Strategic Sales Executive

Pearson; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global learning company is seeking a Strategic Sales Executive for a remote role focused on international higher education. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in closing large, transformative deals within the education sector, engaging with government and institutional stakeholders. Responsibilities include leading sales engagements, developing account plans, and influencing decision-making at the highest levels. This position offers the opportunity to shape long-term partnerships and impact educational outcomes.

Qualifications

• 8+ years' enterprise closing experience.
• Proven track record in securing complex, high-value deals.
• Experience with public sector procurement processes highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead institutional and government sales engagements.
• Engage senior stakeholders and create annual account plans.
• Close large, strategic deals (7 figure, multi year opportunities).

Skills

Enterprise closing experience

Project management skills

Executive presence

Fluency in English

Tools

Salesforce

Tableau

MS Office

Job description

At Pearson, our mission is to help people realise the life they imagine through learning. As a Strategic Sales Executive for International Higher Education, you will pursue and secure transformative, multi year partnerships with governments, universities, and enterprise clients across priority markets.

Reporting to the Director of Strategic Sales and embedded in the central team that leads Pearson's most strategic and complex commercial agreements, you bring together the right people, processes, and market intelligence, mobilising internal stakeholders and resources at the right moments, to shape, pursue, and win must win programmes. You'll influence senior leadership and government stakeholders, navigate public sector procurement, and manage multi million pound, solution focused programmes, applying authority and credibility at the highest decision making levels to deliver measurable revenue growth, reference worthy deployments, and strategic positioning for Pearson. Every deal you land helps shape our product roadmap and sector narrative.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and orchestrate institutional and government sales engagements, owning the full lifecycle from opportunity identification through contract finalisation and implementation.
• Engage senior stakeholders, including but not limited to Vice Chancellors, Ministries, procurement bodies, developing trusted advisory relationships that position Pearson as a strategic partner.
• Create and deliver annual account plans for strategic government and institutional clients. Work with clients to define ambitious revenue targets and partnership objectives and execute against these plans to expand Pearson's footprint and influence.
• Run world class discovery to uncover institutional pain points and policy drivers; translate findings into crisp problem/solution narratives and bespoke proposals.
• Create and progress pipeline through multiple channels, converting warm leads from events, conferences and marketing programmes, and proactively generate net new opportunities through insight driven outbound (email, phone, social). You won't wait for leads, you'll own pipeline creation and qualification.
• Build and leverage an internal network across Pearson, knowing when to pull in the right expertise (Product, Delivery, Legal, Finance, Marketing) at the right time to accelerate deal strategy and execution.
• Drive RFP responses and complex bids, collaborating with cross functional teams to deliver tailored, outcome focused solutions.
• Close large, strategic deals (7 figure, multi year opportunities) while building reference worthy deployments.
• Represent Pearson with authority at policy forums, sector events, and senior stakeholder meetings; act as a visible leader in higher education.
• Analyse bid and sales performance, implement continuous improvements, and champion enhancements to sales tools and templates.
• Leverage AI as a force multiplier for account research, prospecting, prioritisation, call prep, and follow through; share what works to uplevel the team.

What You Bring

• 8+ years' enterprise closing experience (EdTech, SaaS, or professional services) with a proven track record of 6 figure wins and participation in 7 figure, multi year deals.
• Proven track record in securing and managing complex, high-value deals in institutional or government markets.
• Comfort engaging at C-level and with senior government stakeholders to influence decision-making.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to lead dispersed, cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization.
• Executive presence and communication skills. Be a compelling storyteller, have strong discovery discipline, and the ability to convert insights into business cases.
• Familiarity with Challenger/MEDDICC methodology; rigorous qualification and consensus building.
• Experience with public sector procurement processes (RFPs, RFIs, framework agreements) is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in CRM and collaboration tools (e.g., Salesforce, Tableau, Jira, MS Office, G-Suite).
• Fluency in English required; additional languages are an asset.

What success looks like

• Ramp quickly: Master Ideal Customer Profiles, policy priorities, and talk track; run qualified discovery in months 2-3.
• Pipeline to quota: Build a healthy selfsourced + partnered pipeline and consistently hit annual targets, whilst maintaining high forecast accuracy through disciplined deal qualification and predictable execution.
• Flagship wins: Close multiple 6 figure new logos and advance 1-2 seven figure strategic opportunities within first year.
• Product impact: Deliver prioritised feedback that shapes roadmap; contribute repeatable templates and AI workflows.
• References: Land 2-3 deployments that become public case studies or sector benchmarks.

Who we are:

At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to help people realize the life they imagine through learning. We believe that every learning opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. We are the world's lifelong learning company. For us, learning isn't just what we do. It's who we are. To learn more: We are Pearson.

Pearson is an Equal Opportunity Employer and a member of E-Verify. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business need. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other group protected by law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If you are an individual with a disability and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career site as a result of your disability, you may request reasonable accommodations by emailing [e-mail].

Job: Relationship Management

Job Family: GO TO MARKET

Organization: Higher Education

Schedule: FULL_TIME

Workplace Type: Remote

Req ID: 21568

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