Implementation Manager
Odyssey
Job Description
About Odyssey:
K-12 education is one of the most consequential determinants of a child’s future — and many families have had limited ability to shape how and where their child learns. Education Savings Account (ESA) programs are changing that. One of the fastest-growing public education initiatives in the U.S., they give states the ability to put education funding directly in the hands of families, who can then choose the learning experiences that best fit their child — from schools and tutors to therapy, curriculum, and technology.
But once these policies are signed into law, states face an enormous operational challenge. They must stand up entirely new programs, manage the secure and compliant flow of public funds, approve and monitor thousands of vendors, support families at scale, and prevent fraud — all while delivering a high-quality user experience.
That’s where Odyssey comes in.
We partner with state agencies to design, launch, and operate ESA and school chocie programs on their behalf. We provide the technology, program operations, vendor ecosystem, and family experience that make these programs actually work in the real world. Today, we operate across 10 states, and our platform powers programs serving 250,000+ students and over $2B in annual education funding — and we’re just getting started.
Most recently, we launched the Texas Education Savings Account (EFA) program — the biggest day-one ESA launch in the country — which has already received nearly 200,000 applications. It’s the kind of moment that captures exactly what we’re building toward: programs that work at scale, from day one, when it matters most.
We’re backed by respected investors, including a16z and Tusk Venture Partners, and we’re building the team that will take us to the next stage.
Odyssey sits at the intersection of GovTech, EdTech, and FinTech. We are a public-sector operator, a technology company, and a program delivery partner all at once. The work we do is civic infrastructure — it determines whether families can access life-changing educational opportunities.
Why This Work Is Different
We’re in the weeds with state partners, internally with our product teams, and turning ambiguous policy into real systems that families depend on. This means building a platform that meets each state’s configuration needs while being flexible enough to support all customers. We are not building be-spoke software!
If you want a highly structured environment, this will feel uncomfortable. If you want ownership, speed, and problems that actually matter, you’ll feel right at home.
The Role
As the Implementation manager, you will own outcomes, full stop. You are notticking a box and passing off your customer you are ensuring the customer is deployed effectively and that the value Odyssey brings is transparent and that the decision to continue business with us is a no-brainer. You are the Odyssey vanguard and will embed with customers from kick-off, through go-live, and over their entire contractual lifecycle.
What You’ll Do
Fully understand all of the elements important to the customer that may impact deployment and communicate this effectively with internal teams.
Deploy Odyssey to our customers; ensuring successful completion of contractual requirements and go-live milestones.
Build strong partnerships and lines of communication with both internal and external stakeholders.
Develop deployment plans and lead these plans with State stakeholders and internal Odyssey teams, including Engineering, Product, and Support.
Provide technical knowledge and understanding of Odyssey’s platform to various technical and non-technical stakeholders; driving deployment of technical solutions and configurations.
Drive all customer growth and adoption, leading to successful renewal.
Ensure we’re deploying customers in a scalable and effective way; i.e. don’t re-invent the wheel for every new customer.
About You
You are a strong leader who can align stakeholders, build consensus, and drive action across cross-functional teams to keep complex initiatives moving forward.
You are an excellent communicator who can translate complex customer plans into clear actionable messaging for internal and external audiences
You have 5+ years of experience in an implementation or customer success role with hands-on experience deploying actual technology products.
You have experience managing long-term, complex, and technical implementation cycles ranging 6+ months from start to finish.
You thrive in an early stage SaaS startup environment where ambiguity is the norm and speed matters.
You have strong technical acumen – you understand how to deploy technical systems and can hold your own in high-level technical discussions with the customer. You can get in the weeds with the technology when needed, and can configure technical workflows such as APIs, webhooks, etc.
You have a high degree of empathy; ability to understand the perspective of our customers and end users to allow you to chart the path forward.
You have an owner mindset, strong sense of accountability, and creative problem solver; you are constantly working to overcome obstacles in order to push your plan forward; you do not expect somebody else to solve your problems for you.
You’re a team player with a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
You have an analytical mindset with the ability to use SQL and/or advanced excel techniques to investigate data.
If you have experience working with government agencies, that’s a strong plus.
Additional Details
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
We believe that everyone at Odyssey should be compensated fairly. We set our salary bands based on compensation data from hundreds of companies at our stage. The salary range for this role is $130,000 - $160,000 depending on experience, interview performance and location.
Odyssey benefits include Medical/Dental/Vision plan(s), health services, short term disability, unlimited PTO and more.
Our Commitment to Equal Opportunity Employment:
Odyssey is an equal opportunity employer. Reasonable accommodations are available upon request.