Account Director, Talent & Learning - US Academic

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At LinkedIn, our approach to flexible work is centered on trust and optimized for culture, connection, clarity and the evolving needs of our business. The work location of this role is hybrid, meaning it will be performed both from home and from a LinkedIn office on select days, as determined by the business needs of the team. 

We are looking for an SMB Account Director to join our team as a trusted adviser with a relentless focus on bringing value to our customers within the Academic sector. You will be responsible for helping our customers effectively engage with our Talent Solutions. You will be dedicated to making our customers stronger and seeking out opportunities for growth. Although you possess a strategic approach to selling and strive to meet/exceed revenue goals, you will always have your clients’ best interest in mind and act as their internal advocate to ensure they are set up for success.    

Responsibilities:

• Researches Customer’s business and prepares thoughtful questions and insights in advance of customer meetings     

• Asks layered, open-ended questions to understand and clarify Customer’s objectives and challenges beyond surface-level detail     

• Builds relationships with multiple stakeholders (vertically and horizontally) across the Customer’s organization     

• Shifts communication style and content to fit the needs of different stakeholders     

• Leads with Solutions, not products, when making recommendations aligned to Customer objectives     

• Sells with Integrity     

• Drives customer decision making by achieving shared vision and proactively considering the value props that tie all stakeholders together     

• Thinks commercially and applies business acumen when crafting & negotiating commercial agreements      

• Uses data and insights to support investment recommendations or overcome customer objections      

• Proactively mitigates churn risk by adopting a smart, customer-centric approach     

• Engages customers throughout to confirm and clarify value and adapts a strategy when needed to optimize ROI     

• Drives Customer growth by proactively identifying opportunities to deliver greater customer value     

• Applies business acumen in Account Planning by considering economic, industry, and company factors with a Customer-centric lens.      

• Maps all key stakeholders in an account to assess the strength of the account relationship and create account outreach strategy     

• Agrees to joint accountability with colleagues and cross-functional teams for optimal customer success     

• Practices humility and asks for help from colleagues when faced with a challenge or unknown     

• Is disciplined in Territory and Account Planning, Forecasting, and Quota Attainment     

• Follows best practices when using CRM and other Sales tools in order to manage the Sales and Buyer cycles     

Basic Qualifications:

• 2+ years of applicable sales experience

Preferred Qualifications:     

• Experience with HR software     

• Experience with selling to Academia customers

• BA/BS degree or equivalent in a related field     

• Experience with SaaS opportunities and Dynamics platform     

• Experience selling IT solutions     

• Knowledge of software contract terms and conditions with the ability to create fair transactions     

• Strong negotiation and accurate forecasting skills     

• Experience carrying a revenue target with the ability to develop compelling strategies that deliver results     

• Excellent communication, negotiation and forecasting skills     

• Demonstrated ability to find and manage high-level business in an evangelistic sales environment     

• Ability to gather and use data to inform decision making and persuade others     

• Ability to assess business opportunities and read prospective buyers     

• Ability to orchestrate the closure of business with an accurate understanding of prospect needs     

• Ability to include multiple partners and members of the company management team using competitive selling to position company products against direct and indirect competitors    

Suggested Skills    

• Negotiation    

• Relationship Building    

• Account Planning    

• Forecasting    

LinkedIn is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. 

The pay range for this role is $106,000 to $152,000 OTE. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and specific work location. This may be different in other locations due to differences in the cost of labor.  

The total compensation package for this position may also include annual performance bonus, stock, benefits and/or other applicable incentive compensation plans. For more information, visit https://careers.linkedin.com/benefits. 

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