| VP of Sales | | | Posted on 2011-01-12 by Knewton |
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Knewton's mission is to be the digital platform powering the world's education. Knewton has developed the world's first Adaptive Learning Platform, which customizes educational content to create a uniquely personalized learning experience for every student. Knewton's patented algorithms currently power its GMAT prep, LSAT prep, SAT prep, and Knewton is now partnering with universities (www.knewton.com/college-ready), publishers and other educational organizations to make personalized learning available to everyone worldwide. Knewton plans to apply its online Adaptive Learning Platform to a wide range of education markets. Knewton is funded by Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, First Round Capital and prominent angel investors.
Since our launch, we have closely tracked our Net Promoter Score (NPS), a trusted measure of customer satisfaction. Apple enjoys the highest NPS in the technology sector at 77% (Amazon's is 74% and Google's is 71%). Knewton's NPS is currently 70%, a customer endorsement we take great pride in.
Knewton seeks an experienced leader to serve as Vice President of Sales. The VP of Sales reports to the COO and is a member of the company's executive team. This position will be responsible for selling Knewton's Adaptive platform product suite to accounts (University, K12, corporate). The ideal candidate will possess a quantifiable record of success in education and/or technology sales and be a seasoned sales professional with experience selling complex services or products into enterprise and/or universities at senior levels. The candidate will have a solution-based approach to meeting/exceeding customer requirements and developing mutually profitable relationships. The candidate must understand diverse sales cycles, build consensus throughout multiple levels of organizations, and be adept at developing relationships at executive levels. The ability to prospect and develop new business as well as manage an existing account base is critical. Candidate must have excellent verbal as well as written communication skills.
Key Characteristics
* At least 8-10 years of sales experience in comparable industries with 3+ years in a senior sales position.
* Create innovative and effective solutions to deal with customer business problems, and promote and sell a complete Knewton solution of products and services to education departments and corporations.
* Provides leadership and management guidance on the delivery of key sales and marketing programs.
* A player/coach that has experience in building, training and leading an efficient, scalable, world-class sales machine.
* Proven success in prospecting partners, building a pipeline, refining and executing sales plans, preparing and conducting high quality presentations, reports & price quotations, as well as assist in contract negotiations to successfully create and close sales opportunities with client decision makers.
* Meeting/exceeding set quarterly and annual sales objectives.
* Ability to manage a pipeline of 100+ accounts at any given time.
* Experience selling in a medium volume (5-10) deals/month, high order size ($100K/year/deal) environment.
* Experience managing overall sales process, setting appropriate metrics for sales funnel management and establishing performance benchmarks.
* Can work well within the entrepreneurial, private, start-up environment.
* Action-oriented, energetic leader that leads by example and a team motivator.
* Has the intellectual horsepower to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of sales, methods, costs, and results.
* Analytical thinker who can make swift decisions, adapt to changes while staying the course and deliver results.
* Proven ability to measure success against defined criteria and objectives.
* Ability to work closely with the executive team to develop and direct sales strategies and programs.
* Well informed about current industry trends and able to talk intelligently about the education industry.
* Proficient at using sales force automation tools (Salesforce.com)
* Flexible on home base location, NYC area preferred. Significant travel required (50% plus).
| | Source: VentureLoop |
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