Sales Manager, K12 (Mid-Market & Enterprise)

The Role:

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Sales Manager to lead and inspire a team of Mid-Market and Enterprise Account Executives focused on the K12 education market. The ideal candidate will be a results-oriented leader with a proven track record of exceeding sales targets, building high-performing teams, and driving strategic growth within complex sales cycles. This role requires a deep understanding of the K12 landscape, exceptional coaching abilities, and a commitment to fostering a positive, people-first sales culture.

Why you'll love this role:   

• Achieve Sales Goals: Consistently meet or exceed monthly and quarterly team sales revenue targets.
• Pipeline Generation & Management: Drive the team to proactively build and maintain a robust sales pipeline, ensuring a minimum of 2.5x pipeline to quota coverage at all times.
• Strategic Deal Coaching: Conduct regular pipeline reviews and provide in-depth coaching to the team through deal reviews, leveraging methodologies like MEDDPICC and insights from sales enablement tools such as Gong.
• Accurate Forecasting: Deliver precise and reliable monthly and quarterly team sales forecasts.
• Cultivate a High-Performance Culture: Maintain and champion a positive, "people-first" culture that motivates and empowers the team to perform at their highest capabilities, celebrating successes and replicating best practices across the team.
• Continuous Sales Coaching: Continually coach and develop the sales team on advanced sales methodologies, prospecting skills, negotiation tactics, and effective presentation techniques tailored to the K12 market.
• Performance Management: Consistently manage individual and team performance on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis, providing constructive feedback and implementing performance improvement or gap-to-goal plans when necessary.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Coordinate and collaborate effectively with cross-functional leaders and teams (including SDR, CSM, Field Marketing, People/HR, Product, Finance, Enablement, and Operations teams) to support overall sales priorities and functions.
• Territory Planning & Strategy: Guide reps in developing and executing comprehensive territory plans to maximize market penetration and achieve sales objectives within their assigned territory regions.
• Recruitment & Onboarding: Actively participate in the recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding of new sales talent to expand and strengthen the team.
• Market Feedback: Serve as a conduit for market and customer feedback to product and marketing teams to inform future product development and go-to-market strategies.
• CRM Management: Ensure consistent and accurate usage of CRM (e.g., Salesforce) for pipeline management, forecasting, and activity tracking.

Why you're a great fit:

• K12 Market Expertise: Minimum of 5+ years of direct sales experience within the K12 education market.
• Sales Leadership Experience: Minimum of 2+ years of experience leading a sales team, with a proven track record of managing teams to a collective quota of $5M+ annually.
• Enterprise Sales Experience: Minimum of 4+ years of experience selling and/or leading teams to sell into large Enterprise accounts (e.g., school districts with 20,000+ students or complex state-level deals).
• Sales Methodology Proficiency: Demonstrated proficiency in sales methodologies such as MEDDPICC, Challenger Sale, or similar structured approaches.
• Leadership & Coaching Skills: Exceptional leadership, coaching, and mentoring abilities, with a passion for developing sales professionals.
• Communication Skills: Superior verbal and written communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Analytical & Forecasting Skills: Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales data, forecast accurately, and make data-driven decisions.
• CRM Proficiency: Proficient in using CRM software (e.g., Salesforce) and other sales enablement tools (e.g., Gong, Salesloft).
• Procurement Knowledge: Understanding of K12 procurement processes, funding cycles, and decision-making structures.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Education, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience selling SaaS solutions into the K12 market.
  • Proven ability to navigate complex sales cycles with multiple stakeholders.
  • Familiarity with EdTech industry trends and competitive landscape.
  • Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.

Compensation:

• Base salary: $130,000
• On-target commission (OTC): $100,000
• On-target earnings (OTE): $230,000

Why you’ll love working at Newsela:

• Health & Wellness: Access to the world’s leading medical experts for healthcare (pets included!). Discounts and resources to stay healthy: mind, body, and soul.
• Work From Home: Almost all of our roles are fully remote - tech stipend included!
• Supporting ALL Families: Supplemental programs and time off to take care of your family and yourself.
• Time Off: Flexible PTO to recharge, including Sabbatical Leave
• Inclusive Experiences: Robust DEIB curriculum, Identity & Experience Groups (Affinity Groups + Employee Resource Group), Authentic & Transparent conversations with Executive Leadership Teams, and integration of DEIB lens across Talent lifecycle processes.
• Professional Development: Holistic Learning & Development Programs that enable meaningful & inclusive experiences, programs that build future-focused competencies, cohort & community learning sessions that foster a sense of belonging, and individual development plans aligned with your personal and professional aspirations to turn goals into reality.
• Make A Difference: No matter your role or department, the work you do each day helps share the future of education and improves the lives of students and teachers.

About Newsela:

Newsela takes authentic, real world content from trusted sources and makes it instruction ready for K-12 classrooms. Each text is published at five reading levels, so content is accessible to every learner. Today, over 3.3 million teachers and 40 million students have registered with Newsela for content that's personalized to student interests, accessible to everyone, aligned to instructional standards, and attached to activities and reporting that hold teachers accountable for instruction and students accountable for their work. With over 15,000 texts on our platform and multiple new texts published every day across 20+ genres, Newsela enables educators to go deep on any subject they choose.

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