Commercial Sales Executive- SLED Vertical

First Advantage Background Services; Georgia; Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work with travel

Medical, Vision, Dental coverage

401k with company match

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Generous PTO and holidays

Job summary

First Advantage is seeking a Commercial Sales Executive for the SLED vertical. The role focuses on acquiring net-new logos across government and higher education, driving a disciplined sales process and building robust business cases to close deals.

You will manage relationships with internal and external stakeholders, meet quotas, and travel as needed in a fast-moving environment. Strong communication and strategic thinking are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years of consultative sales experience in government/Higher Ed, BPO or tech.
• Proven negotiation and closing of new client sales and contracts.
• Ability to develop leads, pipeline, and opportunities strategically.
• Proven track record of meeting monthly, quarterly and annual quotas.

Responsibilities

• Drive a disciplined sales process: prospect, identify, and build stakeholder relationships.
• Create and deliver messages linking solutions to customer needs and deadlines.
• Meet and exceed quotas, profit goals, and key performance metrics.
• Ensure company vision, brand, and strategy are communicated to potential clients.
• Grow relationships with top clients and act as a credible company representative.
• Lead discovery with probing questions, handle objections, and present business cases.
• Build the sales pipeline and maintain momentum through a proactive process.

Skills

Strategic sales

Negotiation

Lead generation

CRM (Salesforce)

Government/Higher Ed sales

Quota attainment

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

At First Advantage (Nasdaq: FA), people are at the heart of everything we do. From our customers and partners to our greatest advantage - our team members. Operating with empathy and compassion, First Advantage fosters a global inclusive workforce devoted to the diverse voices that make up our talent and products. Our team members empower each other to be their authentic selves and treat all with respect, integrity, and fairness. Say hello to a rewarding career and come join a leading provider of mission-critical background screening solutions to some of the most recognized Fortune 100 and Global 500 brands.

What You'll Do:

Our Commercial Sales Executive - SLED Vertical is a collaborative, strategic, and critical thought leader who generates best-in-class credibility and contributes to First Advantage's industry leadership position. You will drive transactions that create action and urgency within a client organization in this role. This individual uses critical, innovative thinking to build sound business cases and influence others to close deals and expand the business. We are looking for a true hunter with experience focused on acquiring net-new logos across Government and Higher Education space. Success in this area requires the capacity for critical, creative thinking and the ability to build sound business cases and influence others.

Responsibilities

• Drive a disciplined sales process that includes prospecting, identifying, and building relationships with internal & external stakeholders.
• Create and deliver compelling messages that link our solutions value proposition to customer needs and effectively manage the closing timeline, which leads to a natural ending and winning the business.
• Drive total growth and profitability for an assigned vertical, including accountability to meet and exceed quotas, profit goals, and other financial targets and performance metrics.
• Ensure that the company's vision, brand, and strategy are communicated, inter-connected, understood, and embraced by potential clients.
• Drive client communications, service, and retention by establishing and growing relationships with top clients and serving as a credible company representative.
• Lead the discovery process by asking probing questions, preempting resistance, and communicating a compelling business case.
• Build the sales pipeline, create momentum, and anticipate industry opportunities and needs through a proactive, prescribed process.
• You will implement value‑selling processes alongside a wealth of knowledge of FADV's products and portfolio.
• Experience in successfully "closing" complex sales.
• Collaborative, strategic, and critical thought leader who generates best-in-class credibility and contributes to an industry leadership position.
• Thrive and excel in a fast-moving, sophisticated, and demanding environment.

What you will need to be successful

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• 5+ years of consultative sales experience in a best-in-class, progressive human capital, BPO, or technology-based industry
• Record of negotiation and closing of new client sales, including the development of contracts, pricing, terms, conditions, and SLAs
• Proven track record in developing leads, pipeline, relationships, and presentation opportunities through a targeted and proactive strategy
• Verified ability to attain quota on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
• Demonstrated experience gaining access to and creating credibility within the VP-suite of targeted clients

Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Proven ability to find, prospect and close new business with federal, state and local government agencies and higher education institutions.
• Capable of building exclusivity, urgency, priority, and enthusiasm within prospective client organizations.
• Ability to accurately project, track, and deliver sales activities for multiple products and services monthly using a CRM system, such as Salesforce.
• Ability to lead the discovery process, preempt/overcome objections, and champion/communicate the benefits of a highly differentiated and value-added brand/partnership in a compelling manner.
• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word).
• Willingness/flexibility to travel as required.
• Ability to build relationships, communicate effectively throughout an organization, influence, negotiate, and establish mutually agreeable expectations.
• Achievement and goal-oriented; conscientiously work to meet and exceed organizational goals.
• Strategic mindset; self-directed, organized, analytical, and possesses excellent problem resolution skills.
• Diligent, resourceful, versatile, and able to multi-task.
• Thrive and excel in a fast-moving, sophisticated, and demanding environment.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration with an outgoing personality.

Preferred

• Entrepreneurial style with a proven ability to thrive in a dynamic, changing environment where a critical key to success is the ability to optimize and leverage limited resources.

Why First Advantage is Your Next Big Career Move:

First Advantage is going through a technology transformation! We are looking for experts who are excited to work with advanced technologies and provide best-in-class user experience, drive the development and deployment of scalable solutions, and smoothly guide our agile teams and clients through meaningful changes as we continue to expand our impact.

• Additional benefits offered to our eligible people include: Ability to work remotely with occasional business travel.
• Medical, Vision, Dental, and supplementary benefit plans
• 401k with an employer match, and an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Competitive and flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) and 9 paid company holidays
• Access to tech and growth opportunities, and leaders who want you to succeed!

The salary range for this position is approximately $85-90k base annually before bonus. This range reflects our good faith estimate to pay fairly as to what our ideal candidates are likely to expect, and we tailor our offers within the range based on the selected candidate's experience, industry knowledge, technical and communication skills, and other factors that may prove relevant during the interview process.

We have great people here and are looking for more. Come join us!

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For more information, please visit our website at https://fadv.com/.

Equal Employment Opportunities at First Advantage First Advantage is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing a workplace and recruitment process that is free from unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Employment decisions at First Advantage are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs. We do not discriminate in any aspect of employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, religion, creed, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

First Advantage is a leading provider of global software and data in the HR technology industry. Enabled by its proprietary technology and AI, First Advantage's platforms, data, and APIs power comprehensive employment background screening, digital identity solutions, and verification services. With a strong emphasis on innovation, automation, and customer success, First Advantage empowers 80,000 organizations to hire smarter and onboard faster.

• Professional development opportunities, such as our award-winning SOAR program
• Generous Paid Time Off Program
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO) Policy to encourage involvement in philanthropic activities
• Competitive benefits (medical, dental, etc.)
• Global Employee Assistance Program (EAP) available to all team members
• Opportunities to connect with colleagues across six Employee Impact Groups and participate in Employee Experience events throughout the year
• *Must meet hourly work requirement to be eligible