Strategic Account Executive, Education Solutions

Sage; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

401(k) matching

Learning and development support

Hybrid or remote work option

Job summary

Sage is seeking a Strategic Account Executive to lead and grow major district-wide partnerships in K-12 education and related sectors. You will map district needs to actionable learning solutions, coordinate with Sage experts, and manage long sales cycles from discovery to close.

In this role, you will build consensus across executive, instructional, finance, procurement, and school teams, align proposals with district priorities, and drive renewal and expansion while coordinating with

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience delivering results in K-12 education, educational technology, publishing, professional learning, or consultative solution sales.
• Track record of winning new business and growing complex district or institutional accounts.
• Expertise in discovery, executive communication, solution development, negotiation, and commercial judgment.
• Experience navigating buying groups with many stakeholders, long sales cycles, RFPs, funding dependencies, and procurement milestones.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority and bring discipline to CRM records and forecasts.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex enterprise sales from first prospecting call through discovery, proposal, negotiation, contracting, and close.
• Map stakeholders across executive, instructional, finance, procurement, and school teams to win sponsors and build consensus.
• Turn district-wide needs into proposals combining books, consulting, workshops, certification programs, and related services.
• Plan each account for the long term, keep your pipeline qualified, and forecast with evidence, naming risks up front.
• Rally cross-functional opportunity teams through influence and align scope, pricing, delivery ownership, and milestones.
• Grow accounts by owning renewal and expansion strategy and coordinating with Operations on contracts, procurement, scheduling, and delivery handoffs.

Skills

Enterprise sales

Executive communication

Solution development

Negotiation

CRM forecasting

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

The Opportunity

Some of the most meaningful work in education happens at scale, when an entire district commits to supporting every educator so every student can thrive. As a Strategic Account Executive, you'll be at the center of those commitments. You'll partner with K-12 district and school leaders to understand what matters most to their communities, then turn those instructional priorities into connected professional learning solutions. You'll own a set of key enterprise accounts, guide district-wide decisions that bring many voices to the table over long sales cycles, and bring in the right Sage experts, from Professional Learning to Operations, to create lasting value for every customer. Whatever path brought you to strategic sales, if you love building partnerships that last and seeing your work make a difference in classrooms, we'd love to meet you.

The Opportunity

Some of the most meaningful work in education happens at scale, when an entire district commits to supporting every educator so every student can thrive. As a Strategic Account Executive, you'll be at the center of those commitments. You'll partner with K-12 district and school leaders to understand what matters most to their communities, then turn those instructional priorities into connected professional learning solutions. You'll own a set of key enterprise accounts, guide district-wide decisions that bring many voices to the table over long sales cycles, and bring in the right Sage experts, from Professional Learning to Operations, to create lasting value for every customer. Whatever path brought you to strategic sales, if you love building partnerships that last and seeing your work make a difference in classrooms, we'd love to meet you.

What You Will Help Achieve

• Win and grow major district-wide partnerships.
• Shape account strategies around what each district needs, how it funds its work, who influences decisions, and what it takes to implement.
• Become the commercial partner customers trust and rally Sage teams around one consistent customer experience.

What You Will Do

• Lead complex enterprise sales from the first prospecting call through discovery, proposal, negotiation, contracting, and close.
• Map who matters across executive, instructional, finance, procurement, and school teams, then win sponsors and build consensus when priorities compete.
• Turn district-wide needs into proposals that bring together books, consulting, workshops, certification programs, and related services.
• Plan each account for the long term, keep your pipeline qualified, and forecast with evidence, naming risks and contingencies up front.
• Rally cross-functional opportunity teams through influence, and align everyone on scope, pricing, what can be delivered, who owns what, and decision milestones.
• Keep accounts growing: own renewal and expansion strategy and partner with Operations on contracts, procurement, scheduling, fulfillment, and delivery handoffs.

What You Will Bring

• 8+ years of experience delivering results in K-12 education, educational technology, publishing, professional learning, or consultative solution sales.
• A track record of winning new business and growing complex district or institutional accounts.
• Expertise in discovery, executive communication, solution development, negotiation, and commercial judgment.
• Experience navigating buying groups with many stakeholders, long sales cycles, RFPs, funding dependencies, and procurement milestones.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams without direct authority and bring discipline to CRM records and forecasts.

Helpful, But Not Essential

• Experience working directly with K-12 district-wide professional learning or enterprise education solutions.
• Experience balancing customer value, pricing, scope, and delivery feasibility on deals that don't fit the standard mold.

Work And Travel

Travel is a required part of this role. Expect to cover your territory by air and by car to meet customers, present to districts, and attend conferences and professional events.

Why join Sage?

• Join colleagues who care about education, evidence, and getting ideas to the people who need them.
• Grow in an international organization where people collaborate, keep learning, and help shape how we work.
• Count on a comprehensive benefits package.

An inclusive opportunity

Great candidates don't always check every box. If this role excites you and you can show many of the capabilities above, we'd love to hear from you. We value transferable experience, different career paths, and the perspectives people bring from every background and community.

Sage is committed to an inclusive, accessible recruitment experience. If you need a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the process, let the Talent Acquisition team know.

Sage is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on role-related qualifications, skills, experience, and business needs.

Pay Transparency & Benefits Package

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect. Sage is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation at Sage is influenced by several factors, including but not limited to skill set, nature and level of experience, qualifications, and other relevant considerations. Please note that the compensation details listed in U.S. role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include bonuses or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and additional aspects of the compensation/benefits package for this position during the hiring process. If your desired salary falls outside of this range, we hope you'll still apply as there may be other positions that better align.

In addition to compensation, Sage offers a highly competitive and comprehensive PPO medical, dental, and vision care benefits package with SAGE covering most of the premium costs. Unique program benefits that support a healthy life, a company-sponsored anniversary trip every 5 years, a 401(k)-matching program of 100% up to 5% of pay, and other significant meaningful benefits. In alignment with our value for education, Sage offers financial support for bachelor's and graduate-level degree programs as well as learning for personal interest.

Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day-to-day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role. Join the nearly 2,000 Sage employees worldwide who deliver products and services that serve to fulfill our noble goal of education and dissemination of knowledge globally. We’d love to meet you!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and partnership status, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, race, religion and belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We believe that diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant culture. We want Sage to be an organization where the most talented staff and high-potential staff are recruited, have the opportunity to grow, and want to work. We strive to achieve a better representation of diverse talent at all levels, including leadership, across our workforce.

Sage is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Our mission is building bridges to knowledge — supporting the development of ideas through the research process to scholarship that is certified, taught, and applied.

Sage is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified applicants. Accommodations will be made for any part of the interview process.