Account Executive – Higher Education Full Time

The Cisco team is a safe and inclusive environment where hard-working people develop their skills and are recognized for the phenomenal things they do. We celebrate success, learn from our failures and trust each other. We embrace diversity of background and opinion in everything we do.

Cisco is a customer centric company and we pride ourselves on the value we give to our customers and the partnerships we nurture in our channel. Performance is measured by business outcomes achieved (which are the results achieved on role expectations and the positive impact made on the team), and how an individual executes based on our Guiding Principles (Think Really Big, Play to Win and Drive Durable Growth). We bring innovation and thought leadership, become our clients’ advocates within Cisco, and are creative in building partnerships to deliver the outcomes they need.

Your Impact

We are looking for a Higher Education Sector Team Lead whose responsibilities will include:

• Develop and implement Higher Education vision, sales strategies and plans to exceed sales targets
• Analyze market trends, identify opportunities, and develop action plans to capitalize on them
• Forecast sales, manage budgets, and monitor performance against targets, prioritising key pursuits

In this multifaceted role, you will also be responsible for:

Client Relationship Management

• Build and maintain relationships with key Higher Education bodies
• Build and maintain Higher Education Cisco User Communities
• Build commercial strategies to align with the Higher Education Market
• Develop strong Cisco Partner alignment and GTM plans

Team Leadership And Management

• Recruit, hire, train, and manage a team of sales representatives
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and performance management to sales team members
• Set clear expectations, goals, and objectives for the sales team
• Motivate and inspire the sales team to achieve peak performance

Sales Execution And Performance

• Oversee and actively participate in key sales activities, including client meetings, presentations, and negotiations
• Monitor sales performance, identify areas for improvement, and implement corrective actions
• Ensure the sales team adheres to company policies, procedures, and ethical standards

Minimum Qualifications

• Deep sector knowledge in the Higher Education and Research Market
• A credible network in the Higher Education Market
• A track record showing an ability to influence C suite executives in the Higher Education Market
• Proven track record in thought leadership in the Higher Education Sector, with focus on digital transformation, technology trends and innovation
• Solid understanding of Cisco’s portfolio and selling Cisco solutions at the C-Suite level within customers

Preferred Qualifications

• 4+ years’ experience within the Higher Education Sector
• Experienced in managing complex sales cycles, strong skills in managing multiple internal and external stakeholders, drive demand generation, and develop business relationships
• Strong technical and business interest/knowledge with complimentary skills to understand the customers’ business drivers and how technology plays an important role
• Demonstrate the vital skills to negotiate challenges and solutions with peers, partners and customers using a win/win philosophy

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.