At Guild, we believe talent is everywhere and that opportunity should be too. We continue to have our home and headquarters in Denver, but we have embraced a distributed model of working to reach the best talent in the United States. While some roles may require proximity to our Denver office, roles based outside of our Denver office can sit in any of the following 32 states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI and Washington D.C. Please only apply if you are able to live and work full-time in one of the states listed above. State locations and specifics are subject to change as our hiring requirements shift. We typically keep job postings active for 3–5 weeks, though this may vary depending on applicant volume and other factors.
----
If you are an Internal Candidate, please apply via our Internal Job Board.
----
- Nurture A Learner’s Mindset - using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and development areas
- Build Shared Success - building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives
- Be an Owner - holding self and others accountable to meet commitments
- Create Belonging - recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to our company
Guild is hiring a Senior Workforce Partnerships Principal to help drive the next frontier of workforce education and career mobility. As a core member of our Expansion team, you’ll play a critical role in identifying, assessing, and operationalizing high-potential growth opportunities—particularly those involving innovative funding sources like government programs, philanthropic capital, and workforce development funds.
This is a strategic and execution-focused role. You’ll be a hands-on builder, responsible for shaping the earliest stages of new market initiatives—from research and discovery to piloting and early scaling. You will collaborate closely with the Vice President of Workforce Partnerships and cross-functional teams to bring new ideas to life and advance Guild’s mission in untapped sectors and segments.
This is an ideal role for a strategic thinker and operator who thrives in ambiguity, enjoys building from scratch, and is passionate about unlocking access to education and economic opportunity at scale.
Key Responsibilities
Market Research & Opportunity Identification
- Conduct rigorous market research to surface new opportunities across public, philanthropic, and workforce funding ecosystems.
- Analyze regulatory landscapes, policy trends, and local/state/federal funding programs to inform market entry strategies.
- Build and maintain a pipeline of market hypotheses and concepts for exploration.
Business Development & Origination
- Independently source and originate new business opportunities from the ground up (0→1), using creativity, curiosity, and deep ecosystem scanning.
- Engage with potential funders, partners, and stakeholders to uncover unmet needs and explore alignment with Guild’s capabilities.
- Develop frameworks to assess opportunity fit, strategic value, and long-term scalability within the Guild ecosystem.
- Make go/no-go recommendations based on market traction, financial viability, and mission alignment.
Opportunity Validation & Business Design
- Design and lead early experiments to validate demand, feasibility, and ROI of new market opportunities.
- Develop hypotheses, pilot concepts, and test value propositions with potential funders, partners, and beneficiaries.
- Support the development of new business models and funding structures aligned with Guild’s impact and financial goals.
Go-To-Market Strategy & Launch Readiness
- Translate validated opportunities into actionable go-to-market plans in collaboration with product, sales, partnerships, and operations teams.
- Define and track key success metrics and leading indicators of market traction.
- Support initial GTM execution, including funder outreach, program design, and ecosystem engagement.
Strategic Enablement & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner with internal teams (e.g., Finance, Legal, Policy, Product) to ensure new ideas are viable, scalable, and compliant.
- Help structure strategic partnerships that align with new market goals.
- Serve as a thought partner to senior leadership, offering clear, data-informed recommendations.
You are a strong fit for this role if you have:
- 8–12+ years of experience in strategy, business development, consulting, venture building, or innovation roles—preferably with experience in government, philanthropic, or workforce-related sectors.
- Proven track record of evaluating, launching, and iterating on new business ideas or markets
- Experience developing business opportunities from the ground up—including ideation, outreach, diligence, and execution.
- Exceptional analytical skills, with fluency in building and interpreting market sizing, financial models, and business cases.
- Experience designing and running experiments or pilot programs in ambiguous environments.
- Comfortable engaging with senior-level external stakeholders including funders, government officials, and mission-aligned partners.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to synthesize complex ideas into compelling narratives and strategies.
- Mission-alignment with Guild’s vision for unlocking opportunity through education and career pathways.
We are committed to equal pay for equal work and believe in compensation transparency. All salary ranges are standardized nationwide and will not vary by region. This role offers a competitive total compensation package, including a base salary of $180,600-$264,900 base plus variable compensation and stock options. Compensation offered will be based on a combination of factors such as experience, competencies, and internal equity.
At Guild, we unlock the talent and economic potential of America’s workforce for employees and their companies. We partner with the nation’s largest employers—including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Macy’s, Target, and The Walt Disney Company—to create cultures of opportunity that help them attract and retain top talent, while building the workforce of the future from within. By using our proprietary Career Opportunity Platform to develop education and learning programs that work in the real-world, thousands of employees at those companies have gained the skills, knowledge, and guidance they need to build a brighter future for themselves and their families—all without paying for tuition or career services on their own.
Guild is female-founded and a certified B Corp. The company has been named to the TIME100 Most Influential Companies of 2022 list, CNBC Disruptor50 list three years in a row, Inc. Best Led Companies list, Fast Co. World Changing Ideas list and the B Lab Best for the World list among many others.
Guild is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let your recruiter know. We currently offer the following benefits:
- Access to low-cost, high-quality health care options through Cigna and Kaiser (due to coverage limitations, Kaiser is currently only available in CA & CO)
- Access to a 401k to help save for the future
- Open vacation policy for employees to rest and recharge
- 8 days of fully-paid sick leave, to take the time to heal and or recover
- Family-friendly benefits, including 12 weeks of parental leave for non-birthing parents and 18-20 weeks for birthing parents; 4-week ramp-up period for when employees return from a leave of 6 weeks or more; as well as employer-paid short-term and long-term disability, employer-sponsored life insurance, fertility and caregiving benefits.
- Well-rounded wellness benefits including free and low cost mental health resources and financial wellbeing support services
- Education benefits and tuition assistance to help your future development and growth
I understand that I am applying for employment with Guild and am being asked to provide information in connection with my application. I further understand that Guild gathers this information through a third-party service provider and that Guild may use other service providers to assist in the application process. Guild may share my information with such third-party service providers in connection with my application and for the start of employment.
I understand and agree to Guild's use of my information in accordance with Guild's Privacy Policy and, for applicants that are residents of the State of California, Guild's Applicant Privacy Notice and California Notice at Collection.
Guild Denver, Colorado, USA Office
Our downtown Denver office is easily accessible via public transportation, with plenty of restaurants in the surrounding area.
Similar Jobs
What you need to know about the Colorado Tech Scene
Key Facts About Colorado Tech
- Number of Tech Workers: 260,000; 8.5% of overall workforce (2024 CompTIA survey)
- Major Tech Employers: Lockheed Martin, Century Link, Comcast, BAE Systems, Level 3
- Key Industries: Software, artificial intelligence, aerospace, e-commerce, fintech, healthtech
- Funding Landscape: $4.9 billion in VC funding in 2024 (Pitchbook)
- Notable Investors: Access Venture Partners, Ridgeline Ventures, Techstars, Blackhorn Ventures
- Research Centers and Universities: Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Mesa Laboratory, Space Science Institute, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Gottlieb Institute
