Strategic Sales Support Advisor - Evernorth

Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company; Bloomington, Northern (IL, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company in Bloomington, IL, seeks a Strategic Sales Support Advisor to accelerate high-priority national accounts and bridge opportunity management, contracting, and implementation. You will work alongside Sales Directors to drive win probability for strategic pursuits.

The role emphasizes coordinating cross-functional teams, crafting customized solution content, and supporting RFPs and contract activities to ensure smooth handoff to implementation.

Qualifications

• 5+ years supporting strategic sales, consulting, proposal management, contracting, account management, project management, or business development.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives.
• Strong executive communication and presentation skills.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Healthcare, PBM, managed care, consulting, or benefits industry experience.
• Experience managing RFP and contracting processes.
• Salesforce proficiency.
• PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, or project management certification.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Pursuit Leadership: Serve as the primary support partner for assigned sellers and manage opportunities from RFP through contracting and implementation intake.
• Proposal & Content Strategy: Ensure pitch materials have executive-level detail and tailor messaging for target accounts.
• Contracting & Deal Execution: Partner with contract teams, manage deliverables, and support signature control and barriers.
• Opportunity & Project Management: Coordinate SME engagement and lead finalist preparation activities.
• Process Improvement & Innovation: Identify automation opportunities and support AI-enabled content development.

Skills

Strategic sales support

Proposal management

Contracting

Account management

Cross-functional coordination

Salesforce

Project management

PMP

Lean Six Sigma

Executive communication

Education

PMP certification

Lean Six Sigma certification

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

**SUMMARY:** The Strategic Sales Support Advisor serves as a dedicated sales execution partner for the organization's highest-priority strategic national accounts opportunities. This role bridges the gap between opportunity management, proposal development, contracting, implementation planning, and seller strategy, ensuring continuity throughout the sales lifecycle. The advisor works directly alongside Sales Directors to accelerate opportunity progression, remove barriers to execution, and improve win probability for strategic pursuits. This is not a traditional sales support role. It functions as a strategic advisor responsible for coordinating complex pursuits, developing customized solution content, facilitating contracting activities, and ensuring seamless handoff through implementation readiness. **RESPONSIBILITIES:** **Strategic Pursuit Leadership*** Serve as the primary support partner for assigned sellers.* Support strategic opportunities from RFP through contracting and implementation intake.* May support SD through complex solutioning efforts* Coordinate cross-functional resources to advance complex sales pursuits.* Identify and proactively mitigate risks that may impact progression of strategic opportunities.* Facilitate issue escalation and resolution for high-value opportunities. **Proposal & Content Strategy*** Ensure Pitch Team has all details needed for executive-level presentations and pursuit materials.* Partner with Marketing and Content teams to tailor messaging for target accounts for DSR and direct outreach.* Support solution positioning and value proposition development.* Capture and institutionalize reusable assets for future pursuits **Contracting & Deal Execution*** Partner with Bid & Contract Execution teams during contract negotiations.* Coordinate contract deliverables and stakeholder engagement.* Assist with exception management, signature control, and contracting barriers.* Ensure proposal-to-contract continuity throughout the sales process.* Support implementation intake and transition activities. **Opportunity & Project Management*** Coordinate SME engagement and follow-up.* Engage Pitch Team to lead finalist preparation activities.* Facilitate recurring seller strategy meetings.* Ensure accountability across internal stakeholders for key deliverables. **Process Improvement & Innovation*** Identify opportunities for process automation and efficiency.* Support AI-enabled content development initiatives.* Improve knowledge management and asset reuse.* Recommend scalable solutions based on recurring seller needs. **QUALIFIED CANDIDATES WILL HAVE A COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING:** * 5+ years supporting strategic sales, consulting, proposal management, contracting, account management, project management, or business development.* Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives.* Strong executive communication and presentation skills.* Experience coordinating cross-functional teams.* Ability to influence without direct authority.* Healthcare, PBM, managed care, consulting, or benefits industry experience.* Experience managing RFP and contracting processes.* Salesforce proficiency.* PMP, Lean, Six Sigma, or project management certification. **SUCCESS METRICS:** * Reduction in seller administrative workload.* Increased seller capacity for client engagement and pipeline development.* Improvement in strategic account coverage.* Increased progression of strategic opportunities.* Improved win rates on designated strategic pursuits.* Faster movement from finalist stage to contract execution.* Reduced contracting delays.* Improved SLA adherence for strategic opportunities.* Increased reuse of customized content and proposal assets. If you will be working at home occasionally or permanently, the internet connection must be obtained through a cable broadband or fiber optic internet service provider with speeds of at least 10Mbps download/5Mbps upload.For this position, we anticipate offering an annual salary of 90,200 - 150,300 USD / yearly, depending on relevant factors, including experience and geographic location.This role is also anticipated to be eligible to participate in an annual bonus plan.