Role/Title: Strategy Associate
Location: Ho Chi Minh City
About Us
Acumen, established in 2008 under the Sannam S4 Group umbrella, is a premier internationalisation partner for educational institutions worldwide. Originating in India, we have expanded our services across Asia, North America, and beyond, providing comprehensive support to universities and organisations embarking on their global journeys.
Our Mission and Approach
Driven by research and rich data insights, Acumen offers innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs of each partner. Our end-to-end services empower educational institutions to establish and enhance their international presence, ensuring they receive trusted guidance and expertise at every step.
Global Reach and Services
With a strong presence in India, South and Southeast Asia, and North America, Acumen delivers excellence in education consulting, advisory, and implementation. Our services include in-country representation, high school engagement, agent management, enrollment services, and strategic consulting, all designed to help institutions thrive in today's competitive international education landscape.
The Opportunity
We are looking for high-potential early-career professionals to join Acumen's growing Education Strategy and TNE Advisory practice. This is a consulting-style role for candidates who enjoy research, analysis, problem-solving, structured thinking, and working on complex questions in global education. The role will provide exposure to client-facing strategy projects with international universities and education institutions across multiple geographies.
As part of a lean and fast-growing advisory team, you will work closely with senior leaders and contribute to live consulting engagements,
business development efforts, market intelligence, and practice-building initiatives.
This role is especially suited for candidates currently in consulting capability centres, Big 4 consulting teams, research/analytics roles, or strong undergraduate programs who are looking for faster growth, more ownership, and direct exposure to global clients.
Role Summary The Strategy Associate will support strategy consulting projects across education, internationalisation, and transnational education. The role will involve market research, market potential assessment, competitor and institutional benchmarking, regulatory review, business case support, proposal development, and preparation of client-ready presentations.
You will work on projects such as market entry strategy, global TNE strategy, branch campus and partnership assessments, student demand analysis, education sector research, and feasibility studies. The role requires strong research ability, business acumen, communication skills, and the ability to convert information into clear, actionable insights.
Key Responsibilities
Strategy Research and Analysis
Conduct secondary research across global education markets, including India,
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and other priority geographies.
Analyse student demand, institutional supply, competitor activity, regulatory
developments, labour market trends, and education sector dynamics.
Support market potential assessments, market entry studies, and global
education strategy projects.
Develop structured research outputs, market summaries, benchmarking tables,
and insight notes.
Identify key implications from research and translate findings into clear
recommendations.
Client Project Delivery
Support consulting engagements for international universities and education
institutions.
Contribute to problem-solving, work planning, data gathering, analysis, and
preparation of client deliverables.
Build client-ready PowerPoint presentations, research memos, and analytical
outputs.
Participate in client and global team discussions, with opportunities to contribute
analysis and present findings.
Work in a fast-paced environment across multiple projects and geographies.
Business Case and Feasibility Support
Support business case and feasibility assessments for education market entry,
partnerships, TNE models, and institutional expansion.
Assist with basic financial and commercial analysis where required.
Work with data from public sources, institutional reports, regulatory documents,
market databases, and other secondary sources.
Convert complex or fragmented information into simple, structured, and decision-
useful outputs.
Practice Building and Business Development
Support proposal development, pitch decks, credentials documents, and thought leadership material
Track emerging themes in global education, TNE, internationalisation, student
mobility, and employability.
Contribute to internal knowledge assets, market trackers, and reusable
consulting tools.
Work closely with senior team members in a lean, entrepreneurial, and high-
growth advisory practice.
Qualifications and Experience
0-2 years of professional experience.
Strong undergraduate degree from a top-tier Vietnamese institution or a reputable
international university.
Candidates who have completed a management trainee program will be strongly preferred.
Candidates from Big 4 consulting, research, analytics, corporate strategy, business research, or similar roles will also be considered.
Prior experience in education, international education, or TNE is helpful but not
mandatory.
MBA is not required; strong undergraduate candidates with the right skills and
attitudes are encouraged to apply.
Skills and Competencies
Strong research and analytical ability.
Ability to structure ambiguous problems and break them into clear workstreams.
Strong business acumen and comfort with market, sector, and institutional
analysis.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to prepare crisp, client-ready PowerPoint presentations.
Comfort with Excel, including formulas, basic analysis, tables, and pivot tables.
Ability to work with large amounts of information and identify what matters.
Professional communication style and responsiveness while working with clients,
senior leaders, and global teams.
Interest in using digital and AI tools to improve research, analysis, and
productivity.
Attributes
Smart: able to learn quickly, analyse logically, and solve problems in a structured
way.
Nice: collaborative, low-ego, respectful, and easy to work with.
Driven: proactive, reliable, and willing to take ownership.
Curious about global education, international markets, and strategy.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-learning, high-expectation
environment.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work.
Benefits
Work on live strategy projects with international universities and education
institutions.
Gain exposure to global education markets across India, Southeast Asia, the
Middle East, and beyond.
Build consulting skills across research, analysis, storylining, PowerPoint, client
communication, and strategy development.
Work closely with senior leaders in a lean team with a flat hierarchy.
Get early client-facing exposure and opportunities to contribute directly to high-
impact work.
Be part of a growing advisory practice at the intersection of education,
internationalisation, market entry, and global strategy.
Build a career pathway into strategy consulting, international education,
corporate strategy, or business-building roles.
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