Acquia Account Executive at Acquia manages new business and expansion in higher education across the US and Canada. The role requires rigorous use of the MEDDICC sales methodology to qualify, forecast, and close deals.
Responsibilities
Own new business and expansion across an assigned territory of colleges, universities, community colleges, and university systems in the United States and Canada
Identify new opportunities, manage, and close deals across Acquia's higher education customer and prospect base
Run every opportunity using MEDDICC — qualify and progress deals by defining Metrics, engaging the Economic Buyer, shaping Decision Criteria, mapping the Decision Process, Identifying Pain, developing a Champion, and understanding the Competition
Maintain complete, current MEDDICC qualification in Salesforce and use it to drive accurate forecasting, deal reviews, and pipeline inspection with leadership
Build mutual action plans with customers that map the full institutional decision and procurement process, from first meeting to signature
Engage senior campus leaders, including CIOs, CMOs, Vice Presidents of Marketing & Communications, Enrollment Management, and Advancement, as well as central web, IT, and digital teams
Navigate decentralized campus environments, building consensus between central IT, university marketing, and individual colleges, schools, and departments, and identify and coach champions across them
Quantify business value for institutions — such as enrollment and recruitment impact, cost savings from web consolidation, accessibility risk reduction, and team efficiency
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
Demonstrated mastery of the MEDDICC sales methodology (MEDDPICC or a similar framework also considered), with a track record of using it to qualify, forecast, and close complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise deals
Strong sales and new-business origination experience in enterprise software, preferably selling CMS, DXP, or SaaS solutions
Experience selling into higher education institutions; experience with both US and Canadian institutions is a strong plus
Familiarity with higher education procurement, including formal RFPs, cooperative and consortium purchasing, and board or committee approval processes
Experience negotiating large strategic deals across all phases of client development: prospecting, proposal development, negotiation, and ongoing relationship management
A proven ability to build and coach internal champions and to gain access to economic buyers in complex organizations
Consistent forecast accuracy and strong CRM hygiene (Salesforce preferred)
Working knowledge of the issues that matter to campus digital leaders, such as web accessibility requirements (e.g., ADA Title II, WCAG, and AODA in Ontario), security, data privacy, and governance of large, multi-site web estates
Strong understanding of the SaaS business model for solutions delivery
Experience and the know-how to work in a fast-paced technology environment
Confident presentation skills and presence in front of senior campus leadership, with the communication skills to articulate a value proposition to a wide range of organizational and functional levels
