Fast Facts

Cengage Group is seeking a remote District Manager for Inside Sales in Kentucky/New York to lead a sales team, enhance consultative selling skills, and drive digital product sales growth while ensuring team performance through effective coaching and mentoring.

Responsibilities: Develop and lead a sales team, implement strategic sales plans, provide training and feedback, ensure team members achieve their sales targets, and collaborate with internal partners for success.

Skills: BA/BS degree with 4+ years in sales/management, strong leadership and business acumen, excellent communication and problem-solving skills, proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM software.

Qualifications: Prior managerial experience preferred, experience in higher education sales or digital products beneficial, with a strong track record in sales management.

Location: Remote, with a focus on the Kentucky/New York district

Compensation: $67000 - $87100 / Annually

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values inclusion, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-belonging/

What you'll do here:

Develop, lead, and retain top sales talent

• Recruit and hire “best in class”, Inside Account Executives to fill open positions
• Provide initial and ongoing training to ensure success
• Provide accurate and meaningful performance feedback to all team members
• Identify performance issues and work to address them with a high degree of urgency
• Mange each team member's professional development and sales success through field-based coaching, formal and informal mentoring, and / or additional training as needed
• Ensure the retention of top-quality talent through career development / coaching
• Develop and team members on consultative selling skills

Create and implement district- and territory-level sales plans

• Develop and carry out a strategic District sales plan that drives the Region’s sales success and digital growth
• Partner with Customer Success to provide pre-sales support for digital product sales, with a focus on driving large digital adoptions
• Analyze District sales reports, Account Executives’ pipelines, and competitive activity to forecast and drive territory growth
• Develop appropriate strategies to take advantage of opportunities and minimize impact of competitive threats
• Ensure Account Executives develop and implement effective territory plans through the strategic use of territory planning tools (e.g. the sales force automation / CRM systems)

Ensure effective collaboration and communication with internal partners outside the Sales organization

• Ensure communication and collaboration within Higher Ed Sales
• Work with internal teams as needed to achieve District and Company sales objectives
• Communicate regularly with internal constituents and partners to ensure complete information flow concerning opportunities, threats, etc.
• Gather market and competitive intelligence in the assigned District and share with appropriate internal personnel
• Partner with Sales Growth Specialists and Customer Success on digital product training for field sales team through virtual and in-person trainings

Provide leadership and direction to District sales team

• Communicate Company and Sales vision to team ensuring understanding and commitment
• Communicate District and individual sales goals
• Aim to exceed assigned sales target for the District by working with Account Executives to help them exceed their individuals’ sales and product mix objectives
• Provide enterprise-wide account leadership within assigned District (e.g. bookstores, multi-department sales and strategies that affect an entire account)

Administer District budget and ensure reporting requirements are met

• Handle District expense budgets including sampling and overall cost center, monitor expenditures by team members and work with them to ensure budgetary compliance
• Complete all required reports in a timely manner

Skills you will need here:

• BA or BS degree with minimum 4 years of progressive experience in Sales, Marketing, or Management
• Driven to succeed with consistent record in sales, sales management and leadership
• Strong business acumen and excellent team-building skills
• Excellent leadership and people skills, problem-solving skills, organizational skills
• Desire for continuous learning and improvement
• Proficiency in PC and Microsoft Office applications
• Demonstrated ability and quantifiable success in leading corporate initiatives
• Located within the assigned sales district
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat, and social media web platforms
• Superior organization skills and strong attention to detail and diligent follow up
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate needs and situations before they are fully developed.
• Superior time management skills with ability to prioritize multiple tasks and shifting priorities
• High energy and good communication (people want to be around you)
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment
• Effective interpersonal skills to establish relationships with partners, including staff, customers and other members of the executive team
• Experienced verbal and written communication skills
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be very effective independently
• Experience handling confidential information with discretion
• Ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Forward looking thinker who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions
• Avid learner who seeks feedback and consistently expands skills
• Prior managerial experience preferred
• Experience mentoring and developing others preferred
• Sales experience in academic publishing, services, or other higher education sales preferred
• Experience working with digital sales products/applications preferred

Cengage Group's Higher Education business, Cengage, supports learning and student success by providing materials and digital solutions to faculty and students enrolled in two-year, four-year and vocational programs. We currently serve more than 10 million of the 18 million students in US higher ed. Setting a new standard of service for our customers, we deliver quality, easy-to-use course materials from textbooks and eBooks to courseware such as MindTap and WebAssign. In the US, we offer Cengage Unlimited and Cengage Unlimited for Institutions. We help instructors be better teachers, we help institutions solve problems and we empower students to leverage the power and joy of learning to transform lives.

Cengage Group is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of race, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, veteran status, and any other classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [email protected] or at +1 (617) 289-7917.

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy.

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

$67,000.00 - $87,100.00 USD