Client Externship Coordinator

Client Externship Coordinator

Position Summary

The Client Externship Coordinator owns the cross-functional coordination of veterinary externship operations for Penn Foster’s enterprise partners. This role works across Client Success, Operations, and Veterinary Externship, building strong relationships and aligning priorities with team members, managers, and directors across all three functions.

Serving as the dedicated externship subject matter expert for Client Success Managers, Client Coordinators, and enterprise partners, the coordinator helps clients successfully navigate the externship experience by providing strategic guidance, proactive communication, and timely solutions to placement needs, student progression concerns, and operational challenges. The coordinator ensures clients are equipped to support their sponsored students while advancing successful program outcomes.

The coordinator works directly with the Veterinary Externship Team and participates in its recurring meetings to maintain current knowledge of externship operations, the Penn Foster Veterinary Technician Program, internal program and policy changes, and relevant updates from the American Veterinary Medical Association. This information must be synthesized into clear, timely, and actionable guidance for internal client-facing teams and enterprise partners.

This is a highly client-facing role that requires confidence, sound judgment, and composure. The coordinator leads and participates in partner meetings, communicates directly with clients, manages sensitive or escalated concerns, and coordinates solutions across Client Success, Client Coordination, and Veterinary Externship Operations.

The coordinator uses CORE daily to manage externship information and provide accurate updates, reporting, and resources to internal stakeholders and enterprise partners. Email and Microsoft Teams are also used extensively for partner communication, virtual meetings, internal collaboration, documentation, and follow-up.

Candidates must be a Credentialed Veterinary Technician - RVT, LVT, or CVT - or a Veterinarian.

Essential Job Functions

• Own cross-functional coordination among Client Success Managers, Client Coordinators, and Veterinary Externship Operations for enterprise partner externship needs, priorities, questions, and escalations.
• Build and maintain trusted working relationships with team members, managers, directors, and enterprise partners, serving as a collaborative advisor who understands each client's operational goals and helps align externship processes to support successful student outcomes and long-term partnership success.
• Serve as the dedicated externship subject matter expert and direct professional point of contact for Client Success Managers, Client Coordinators, enterprise partners, and other stakeholders.
• Participate in recurring Veterinary Externship Team meetings and maintain current knowledge of externship operations, student and site trends, program requirements, placement processes, policy changes, and emerging issues.
• Remain informed about the Penn Foster Veterinary Technician Program and relevant AVMA updates that may affect students, externship sites, program requirements, or enterprise partners.
• Synthesize complex program, operational, policy, and regulatory information into clear, accurate, and audience-appropriate updates, talking points, resources, and guidance for internal teams and clients.
• Prioritize and participate in client meetings related to externship operations, student progression, implementation planning, operational challenges, and program optimization, serving as a trusted advisor who provides recommendations, shares best practices, and helps clients achieve successful externship outcomes.
• Develop a strong understanding of each enterprise partner's workflows, priorities, and business objectives to proactively identify opportunities to improve the client experience, strengthen program adoption, and reduce barriers to student success.
• Manage client concerns and escalations with professionalism, composure, active listening, and sound judgment; assess urgency and impact, identify appropriate stakeholders, and coordinate timely resolution and follow-through.
• Partner with Client Success Managers and Client Coordinators to prepare for client conversations, address account-specific needs, communicate status updates, and ensure consistent and accurate client support.
• Represent the voice of the client within Veterinary Externship Operations by advocating for practical solutions, identifying recurring themes, and collaborating with internal teams to improve processes while clearly communicating operational requirements, policies, limitations, and expectations to enterprise partners.
• Use CORE daily to review, update, manage, and communicate information related to student participation, placement status, site applications, student progression, completion, and other externship activity.
• Translate CORE platform data into reliable internal and client-facing reports, status updates, and actionable insights.
• Use email and Microsoft Teams to communicate with partners, conduct meetings, collaborate with internal stakeholders, document decisions, and manage follow-up.
• Develop, maintain, and distribute internal and client-facing resources, including reports, FAQs, how-to guides, training materials, process documentation, toolkits, talking points, and best-practice recommendations. to increase client confidence, encourage appropriate self-service, and promote consistent understanding of externship requirements and best practices.
• Build credibility and trust with enterprise partners through responsive communication, consultative guidance, and consistent follow-through, fostering long-term relationships that support client satisfaction, student success, and partnership retention.
• Identify recurring client and student questions, escalations, operational barriers, and process gaps and develop scalable solutions that improve the student, client, and externship experience.
• Lead or participate in client town halls, onboarding sessions, informational meetings, and training events to explain externship requirements, processes, timelines, program updates, and best practices.
• Support prospective client conversations by answering externship-related questions, explaining requirements and processes, and identifying implementation considerations.
• Support sponsored students throughout the externship placement and completion process, including reviewing and monitoring student and site applications for accuracy, compliance, and timely completion.
• Monitor key performance indicators, CORE data, client feedback, and externship trends to identify risks and opportunities affecting student success, placement progress, operational efficiency, client satisfaction, and the overall partner experience.
• Escalate significant risks, unresolved concerns, or recurring issues to the appropriate leaders with clear context, documentation, and recommended next steps.
• Participate in process improvement initiatives, system enhancements, and cross-functional projects designed to improve operational effectiveness, client service, and the externship experience.
• Attend industry conferences, trade shows, and partner events as needed—typically one to two times per year—to represent Penn Foster, strengthen relationships, engage prospective partners, and provide veterinary externship expertise.

Required Qualifications and Competencies

• Current credential as a Veterinary Technician -RVT, LVT, or CVT - or a Veterinarian.
• Ability to work effectively within a matrixed organization and balance the priorities of Client Success, Client Coordination, Veterinary Externship Operations, enterprise partners, and students.
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted client relationships by balancing consultative partnership, operational expertise, responsiveness, and sound judgment while maintaining productive working relationships with clients, individual contributors, managers, directors, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong client-facing written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to lead meetings, explain complex processes, set expectations, and communicate difficult information professionally.
• Ability to manage sensitive conversations and client escalations calmly, respectfully, and with a solutions-oriented approach.
• Strong active-listening, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess urgency, prioritize competing needs, and coordinate action through resolution.
• Ability to absorb detailed program, policy, operational, and regulatory information and translate it into concise, audience-appropriate communication.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and follow-through when managing client requests, student information, reports, program updates, and multiple priorities.
• Ability to learn and work effectively within technology platforms used to manage student, site, placement, and progression information.
• Proficiency using email and Microsoft Teams for client communication, virtual meetings, internal collaboration, documentation, and follow-up.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience using CORE.
• Previous experience supporting enterprise clients, sponsored education programs, externship or clinical placement operations, or veterinary education programs.
• Experience working across client-facing and operational teams in a collaborative or matrixed environment.
• Experience interpreting and communicating educational, accreditation, regulatory, program, or policy updates.
• Experience developing reports, training materials, process documentation, FAQs, talking points, or other internal and client-facing resources.

Work Environment & Hiring Requirements

• Role Assessment: Candidates will be required to complete a role-specific assessment as the first step in the hiring process. Assessment results will be used to evaluate alignment with the position and determine next steps in the process.
• Recorded Video Interviews: All video interviews conducted during the hiring process will be recorded to support internal hiring consistency and process improvement.
• Background Checks: Employment with Penn Foster Group is contingent upon successfully completing applicable pre-employment screening requirements, which may include verification of employment history, education, and criminal background, where permitted by law.
• Identity Verification (Form I-9): As part of our onboarding process, all hires must complete employment eligibility verification in compliance with federal law. This includes remote Form I-9 verification, which may require an in-person identity verification step with an authorized representative.
• On-Camera Work Environment: We operate in a highly collaborative, remote, on-camera culture when working remotely. Employees are expected to be on camera during meetings unless extenuating circumstances apply.

About Us: At Penn Foster Group, we are transforming online learning to help learners by uniting Penn Foster, CareerStep, Ashworth College, James Madison High School, the New York Institute of Photography, the New York Institute of Art and Design, and other education platforms. Together, we create an accelerated path to greater economic mobility through real-world skills and knowledge that enable them to achieve long-term success in the workplaces of the future. Our history dates back to 1890 when our founder, Thomas Foster, pioneered distance education by offering training by mail for coal miners to get the necessary skills for safer jobs. Today, with the partners who use our education and training programs, we continue that mission of providing accessible training and education for in-demand skills and are building a workforce that’s prepared for the future job market. Equal Employment Opportunity: We strive toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Penn Foster Group by intentionally building teams that are diverse – in identities, lived experiences, and ideas to create a culture where people feel connected to each other and have a sense of belonging. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion because it is the foundation that enables us to achieve what we set out to do as an organization – from maximizing the number of learners who can reach their goals while giving them the kinds of experiences we want them to have, to becoming the type of company we want to work in. What We Offer: We offer a robust benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, flexible spending, generous paid time off, sponsored volunteer opportunities, a 401K with a company match, plus free access to all of our online programs.

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