National Sales Executive – Education (K-12 & Higher Education)
Position Summary
Title - National Sales Executive – Education (K-12 & Higher Education)
Location - Remote (U.S.), with national travel
Employment type - Full-time
Territory - National; public and private K-12 districts, charter networks, colleges, universities and community colleges
Key requirements - 7+ years of B2B technology services sales, including at least 4 years selling directly into K-12 districts and/or higher education institutions. Also, a proven track record selling compliance, managed IT, cybersecurity and advisory services.
Growing company is looking to bring on board a National Sales Executive dedicated to the K-12 and higher education market. You will build upon our current success in this vertical and own new-logo growth across the country, selling a combined portfolio of compliance, managed IT, cybersecurity and advisory services to superintendents, CIOs, CISOs, technology directors, business officers and boards.
This is a hunter role for a seller who already knows how schools buy: budget cycles, board approvals, cooperative purchasing contracts, RFPs and the E-Rate program. You will be the face of the company at education conferences and tradeshows, and you will build lasting, trusted-advisor relationships with education leaders who are under pressure to protect student data, defend against ransomware and do more with limited staff.
About Our Team
Company is one of the fastest-growing compliance, managed IT, cybersecurity and business intelligence providers in the U.S., named to the Inc. 5000 list four years in a row. Through the addition of acquisitions focusing in the K-12 and Higher Education space, the company now pairs boutique-level service with enterprise-grade managed IT, cybersecurity, compliance and IT leadership providing a portfolio already trusted by institutions and school districts across the country.
What You Will Sell
You will lead with outcomes education leaders care about: protecting student and staff data, passing audits, surviving a ransomware event and stretching a thin IT team. Services areas you will focus on:
- Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Advanced Cybersecurity Services
- Managed IT
- Application & Technology Advisory
- Data & AI Advisory Services
Key Responsibilities
Pipeline and new business
• With a hunter mindset, build and close a national pipeline of new K-12 and higher education clients, from first meeting through signed contract.
• Sell consultatively to superintendents, assistant superintendents, CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, technology directors, CFOs and business officers, provosts and board members.
• Lead with an assessment-first motion (risk, compliance or cyber-readiness assessments) and expand into multi-year managed IT, managed security, vCISO and compliance-as-a-service agreements.
• Cross-sell and up-sell across all service lines to grow recurring revenue within each account.
• Maintain accurate pipeline, forecasts and activity in the CRM and report weekly to sales leadership.
Public-sector procurement
• Shape opportunities before formal RFPs by engaging district technology leaders, E-Rate consultants, state education agencies, regional service centers and purchasing consortia.
• Lead RFP, RFI, RFQ and bid responses with proposal, solutions and pricing teams, meeting strict deadlines and compliance requirements.
• Use cooperative purchasing vehicles to shorten sales cycles, including Company’s existing E&I Cooperative Services contract and TIPS.
• Align proposals with school budget cycles, board approval calendars and fiscal-year deadlines.
E-Rate and funding
• Apply working knowledge of the E-Rate program — Category One and Category Two eligible services, the Eligible Services List, FCC Forms 470 and 471, the 28-day competitive bidding window, discount rates and Category Two budgets — to position eligible offerings such as managed internal broadband services.
• Collaborate with internal staff to keep every bid within program rules, including the requirement to obtain a SPIN and follow USAC competitive bidding and gift rules.
Industry presence and events
• Represent company at national and regional education tradeshows.
• Help plan booth strategy, pre-book executive meetings, host client dinners and roundtables, and convert event leads into qualified pipeline.
• Build a recognized personal brand in the education community through thought leadership, webinars, panels and association membership.
Collaboration
• Bring company's service SME's and compliance experts into pursuits to build credibility and ensure proper scoping.
• Feed market intelligence back to marketing and sales leadership to sharpen education-specific messaging, service offering and case studies.
• Hand off smoothly to service delivery and account management and stay engaged as the executive sponsor for strategic accounts.
Required Qualifications
• 7+ years of B2B technology services sales, including at least 4 years selling directly into K-12 districts and/or higher education institutions.
• Proven track record selling compliance, managed IT, cybersecurity and advisory services (for example vCISO, GRC, MDR/SOC, incident response, penetration testing or IT strategy) to education buyers — not hardware or software alone.
• History of meeting or exceeding a new-logo quota of $1M+ in annual contract value, with recurring-revenue deals of six figures or more.
• Working knowledge of the E-Rate program: eligible services, Forms 470 and 471, competitive bidding rules, funding-year timelines and how managed services fit within Category Two budgets.
• Experience winning public-sector business through RFPs, cooperative purchasing contracts and board-approved procurements.
• Fluency in education security and privacy drivers: FERPA, CIPA, COPPA, state student-data privacy laws, the GLBA Safeguards Rule, PCI-DSS, HIPAA and NIST frameworks.
• Established network of K-12 and higher education technology and business leaders.
• Executive presence and the ability to present to superintendents, cabinets, boards and university leadership.
• Currently reside in the United States without requiring sponsorship at any time.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% nationally, including multi-day tradeshows and evening events.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
Preferred Qualifications
• Prior experience at a managed service provider (MSP/MSSP), cybersecurity/compliance consultancy or education-focused IT solutions provider.
• Experience with the FCC Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program, state cybersecurity grants or the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program.
• Relationships with E-Rate consultants, regional education service agencies and state purchasing consortia.
• Experience selling to research universities with federal contracts that require NIST 800-171 or CMMC.
• Active membership in education associations such as CoSN, EDUCAUSE, ISTE, AASA, ASBO or state technology-leadership group.
Compensation, Benefits and Travel
• Competitive base salary plus uncapped commission
• Medical, dental and vision coverage; 401(k); paid time off and holidays
• Travel and event expenses covered; travel up to 30%
