Company

ERB is a not-for-profit educational advisory group that provides educators and families with a more complete understanding of the whole student through the use of quality assessment tools.  K-12 schools around the world rely on ERB to provide them with an integrated suite of assessments, insights, and analytics that track the complete student journey—assessing academic ability, learning achievement, and social and emotional learning competencies.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Sales is responsible for enhancing ERB’s global revenue performance by increasing sales of ERB products and services both to schools and directly to families. Working closely with the Chief Program Officer and the Senior Director of Marketing, the Senior Director of Sales contributes to the strategic development and achievement of sales targets, target markets, distribution partnerships, call tactics and other aspects of cultivating the target market. Key aspects of the role relate to growing revenue through deeper penetration of existing school customers, acquiring new customers, and successfully introducing new products to the target market. The Senior Director of Sales leads the execution of all ERB sales strategies and tactics, including designing and managing the key levers to sales team effectiveness. The Senior Director of Sales will also work closely with Human Resources to develop annual and special incentives, and partner with the Chief Technology Officer to enhance selling systems to increase efficiency.

Scope

• Positions ERB as the preferred provider of assessment systems and related services

• Ensures adherence to the ERB brand and professionalism in all forms of interactions with ERB member schools, sales prospects and other stakeholders

• Ensures reaching ERB’s quarterly and annual revenue targets

• Serves as the senior day-to-day ERB face to the market by participating in key educational assessment seminars and conferences, and by ensuring that other members of the sales team are prepared to do the same

• Manages a team of four: three Member Services Directors and the Senior Director for Admissions Programs

Major Responsibilities

Planning and Targeting

• Develop quarterly and annual sales plans in support of ERB objectives

• Design sales strategies and tactics, including all levers of sales team effectiveness (e.g. territories, product specializations, audience targeting, channel selection)

• Define and improve on sales processes that drive successful customer adoption of ERB’s total program line and related services

• Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) for the sales team

• Work with Human Resources to align compensation strategies to performance goals

• Use market research and data-driven approaches to target sales efforts, especially considering market preservation and advancement vis-à-vis competitor programs

• Collaborate with the Chief Program Officer and the Senior Director of Marketing to develop program collateral material and related pitch decks

• Attend and/or present at conferences and webinars to drive awareness and sales

Sales Execution

• Penetrate new customer audiences (e.g., home school associations, faith-based schools, charter schools)

• Expand the use of ERB programs by existing customers

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Execute sales strategies and tactics

• Ensure communications are coordinated to support ERB initiatives

• Train staff for maximum effectiveness

• Take personal responsibility for largest customers and opportunities for group sales

• Generate detailed sales forecasting

• Work with the Chief Program Officer and the Senior Director of Marketing to develop pricing concepts based on market feedback

Organization Strength

• Organize the sales team for maximum effectiveness; hire and develop as required

• Optimize sales structure by territory, product specialization, customer type, etc.

• Give input to Program Direction to create enhanced products based on market information

Ideal Experience and Characteristics

The candidate must have experience selling educational assessment or curriculum products and services to schools. In addition, the ideal candidate will have successfully demonstrated

• Meeting and exceeding quarterly and annual revenue targets

• Ability to build a go-to-market strategy and corporate sales plan

• Successful experience building and managing a territory

• Cultivation of strong relationships with key buyers, such as private school heads, public district superintendents, assessment coordinators and curriculum directors

• Managing key customer relationships and closing strategic opportunities

• Monitoring and evaluating sales teams against KPIs; maintaining a positive and effective sales culture

• Readiness to hire, build and manage a sales team

• Utilizing Salesforce.com to manage sales tasks, pipeline, and closing data

• Providing market reports and customer feedback to a corporate leadership team

Personal Traits

• All-consuming desire to improve the learning environment for children

• Collaborative approach to working with Program, Marketing, IT and other areas to achieve a best-practices environment in a high-functioning organization

• Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills

• Strong quantitative and analytical skills

• Outstanding internal and external relationship-building skills

• Proactive self-starter comfortable working in a results-oriented environment

• Ethical conduct in all things

Qualifications/Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required

• 5+ years of experience in account management, sales strategy and/or as product lead at a leading professional or academic educational enterprise

• Working knowledge of professional or educational assessments

Special Demands

Some travel required for the purpose of meeting with members, stakeholders, or off-site personnel/management.