Director Consumer Growth & Market Expansion

Nelnet is a diversified and innovative company committed to enriching lives through the power of service as a student loan servicer professional services company consumer loan originator and servicer payments processor renewable energy solutions and K-12 and higher education expert. For over 40 years Nelnet has been serving its customers associates and communities.

The perks of working at Nelnet go beyond our benefits package. When you join the Nelnet team youre part of a community invested in the success of each individual. That support comes through in our work as we are united by our mission of creating opportunities for people where they live learn and work.

Market Expansion & Opportunity Identification

• Engage with customers partners startups and market ecosystems

• Identify unmet needs emerging behaviors and market gaps

• Translate insights into clear testable venture hypotheses aligned with NDS Consumers business goals

Opportunity Pipeline Management

• Build and operate a repeatable system to evaluate new opportunities

• Source and synthesize opportunities across markets and domains

• Define qualification criteria (strategic fit differentiation risk-to-ROI)

• Collaborate with Finance Operations and IT to ensure resource alignment and execution readiness

Readiness Assessment

• Evaluate product operational technical and delivery readiness

• Identify and communicate gaps early

• Recommend whether to build partner pause or discontinue initiatives

Decision-Making & Governance

• Present opportunities and insights to executive leadership and influence decision making

• Lead regular opportunity reviews with clear outcomes (continue pivot terminate)

• Prevent sunk-cost bias and avoid sustaining low-value initiatives

Salary Range: $90-130k

EDUCATION:

• Bachelors degree required
• Preferred: MBA advanced degree or equivalent entrepreneurial experience

EXPERIENCE:

• 5 years building and validating new businesses products or growth initiatives
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional work in ambiguous environments
• Hands-on experience with venture creation pilots and go-to-market execution
• Demonstrated success leading cross-functional work in ambiguous environments
• Founder or early-stage/startup experience
• Exposure to AI-enabled products or emerging technologies

CORE COMPETENCIES:

• Strong customer-first mindset with direct validation experience
• Strategic generalist across product finance marketing sales and operations
• Sound judgment in capital allocation risk management and prioritization
• Ability to make decisive sometimes unpopular calls

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Fast-paced high-ambiguity and execution-focused
• Emphasis on learning experimentation and continuous improvement
• High ownership with strong support for exploration and innovation

Our benefits package includes medical dental vision HSA and FSA generous earned time off 401K/student loan repayment life insurance & AD&D insurance employee assistance program employee stock purchase program tuition reimbursement performance-based incentive pay short- and long-term disability and a robust wellness program. Click here to learn more about our benefits: LINK.

Nelnet is committed to providing a welcoming and respectful workplace where all associates have the opportunity to succeed. As an Equal Opportunity Employer we ensure that all qualified applicants are considered for employment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race color religion/creed national origin gender sex marital status age disability use of a guide dog or service animal sexual orientation military/veteran status or any other status protected by federal state or local law. We value the unique contributions of every team member and believe that a positive work environment benefits everyone.

Qualified individuals with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations in order to apply or compete for positions at Nelnet may request such accommodations by contacting Corporate Recruiting at or.

Nelnet is a Drug Free and Tobacco Free Workplace.