Channel Partnerships Manager

About Playground

Playground is working to make excellent child care accessible to all. Playground has built best in class software to manage all aspects of running a child care business. We believe that providers should focus on providing incredible child care — the kind of work that only people can do — and that software should manage the rest. We're building the child care management platform that eliminates the administrative work of running a center.

Playground is at an inflection point  and poised to grow extremely fast. We recently raised millions of dollars, have several statewide contracts, and are working with thousands of schools across the country. Additionally, our founders were recently honored as Forbes 30 under 30.

We are a team of owners, who are not afraid to dive into large, complex projects. If you are excited by the prospect of helping build Playground's account management organization and joining a collaborative, high-growth startup — please apply!

This is a full cycle State and Federal Gov Channel Sales role – you will be responsible for the sales and success of the government work at Playground.

What You'll Do

• Develop Relationships with Government and NGO partners: Ensure that Playground is part of the conversation when government and NGOs invest in child care. Work with these partners to build a project plan that maximizes outcomes for the child care providers in their network.

• Manage Government-Funded and Non Profit Relationships: Serve as the primary point of contact for Government funded groups, shared services, and state government clients (including Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Arizona, Texas, and more as we grow). Build trusted relationships with key decision-makers and craft tailored strategies to drive impact and growth across agencies.

• Drive Provider Adoption: Develop and execute strategies to increase adoption of Playground’s platform among childcare providers participating in state-funded programs. Design and lead webinars, training sessions, and support resources tailored to the unique needs of government stakeholders and their provider networks.

• Monitor Program Health: Track and analyze key performance indicators across government accounts. Anticipate risks and implement proactive solutions to improve retention and satisfaction.

Must Have:

• 5+ years in Customer Success, Account Management, or Public Sector partnerships, ideally with government clients at the state level. SaaS, edtech, or govtech experience is a plus.

• Proven sales background: Must have carried a quota and met or exceeded sales targets, with demonstrated success in managing a book of business and driving revenue growth.

• Experience selling into government agencies, ideally at the state level; strong preference for candidates with SaaS, edtech, or govtech experience.

• Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder relationships and drive adoption and growth across accounts. Must have carried a quota in the past.

• Strong understanding of government procurement, contract management, and compliance, with a track record of driving customer satisfaction and reducing churn.

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to lead training sessions and present to senior-level stakeholders in both government and provider networks.

• Self-motivated, highly organized, and comfortable working independently while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

• Willingness to work in-person five days a week at our office in Union Square

Think you’d be a great fit but don’t meet every single requirement? We’d still love to hear from you. We value diverse experiences and believe great candidates can come from unexpected places.

• Competitive salary + equity

• 3 weeks of PTO

• Health, vision, and dental benefits

• $1200/year education stipend

• Free lunch daily

• New MacBook and any equipment you need

• Collaborative and supportive work culture with a high level of autonomy and room for growth

• Help accelerate our mission to make excellent child care accessible to all!

OTE for this position is $150,000 - $180,000 subject to standard withholding and applicable taxes. Job level and actual compensation will be decided on factors including, but not limited to, individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process (including skills and prior relevant experience, potential impact, and scope of role), market demands, and specific work location. The listed range is a guideline, and the range for this role may be modified. Job level and actual compensation will be based on skills, experience, and interview performance.