Real Impact Starts With the Right Opportunity

We are seeking a high-performing Academic Account Executive to accelerate adoption of our solutions within higher education institutions, including universities and colleges. In this role, you will work with cybersecurity and IT instructors and department leaders to demonstrate how ACI Learning’s Training and Skill Labs help them deliver the student outcomes they need. You will combine strategic selling with strong education market awareness to navigate complex buying processes and close new business in your territory. What You’ll Do Consistently achieve or exceed quarterly and annual sales quotas. Develop and maintain a healthy sales pipeline Become deeply knowledgeable in our products and technologies so you can explain them clearly and simply to target buyers. Quickly research prospect accounts, identify target buyers and opportunities, and close them. Maintain accurate CRM records, ensuring clean data and timely, reliable sales forecasts. What We’re Looking For (Requirements) 5+ years of full-cycle sales experience selling SaaS or software solutions to senior technical buyers. Proven success achieving sales quota multiple years in a row at the same company. Experience closing new customers with an average order value of at least $5K to $20K.    Experience with Salesforce, Outreach or SalesLoft, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Smart, curious salespeople who ask strong questions, use data to make decisions, and are self-motivated. We Prefer Understanding of cybersecurity and IT technologies and trends, or a demonstrated ability to sell complex software or SaaS technologies. Background in higher education sales, particularly selling to department heads and faculty. Knowledge of academic buying seasonality and processes is especially helpful.

Most business development roles stop at the handoff. This one doesn’t. You’ll spend the bulk of your week opening new commercial conversations for our Account Executive team, and you’ll also carry a small book of your own that you close yourself. If you want to prospect and you want to sell, and you’d rather not wait two years for permission to do the second one, this is a rare place to do both. What you’ll do ACI Learning trains people in cybersecurity, IT, and audit. A lot of organizations need exactly that and have never heard of us. Your job is to find them and start the conversation. Roughly 80 percent of your time is outbound. You’ll research target accounts, build lists that reflect who actually buys from us, and run real outreach across phone, email, LinkedIn, and video. When a conversation turns into something real, you’ll hand it to an Account Executive with enough context that they can pick it up without starting from zero. The other 20 percent is yours to close. Interest comes through our eCommerce funnel every day, and some of it comes from small teams rather than individual learners. Those opportunities are too big for a checkout page and too small to pull an Account Executive off enterprise work. When a team of three to five needs licenses, you run it end to end: discovery, demo, quote, objections, close. Anything smaller goes to self-service. Anything larger goes to an Account Executive with your qualification attached. Specifically, you’ll: Run consistent outbound prospecting across multiple channels to create new commercial opportunities Research accounts and build target lists aligned to our ideal customer profile and territory priorities Qualify inbound leads against agreed criteria and act on them quickly Book discovery meetings for Account Executives and make sure they actually happen Hand off with real notes: qualification, stakeholders, and a scheduled next step Own the full sales cycle for three to five seat opportunities, from qualified through closed Build quotes, work through pricing and objections, and process orders to completion Keep your CRM records current daily Tell marketing the truth about lead quality and what messaging is landing Bring recurring objections and pricing friction back to our eCommerce, marketing, and product teams What you’ll need Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience At least one year of business development, sales development, or inside sales experience in a business-to-business environment A track record of consistently hitting activity and pipeline generation targets Genuine outbound ability. You can build pipeline without waiting on inbound volume Working proficiency with a CRM and a sales engagement or sequencing platform Comfort running a transactional sales cycle on your own, including pricing conversations and objection handling Clear writing and speaking, with enough credibility to hold a real business conversation with a technical or operational buyer The ability to manage your own time, priorities, and output in a fully remote role What we’d like you to have Experience in education technology, SaaS, IT training, or the cybersecurity, audit, or IT skills market Experience at a company that runs both self-service and sales-assisted motions Exposure to sales organizations with multiple segments and defined account routing rules What we require Based in the United States and able to work remotely full time A dedicated, distraction-free workspace with reliable high-speed internet Availability during standard business hours aligned to your assigned territory Sustained use of a computer, headset, and phone, with frequent phone and video conversation throughout the day What we’re counting on from you That you prospect consistently rather than in bursts. The rhythm matters as much as the volume That the opportunities you pass along get accepted by Account Executives, because you qualified them properly the first time That the meetings you book actually happen That the three to five seat deals you own get closed, and that the revenue shows up That deals land in the right motion. Sending one to the wrong place costs us either margin or speed That the CRM reflects reality. If it isn’t in the system, it didn’t happen If you’ve spent the last year booking meetings for other people and you’re ready to start closing some of your own, we’d like to hear from you.

The Role This is a broad, independently-run People Operations seat with real ownership over how it works, not a narrow lane where someone else makes the calls. Talent acquisition is the biggest focus (~60%), with payroll (~10%) and performance management, employee relations, advisory, and systems administration rounding out the rest (~30%). This role is built as a first step, not a ceiling. There's real room to grow, whether that's building out a team, expanding scope, taking on compensation management for candidates who bring that background, or stepping into a more senior seat down the line. It's an especially strong move if you're already operating above your current title and ready for the autonomy and official scope to match, or if you're a talent acquisition professional looking to expand into the rest of People Operations. One requirement we won't bend on: AI has to be part of how you work, not a tool you've heard of. If you haven't used AI to speed up sourcing, screening, payroll, or HR documentation, this isn't the seat. What You'll Own Talent Acquisition (~60%) Full-cycle recruiting ownership for all open requisitions: sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offers, and candidate communication Direct accountability for time to fill and requisition throughput across the org Proactive, consistent hiring manager support, including setting and managing expectations when volume or market conditions create friction Building a recruiting process and funnel that holds up under increasing volume without needing headcount added every time things get busy Using AI tools to speed up sourcing, screening, and candidate communication without sacrificing candidate experience Payroll (~10%) Biweekly payroll processing and administration, run efficiently and accurately Expected to use AI tools to streamline payroll execution, not process it the slow, manual way Coordination with Finance on payroll-adjacent compliance (tax withholding, multi-state SUI, income withholding orders) as needed Performance Management, Employee Relations, Advisory & Systems Administration (~30%) Supporting performance management processes and documentation across the organization Employee relations casework, with appropriate judgment on when to escalate versus resolve independently Serving as a People Ops advisor to managers and directors org-wide, including those outside your reporting line Acting as one of our primary admins for the People Ops systems environment, including the HRIS, ATS, and other related platforms: configuration, workflow setup, permissions, data integrity, and ongoing maintenance Keeping those systems configured to match our actual needs as they evolve, rather than letting configuration drift from how the business actually works Identifying where current People Ops processes won't hold up as the company scales, and building the fix before it's a crisis Backup Support & Cross-Training Beyond the three focus areas above, you'll also cross-train across other parts of the People Operations function so you can provide backup support where needed, including: Onboarding and offboarding Promotions Records management Other People Operations processes as they come up This isn't a stretch ask on top of an already full plate, it's intentional. Over time, the expectation is that you grow into full ownership and management of HR and people-related processes across the function, operating in close alignment with the strategic direction and oversight the VP of People Operations provides. Someone who takes this on well has a real path toward a Director-level role down the line. Minimum Qualifications 5-8 years of experience in People Operations/HR, including direct, hands-on ownership of a Talent Acquisition function, not just support or coordination within one Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, or a directly related field, or equivalent additional directly related work experience in lieu of a degree Demonstrated use of AI tools in actual recruiting or HR workflows; be ready to talk specifics, not just familiarity Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills; you treat recruiting like a process to be measured and improved, not a queue to be worked A track record of moving requisitions quickly and keeping time-to-fill down, ideally with numbers to back it up Comfortable operating independently across multiple functions with minimal oversight Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to advise managers and directors outside your reporting line with credibility Preferred Qualifications SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP or PHR/SPHR (HRCI) credential; very strong preference, though not an automatic disqualifier for an otherwise exceptional candidate Hands-on administration experience with an ATS (Greenhouse or similar) and/or an HRIS (HiBob or similar), beyond end-user familiarity; comfortable owning configuration and system upkeep, not just using what's already set up Payroll processing experience, ADP or comparable platform; willingness and aptitude to take it on and run it efficiently with AI assistance matters more than prior tenure Experience with employee relations casework and performance management process design Experience building or significantly improving a recruiting function's process or systems from scratch, rather than operating inside one that was already built Background in a lean or rapidly scaling organization where you've had to build structure without a large team behind you Compensation management experience (benchmarking, pay bands, equity); not expected on day one, but a strong bonus and a natural area for this role to grow into for the right candidate This description covers the major, most essential areas of responsibility for this role. It isn't an exhaustive list of every task, and as both you and the function grow, expect the scope of what you own to grow right along with it.