Strategic Account Director

Zendesk•San Francisco, CA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Zendesk is seeking a Strategic Account Director to win new business with large enterprise customers across industries. The role focuses on building trusted executive relationships, connecting customer priorities to Zendesk’s service and AI solutions, and guiding complex opportunities from initial conversations through close. The director will grow Zendesk’s enterprise customer base and provide a clear handoff to the post-sale team. The position combines disciplined new-business selling with the judgment to make an AI-powered future state credible to executive buyers. The successful candidate will help enterprise customers turn service challenges into a compelling case for change, while using approved AI tools to improve account research, preparation, follow-through, and synthesis of customer and market signals. Confidential information must be protected, and discussions of AI should address customer outcomes, adoption, security, governance, and implementation readiness, with appropriate recognition of the need for human judgment and specialist expertise. Zendesk describes its work as building products rooted in AI, automation, and intelligent customer experiences. Its hybrid way of working brings employees together in person at Zendesk offices to connect, collaborate, and learn, while allowing remote work for part of the week. Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans.

Requirements

Typically 12+ years of related experience, with demonstrated success in complex B2B SaaS sales.
A record of owning new-business opportunities and delivering measurable commercial outcomes, such as quota attainment, new ARR, or equivalent growth results.
Experience with prospecting, value-based discovery, executive engagement, and complex deal ownership.
Ability to discuss AI, automation, and platform value credibly, and to involve specialists when deeper technical expertise is needed.
Strong new-business mindset and discipline in creating demand through thoughtful, consistent prospecting.
Consultative discovery skills to uncover business problems, urgency, stakeholders, and measurable outcomes.
Ability to earn trust and guide decisions across executive and cross-functional buying groups.
Commercial judgment to build business cases, manage deal economics, negotiate, and qualify opportunities honestly.
Strong operating habits, including accurate forecasting, clear next steps, early risk visibility, and reliable follow-through.
Clear communication that makes complex platform and AI value understandable to business and technical audiences.
Collaborative approach to leading specialists and sharing customer and market insight across teams.
Comfort discussing AI opportunities in terms of customer outcomes, adoption, security, governance, and implementation readiness, and recognizing where human judgment and specialist expertise matter.
No specific degree is required; equivalent practical experience is welcome.

Nice To Haves

Repeated success closing large, complex net-new enterprise deals.
Experience creating demand and shaping account or market strategy for high-value prospects.
Strength in ROI storytelling, competitive positioning, and guiding multi-stakeholder buying decisions.
Experience partnering with channel or ecosystem partners and cross-functional sales teams.
Familiarity with service operations, customer experience, or AI-enabled business transformation.

Responsibilities

Build and manage qualified pipeline through targeted prospecting, inbound opportunities, partner relationships, and territory planning.
Lead complex sales from discovery and qualification through business case, proposal, negotiation, and close.
Connect customer goals and service challenges to a credible Zendesk platform and AI solution with measurable outcomes.
Build relationships across executive, business, technical, finance, security, and procurement teams.
Own pursuit strategy, deal progression, and commercial decisions within approved guidelines.
Coordinate Solution Engineers, Product Specialists, Marketing, SDR/BDR teams, partners, and leaders to advance opportunities.
Maintain accurate CRM records and forecasts, surface risks early, and keep buyers aligned on next steps.
Document customer goals, commitments, and success conditions to support a smooth post-sale handoff.
Share market insights with internal teams.
Use approved AI tools to improve account research, preparation, follow-through, and synthesis of customer and market signals while protecting confidential information.