Account Executive – Higher Education Sales

Mentor Collective; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% remote company

WFH setup stipend

Flexible PTO

401k + Company Match

Talkspace mental health therapy

One Medical membership

Job summary

Mentor Collective is seeking an Account Executive for Higher Education Sales (Remote) to drive new partnerships with colleges and universities across the United States. This role blends SaaS technology with services to improve enrollment, persistence and student outcomes.

You will own the full sales cycle, develop territory strategy, build a qualified pipeline, and collaborate with Marketing, Product, and Customer Success to articulate institutional value. 20–30% travel may be required.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of quota‑carrying B2B sales in SaaS or tech-enabled services.
• Proven success selling to colleges and universities in the U.S.
• Strong understanding of institutional buying and procurement processes.
• Experience managing multi‑stakeholder sales cycles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. work authorization.
• Ability to travel 20–30%.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a territory strategy to meet new‑business revenue targets.
• Own the full sales cycle from prospecting to close.
• Build and maintain a strong qualified pipeline.
• Cultivate relationships with senior higher education leaders.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Product, and Customer Success to tailor solutions.
• Maintain disciplined forecasting and CRM hygiene.

Skills

Quota‑carrying B2B sales

Saas/tech-enabled services sales

Experience selling to higher education

Relationship building with senior exec

Excellent written and verbal comms

CRM discipline

U.S. work authorization

Willingness to travel 20–30%

Job description

Account Executive – Higher Education Sales | Remote

Join a mission-driven, high-growth company recognized as a Built In Best Place to Work and five-time Inc. 5000 honoree.

Mentor Collective helps institutions launch, scale, and measure mentoring programs that improve retention, belonging, career readiness, enrollment, and alumni engagement.Through a combination of technology, services, research, and expert consulting, Mentor Collective has facilitated more than 500,000 mentorships and provides institutions with purpose-built higher education technology, flexible mentoring models, actionable insights, and early alerts.

As an impact-first investment of the Lumina Foundation, Mentor Collective partners with forward-thinking institutions committed to improving student outcomes through relationship-centered education.

About the Company

Join a mission-driven, high-growth company recognized as a Built In Best Place to Work and five-time Inc. 5000 honoree.

Mentor Collective helps institutions launch, scale, and measure mentoring programs that improve retention, belonging, career readiness, enrollment, and alumni engagement.Through a combination of technology, services, research, and expert consulting, Mentor Collective has facilitated more than 500,000 mentorships and provides institutions with purpose-built higher education technology, flexible mentoring models, actionable insights, and early alerts.

As an impact-first investment of the Lumina Foundation, Mentor Collective partners with forward-thinking institutions committed to improving student outcomes through relationship-centered education.

About the role

This role is best suited for an experienced higher education seller who understands that selling into colleges and universities is different from traditional B2B SaaS. Successful candidates know how to navigate complex institutional buying processes, build consensus across multiple stakeholders, connect solutions to strategic priorities and student outcomes, and maintain momentum through lengthy decision, procurement, and contracting cycles.

This is a highly autonomous role for a seller who enjoys building a territory, creating opportunities, and taking ownership of results—not simply working an established book of inbound leads.

Our solution combines SaaS technology with strategic and programmatic services, so we are particularly interested in candidates who have successfully sold solutions requiring both a strong technology value proposition and a consultative, services-oriented sales approach.

This position reports directly to the Chief Revenue Officer.

Why this Role

Mentor Collective is entering its next stage of growth, expanding how institutions use mentoring and human connection across the student lifecycle. Account Executives have the opportunity to shape that growth—not only by winning new institutional partners, but by helping higher education leaders rethink how human connection through mentorship can drive measurable outcomes in enrollment, persistence, career readiness, and alumni engagement.

Responsibilities

Sales & Business Development

• Develop and execute a territory strategy to achieve or exceed annual new-business revenue targets.
• Own the full sales cycle from prospecting and discovery through solution development, proposal, negotiation, procurement, and close.
• Build and maintain sufficient qualified pipeline to consistently support revenue goals.
• Proactively identify, prospect, and develop opportunities within assigned higher education accounts and territories.
• Create urgency and maintain momentum across complex institutional sales cycles.
• Conduct strategic discovery to understand institutional priorities, student success challenges, desired outcomes, budgets, and decision‑making processes.
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders and decision‑makers across colleges and universities.
• Navigate multiple stakeholders and develop internal champions while building consensus across institutional teams.
• Develop compelling business cases that articulate both the student impact and institutional value of Mentor Collective's solutions.

Product & Market Expertise

• Develop deep expertise in Mentor Collective's SaaS platform, services, implementation model, research, and student impact.
• Deliver compelling presentations, demonstrations, and executive‑level conversations tailored to institutional priorities.
• Connect Mentor Collective's solutions to priorities such as student success, persistence, belonging, transfer success, career readiness, and alumni engagement.
• Stay current on higher education trends, funding pressures, student success priorities, competitive offerings, and developments in education technology.
• Clearly articulate Mentor Collective's differentiation and value relative to alternative approaches and competing solutions.

Pipeline Management & Forecasting

• Partner closely with Marketing and business development resources to develop target accounts and generate qualified opportunities.
• Supplement marketing‑generated pipeline through thoughtful account development, networking, referrals, events, and outbound prospecting.
• Maintain disciplined opportunity management, forecasting, and CRM hygiene.
• Develop clear account strategies, stakeholder maps, next steps, and close plans for active opportunities.
• Track and report on sales performance, pipeline coverage, forecasts, and progress toward revenue targets.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Bring market, prospect, and competitive insights back to Marketing, Product, Customer Success, and leadership.
• Partner with internal teams to develop solutions and proposals that meet institutional needs while supporting Mentor Collective's business objectives.
• Contribute to the continued evolution of our sales process, messaging, positioning, and go‑to‑market strategy.

What Success Looks Like

Successful Account Executives:

• Consistently achieve or exceed new‑business revenue targets.
• Maintain approximately3x qualified pipeline coverageagainst quotathrough both company‑supported demand generation and proactive territory development.
• Advance opportunities through the sales process with clear next steps, stakeholder engagement, and demonstrated customer value.
• Build strong relationships with senior higher education leaders and become trusted advisors throughout the buying process.
• Maintain disciplined forecasting and CRM management.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of quota‑carrying B2B sales experience, with meaningful experience selling SaaS, technology‑enabled services, or strategic solutions directly to colleges and universities.
• Demonstrated success winning new business in the U.S. higher education market.
• Strong understanding of how colleges and universities evaluate, purchase, procure, implement, and fund technology and services.
• Proven track record of meeting or exceeding revenue quotas in a new‑business‑focused sales role.
• Experience managing complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles involving senior and executive‑level decision‑makers.
• Ability to sell both the strategic value of a solution and the capabilities of the underlying technology.
• Strong discovery, presentation, negotiation, relationship‑building, and closing skills.
• Experience developing and managing a territory and generating pipeline, not simply managing inbound opportunities.
• Strong CRM discipline and experience managing forecasts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. work authorization required.
• Ability to travel approximately 20-30% for conferences, client meetings, and company events.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience selling a combination of SaaS and professional, programmatic, or managed services into higher education.
• Knowledge of higher education student success, retention, persistence, enrollment, transfer, career readiness, or student engagement priorities.
• Experience selling to senior leaders in Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, Student Success, Career Services, Institutional Strategy, or related functions.
• Experience working in a growth‑stage or startup environment where sales processes and go‑to‑market strategies continue to evolve.
• Prior full‑time remote work experience.

Compensation

This position includes a base salary plus uncapped variable compensation based on performance. Compensation within the stated range will be determined based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits & Perks

• 100% remote company
• 5 Medical plans - all PPO plans
• 1 Medical plan option is 100% employer‑covered (employee‑only tier)
• 5 Dental/Vision plans
• HSA, FSA, Dependent FSA options
• Talkspace mental health therapy covered at no cost to the employee
• Annual travel benefits to seek out‑of‑state care from specialists for reproductive and gender‑affirming care
• One Medical membership covered at no cost to the employee
• Flexible PTO with a minimum requirement for employees
• 401k benefits + Company Match
• Stipend for WFH office setup
• Opportunities for professional development & career advancement

Base Salary: $85,000–$100,000 | On-Target Earnings: $185,000–$200,000 per year (total compensation inclusive of base & variable) based on experience.

This is a Full-Time, Exempt position.

You are welcome at Mentor Collective

Mentor Collective welcomes any and all people, embracing their age, race, gender identity, sexual orientation and expression, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion, and perspective. We want to create an inclusive and equitable work environment that reflects the very students and universities we serve.

We are an equal‑opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, caregiver status, gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, military status, housing status, sexual orientation, or any other factor determined to be an unlawful basis for such decisions by federal, state, or local statutes.