with in-depth analysis.
Emergence raises $100M / AI Agents / Learn Capital
San Francisco-based Emergence is building AI agents for knowledge workers. Emergence has ambitions far beyond education, but their CEO and executive team are the same team behind Merlyn Mind (which will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Emergence), one of the early AI-for-literacy startups.
Now Merlyn Mind is hiring for:
Principal Product Manager | Merlyn Mind
Location: Remote (San Francisco, CA)
Education Focus: K-12
Mission: To build cutting-edge AI solutions that improve the lives of educators, solve real-world classroom challenges, and drive successful learning outcomes.
Job Summary: The Principal Product Manager will define and execute strategies to scale Merlyn’s AI teaching assistant across classrooms globally. Key responsibilities include leading cross-functional teams, creating features to boost teacher engagement, and overseeing product integration into hardware devices. This role requires monitoring performance metrics, gathering user insights, and promoting innovation within the team. A strong background in product management, user-driven design, and technical fluency is essential, ideally with experience in EdTech and hardware-software integration.
Compensation: $205,000–$250,000 annually
Tierra Encantada raises $38M / Early Childhood Centers / Susquehanna Growth Equity
Minneapolis-based Tierra Encantada is a bilingual (Spanish and English) franchisor of early childhood centers. There is a spike in activity in the early childhood market in in the press. It is also gaining steam among investors. Just this year, Big Blue Marble Academy and Magical Beginnings sold to private equity groups, PE-backed ECE providers bought 6 other companies (including 2 this week, see below), and VCs have put ~$40M into early-stage companies in the space. Susquehanna’s investment in Tierra Encantada nearly doubles that amount of VC funding, but comes with the risk of backing a company that operates a relatively small number of franchises (12) today.
Now Tierra Encantada is hiring for:
VP of Human Resources | Tierra Encantada
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Education Focus: Spanish immersion early education
Mission: To provide a distinguished early education experience that focuses on the growth of the whole child.
Job Summary: The VP of Human Resources will lead Tierra Encantada’s HR functions, managing employee relations, recruitment, payroll, benefits, and compliance. This position will guide HR initiatives to improve culture and optimize HR operations, collaborating with leadership and external partners to meet expansion goals. The ideal candidate has a strong background in HR strategy, policy development, and HRIS, with a focus on continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration.
MagicSchool raises $15M / Teacher Tools / Bain Capital Ventures, Adobe Ventures, Common Sense Media
Denver-based MagicSchool provides software infrastructure tools for teachers. The company grew to prominence due to its tightly integrated product feedback loop - launching new tools to their pool of 2M+ teachers faster than entrenched providers have been able to keep up with.
Now MagicSchool is hiring for:
Head of Product | MagicSchool
Location: Remote
Education Focus: AI-driven tools for teachers
Mission: Empower teachers globally through AI to streamline classroom tasks and enhance learning experiences, focusing on equitable, innovative education solutions.
Job Summary: The Head of Product will define and drive the product roadmap, aligning it with MagicSchool’s mission and growth goals. This role involves leading cross-functional collaboration, hiring and mentoring product team members, and integrating customer insights to enhance product value. Key responsibilities include building product processes, prioritizing development with data-driven decisions, and communicating strategy effectively with stakeholders. Startup and EdTech experience are strongly preferred, alongside a focus on customer-centered product innovation.
Compensation: $180,000–$240,000 + Equity
Uplimit raises $11M / Upskilling / Salesforce Ventures, GSV, Greylock Partners, Cowboy Ventures, Translink Capital, Workday Ventures, Conviction
San Francisco-based Uplimit helps companies design and manage cohort-based upskilling courses. Led by edtech veteran Julia Stiglitz, the company is betting that the high-touch services - coaching, course design, and rapid assessment, among other things - that online universities have refined over the past ~10 years can be translated into cost-efficient software tools through the use of AI.
Now Uplimit is hiring for:
Head of Marketing (B2B) | Uplimit
Location: Hybrid (Denver, CO; San Mateo, CA) or Remote (U.S.)
Education Focus: AI-based corporate upskilling and reskilling
Mission: Uplimit aims to transform corporate learning by providing an AI-powered platform that enhances program efficiency and engagement, achieving significantly higher completion rates than traditional e-learning.
Job Summary: The Head of Marketing will lead Uplimit’s B2B marketing strategy, overseeing product marketing and demand generation. Responsibilities include developing end-to-end campaigns, driving qualified leads, managing the marketing funnel, and aligning with sales and product teams. The role requires strong analytical skills and experience in B2B growth, content creation, and team leadership within a dynamic environment.
Compensation: $180,000–$240,000 + Equity
Clasp (FKA Stride Funding) raises $10M / Student Financing / Crosslink Capital, SHRM
Boston-based Clasp helps large enterprises recruit new talent by facilitating student loan repayment programs tied to employee tenure - which the company calls “retention-driven recruitment.” The capital from this funding round will be used to accelerate the company’s growth in the healthcare industry, which has both a severe workforce shortage and well-defined path from education to employment.
Now Clasp is hiring for:
Principal Partner Engagement Manager | Clasp
Location: Hybrid (Boston, MA)
Education Focus: Workforce development and talent recruitment
Mission: Drive positive change by connecting employers with diverse talent in high-need fields, enhancing career pathways and addressing the student debt crisis.
Job Summary: The Principal Partner Engagement Manager will oversee strategic partnerships with Clasp’s enterprise clients, ensuring satisfaction, retention, and growth. This role includes managing account communication, analyzing performance metrics, and customizing solutions to support client success. Regular business reviews, upselling opportunities, and KPI tracking are integral, alongside CRM management. Strong relationship-building, analytical, and project management skills are essential, ideally with healthcare industry knowledge.
Authentica Solutions raises $6.2M / School Software Infrastructure / Owl Ventures, EduLab Capital Partners
Atlanta-based Authentica Solutions provides data integration and analysis services to the education industry. Data integration is a perennial topic in EdTech, though startup investment in the sub-sector tends to come in waves. While Clever won the SAAS wave, entrepreneurs and investors appear to be betting on the market opening up again for the AI wave - Authentica competitor Ednition announced their $1.35M funding round just 3 months ago.
Now Authentica Solutions is hiring:
Head of Engineering | Authentica Solutions
Location: Remote
Education Focus: Data-driven solutions for K-12, higher education, and educational agencies
Mission: Advance data solutions in education by developing a secure, scalable platform that empowers educators and institutions to make informed decisions.
Job Summary: The Head of Engineering will lead the engineering team, managing technical strategy and product lifecycle management to support and enhance Authentica’s data platform for education. Responsibilities include directing product updates, overseeing cloud and database architecture, and ensuring security compliance. The role requires extensive experience in software development, team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to drive continuous improvement.
Brisk Teaching raises $5M / Instructional Design / Owl Ventures, South Park Commons, Springbank Collective, Coherence Fund, Coalition Operators
San Francisco-based Brisk Teaching offers K12 teachers a tool to automate teacher workflows and generate new learning activities on top of existing content resources. This category is increasingly competitive, also hosting the likes of MagicSchool and Diffit (among others).
Now Brisk Teaching is hiring a:
Sr. Field Marketing Manager
Location: Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Area
Education Focus: AI-powered tools for K-12 teacher support
Mission: Brisk Teaching empowers educators by minimizing administrative tasks through AI, enabling teachers to focus more on teaching and student engagement.
Job Summary: The Senior Field Marketing Manager will develop and lead event strategies that drive engagement and brand growth. Key responsibilities include planning and executing conferences, creating memorable booth experiences, coordinating logistics, and partnering with sales to enhance customer engagement. This role requires creativity, adaptability, and relationship-building to strengthen Brisk’s presence in the education community. Regular travel to major conferences is expected.
Compensation: $110K/yr - $120K/yr + Stock options
Need more hire power? Tenzing will do all the legwork (e.g., sourcing, vetting, and managing the hiring process) for half the cost of traditional headhunters.
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