Senior Strategic Accounts Director, Higher Education

Cengage Group; Sioux Falls (SD); On-site; USD 77,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Cengage Group is seeking a Strategic Account Director within the North America Higher Education Sales Group in the United States. You will be a senior, customer-facing leader responsible for account-level revenue, long-term partnerships, and renewal opportunities across CU, EA, and IA models.

You will own forecasting, contract strategy, and cross-functional collaboration with success teams, drive new business at executive levels, and champion data-driven account management while traveling to key

Qualifications

• BA or BS degree
• 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 decision-making structures
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM platforms, preferably Salesforce

Responsibilities

• Lead complex contract negotiations with senior academic leaders
• Own the overall account strategy and forecast for each institution
• Develop multi-year growth, retention, and expansion plans
• Identify high-impact institutional opportunities and align with customer objectives
• Build financial models to justify benefits of Cengage Unlimited and other programs
• Drive new business development at executive level through networking and outreach
• Manage renewals and upsell opportunities in collaboration with cross-functional teams
• Articulate the value proposition of Cengage products to institutional priorities
• Partner with Sales, Channel, Success, Marketing, and Operations for cohesive execution
• Champion disciplined pipeline and account management in CRM (Salesforce)
• Provide thought leadership and collaborate across internal teams

Skills

Strategic account management

Sales negotiations

Analytical skills

Salesforce

Microsoft Office

Education

BA or BS degree

Tools

Salesforce

Microsoft Office

Job description

Cengage Group is seeking a Strategic Account Director within the North America Higher Education Sales Group in the United States. You will be a senior, customer-facing leader responsible for account-level revenue, long-term partnerships, and renewal opportunities across CU, EA, and IA models.

You will own forecasting, contract strategy, and cross-functional collaboration with success teams, drive new business at executive levels, and champion data-driven account management while traveling to key