Account Executive 4, Higher Ed Specialist - West

Dell Technologies • Los Angeles, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role is for a Higher Education Specialist within the Direct Sales team, focusing on the West region. The primary goal is to leverage expertise in higher education and strategic acumen to shape markets, create demand, and establish Dell Technologies as the leading partner for digital transformation in U.S. colleges and universities. The higher education sector is undergoing significant transformation due to AI, changing student demographics, staff burnout, cybersecurity risks, and the need to reimagine teaching, learning, research, and community engagement. Dell Technologies partners with institutions to advance their missions by providing secure, scalable, and cost-optimized multicloud and modern infrastructure solutions. This role involves strategic advisory work, executive relationship-building, and thought leadership to identify and qualify opportunities, provide market intelligence, and establish Dell's credibility with senior institutional leaders. It is a strategic advisory and market-shaping role, not a sales support or deal execution role. The strategist will engage directly with senior higher education leaders to understand their challenges and goals, aligning Dell's strategies, solutions, and partnerships. Significant time will be spent on campus and in virtual executive conversations, facilitating dialogue and building trusted relationships. The role requires a bridge between vertical expertise and technical credibility, often held by former CIOs or CTOs with experience in infrastructure modernization, cloud migrations, research computing, and cybersecurity. This dual expertise allows engagement on both strategic priorities and technical challenges, connecting Dell's capabilities to address them. The role is supported by vertical leaders and the Head of Public Strategy for cross-functional collaboration.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of experience working within or closely with higher education institutions.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior higher‑education leaders, including presidents, provosts, CIOs, and CFOs.
• Demonstrated experience leading strategic, consultative, and executive‑level engagements, including discovery, facilitation, and high‑stakes communication.
• Established thought leadership through conference speaking, publications, or major transformation initiatives in higher education.
• Strong understanding of higher education ecosystems—governance, funding, accreditation, and digital transformation—paired with technical fluency across cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, research computing, and data platforms.
• Excellent communication and cross‑functional collaboration skills, active participation in higher‑ed associations, and willingness to travel up to 60%.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in education, information technology, computer science, business, or related field strongly preferred
• Doctorate-level degree in education, information technology, computer science, business, or related field
• Direct leadership or senior-level experience in a higher education institution
• Direct experience as CIO, CTO, or senior technology leader in higher education with hands-on responsibility for infrastructure, cloud, research computing, security, or data initiatives
• Experience facilitating executive workshops or strategy sessions
• Leadership positions within higher education associations, consortia, or professional networks

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery conversations with institutional leaders to understand strategic priorities and desired outcomes across teaching, learning, research, student success, and campus operations, with particular depth in technical areas such as infrastructure modernization, cloud migration, research computing, cybersecurity, and data strategy.
• Help higher education leaders align technology initiatives with institutional strategic plans and long-term visions.
• Provide consultative guidance on digital campus strategies, hybrid and online learning, research computing, student experience, and data-informed decision making.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior institutional leaders including Presidents, Provosts, CIOs, CFOs, Deans, and Vice Presidents.
• Extend Dell's reach beyond IT contacts to engage academic affairs, student success, enrollment, finance, research, and operational leaders.
• Serve as strategic advisor to institutional leaders, aligning Dell's capabilities with their missions.
• Design and participate in Executive Briefing Center sessions, Visioning Days, and workshops that bring together academic, administrative, and IT stakeholders to explore future-state possibilities.
• Design strategic events including roundtables, summits, and market briefings that position Dell and create demand.
• Foster collaborative partnerships between institutions and Dell, including pilots, co-innovation initiatives, and joint storytelling.
• Identify and qualify strategic opportunities at the top of the funnel, shaping them before they become formal RFPs and positioning Dell early in decision-making.
• Make strategic connections across and within institutions to support integrated strategies and uncover opportunities.
• Help institutional customers network with one another, sharing best practices and facilitating communities of practice.
• Position Dell as a thought leader through speaking at conferences, delivering keynotes, serving on panels, and contributing to content that spotlights higher education innovation.
• Monitor and interpret trends in higher education and translate them into insight for customers and internal teams.
• Partner with sales teams to inform and strengthen account strategies, bringing vertical expertise and technical credibility that helps account executives understand dynamics, motivations, challenges, and context.
• Provide strategic input in account planning sessions on governance, funding cycles, policy influences, and long-term priorities.
• Develop and deliver enablement programs on higher education market trends, institutional structures, stakeholder roles, and strategic engagement approaches.
• Provide market intelligence that shapes how Dell positions its offerings in higher education.
• Facilitate collaboration across sales, presales, services, and Strategically Aligned Businesses to create cohesive engagement plans.
• Provide strategic context to help internal teams leverage higher education relationships to co-create solutions.
• Provide input to product, services, and solution teams to influence offerings that better support institutional needs.
• Serve as voice of the customer into marketing, portfolio, and business units, ensuring messaging and content reflect higher education realities.
• Work with marketing as a higher education SME to review and refine content for relevance and accuracy.
• Identify and connect marketing and sales teams with customer stories, references, and advocates.

Benefits

• Total Target Compensation range for this position is $270,000 - 325,000, which includes base salary and commissions.
• Explore the overall benefits experience that awaits you as a Dell Technologies team member — right now at MyWellatDell.com

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior