Sales Consultant
About The Position
The Strategic Account Director is a senior, customer-facing member of Cengage’s North America Higher Education Sales Group, accountable for revenue and strategic relationships across assigned institutional accounts. The role combines new business development with post-sale account ownership, supporting long-term partnerships, customer value realization, and sustained revenue growth across Cengage Unlimited Institutional Access (CU), Equitable Access (EA), and Inclusive Access (IA) models. The position owns account strategy, forecasting, multi-year planning, contract strategy, renewals, and expansion efforts. It serves as a trusted advisor to senior academic and administrative stakeholders, partnering with Regional District Managers, Specialists, Customer Success, Channel Partners, and internal cross-functional teams to align institutional goals, data insights, and execution. The role also leads institutional program success and change management, analyzes enrollment, usage, pricing, and adoption data, and coordinates program kickoffs, onboarding support, executive success reviews, and continued strategic engagement. It contributes market feedback and thought leadership on institutional business models and account strategy. Travel to key customers, conferences, and partner events is required; 35–50% travel is encouraged.
Requirements
- BA or BS degree.
- At least 5 years of successful experience in educational or enterprise-level sales.
- Proven ability to own and complete strategic account plans with long-term revenue accountability.
- Strong background in high-level negotiations.
- Strong analytical, written, verbal, and presentation skills.
- Deep understanding of higher-education institutional financial and academic decision-making structures.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM platforms, preferably Salesforce.
Responsibilities
- Lead complex contract negotiations with senior academic and administrative leaders, including provosts, chief academic officers, finance, and procurement collaborators.
- Own account strategy and forecasts for institutions in the assigned territory, developing multi-year growth, retention, and expansion plans aligned with institutional priorities and Cengage business objectives.
- Identify and pursue high-impact institutional opportunities aligned with customer objectives and improved student outcomes.
- Develop financial models and arguments that connect Cengage Unlimited benefits to institutional budget and retention goals and demonstrate return on investment.
- Develop new business opportunities at the executive level through sales engagement, networking, market research, and targeted outreach.
- Drive institutional revenue growth and Cengage Unlimited renewals by managing renewal timelines, upsell, expansion, and conversion opportunities in partnership with Solutions Specialists.
- Articulate the value of Cengage products and services in support of affordability, equity of access, student persistence, and academic achievement.
- Own IA/EA/CUI data management and analysis, using enrollment, usage, pricing, and adoption insights to inform account strategy, forecasts, and decisions.
- Lead institutional change management to support adoption of digital access models among faculty and administrators.
- Manage and deepen customer relationships through program kickoffs, onboarding support, executive-level success reviews, and ongoing strategic engagement.
- Advise institutional collaborators using data-driven insights to optimize programs and strengthen long-term outcomes.
- Partner with sales, channel, customer success, marketing, and operations teams to support cohesive execution and accountability across institutional programs.
- Maintain disciplined pipeline, opportunity, and account management in CRM systems, including Salesforce.
- Provide thought leadership on Cengage institutional business models and account strategy.
- Build collaborative, high-trust relationships across internal teams to support execution and customer satisfaction.
- Synthesize executive-level insights and institutional trends as market feedback to help leadership refine product strategy and business models.
Benefits
- Eligible to participate in the company’s variable Sales incentive compensation program.
- Comprehensive Total Rewards package.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
