Strategic Sales Executive

At Pearson our mission is to help people realise the life they imagine through learning. As a Strategic Sales Executive for International Higher Education you will pursue and secure transformative multiyear partnerships with governments universities and enterprise clients across priority markets.

Reporting to the Director of Strategic Sales and embedded in the central team that leads Pearsons most strategic and complex commercial agreements you bring together the right people processes and market intelligence mobilising internal stakeholders and resources at the right moments to shape pursue and win mustwin programmes. Youll influence senior leadership and government stakeholders navigate publicsector procurement and manage multimillionpound solutionfocused programmesapplying authority and credibility at the highest decisionmaking levels to deliver measurable revenue growth referenceworthy deployments and strategic positioning for Pearson. Every deal you land helps shape our product roadmap and sector narrative.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and orchestrate institutional and government sales engagements owning the full lifecycle from opportunity identification through contract finalisation and implementation.

• Engage senior stakeholders including but not limited to Vice Chancellors Ministries procurement bodies developing trusted advisory relationships that position Pearson as a strategic partner.

• Create and deliver annual account plans for strategic government and institutional clients. Work with clients to define ambitious revenue targets and partnership objectives and execute against these plans to expand Pearsons footprint and influence.

• Run worldclass discovery to uncover institutional pain points and policy drivers; translate findings into crisp problem/solution narratives and bespoke proposals.

• Create and progress pipeline through multiple channels converting warm leads from events conferences and marketing programmes and proactively generate netnew opportunities through insightdriven outbound (email phone social). You wont wait for leadsyoull own pipeline creation and qualification.

• Build and leverage an internal network across Pearson knowing when to pull in the right expertise (Product Delivery Legal Finance Marketing) at the right time to accelerate deal strategy and execution.

• Drive RFP responses and complex bids collaborating with crossfunctional teams to deliver tailored outcomefocused solutions.

• Close large strategic deals (7figure multiyear opportunities) while building referenceworthy deployments.

• Represent Pearson with authority at policy forums sector events and senior stakeholder meetings; act as a visible leader in higher education.

• Analyse bid and sales performance implement continuous improvements and champion enhancements to sales tools and templates.

• Leverage AI as a force multiplier for account research prospecting prioritisation call prep and followthrough; share what works to uplevel the team.

What You Bring

• 8 years enterprise closing experience (EdTech SaaS or professional services) with a proven track record of 6figure wins and participation in 7figure multiyear deals.
• Proven track record in securing and managing complex high-value deals in institutional or government markets.
• Comfort engaging at C-level and with senior government stakeholders to influence decision-making.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to lead dispersed cross-functional teams in a matrixed organization.
• Executive presence and communication skills. Be a compelling storyteller have strong discovery discipline and the ability to convert insights into business cases.
• Familiarity with Challenger/MEDDICC methodology; rigorous qualification and consensus building.
• Experience with public sector procurement processes (RFPs RFIs framework agreements) is highly desirable.
• Proficiency in CRM and collaboration tools (e.g. Salesforce Tableau Jira MS Office G-Suite).
• Fluency in English required; additional languages are an asset.

What success looks like

• Ramp quickly: Master Ideal Customer Profiles policy priorities and talk track; run qualified discovery in months 2-3.
• Pipeline to quota: Build a healthy selfsourced partnered pipeline and consistently hit annual targets whilst maintaining high forecast accuracy through disciplined deal qualification and predictable execution.
• Flagship wins: Close multiple 6figure new logos and advance 12 sevenfigure strategic opportunities within first year.
• Product impact: Deliver prioritised feedback that shapes roadmap; contribute repeatable templates and AI workflows.
• References: Land 23 deployments that become public case studies or sector benchmarks.

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