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Strategic Account Executive

Chicago, Illinois, United States

About the Opportunity

As a Strategic Account Executive for the North American region, you’ll drive Contentful’s growth by spearheading the end-to-end sales process from prospecting to closing in a set of strategic prospects and customers with growth potential. You’ll be instrumental in driving net new revenue and uncovering upsell opportunities with existing and new Customers. You’ll drive Customer enablement initiatives and follow a consultative sales process by speaking the language of both professional technologists and business leaders. Working in partnership with a dedicated strategic team of Customer Experience, BDR, Solution Engineering alongside Partnerships and Marketing teams, you’ll foster and grow a North American Customer base with global presence that exemplifies strategic importance.

What to expect?

  • Build strategic account plans for complex, multi national organisations, and execute against that plan with a dedicated team.
  • Seek to identify the digital experience problems of prospects and customers while aligning the ROI of Contentful with those difficulties to ensure a value based selling approach.
  • Meet quarterly and annual sales goals by developing an account strategy and pipeline, overseeing internal and client processes, maintaining sales reports, developing market and competitor knowledge, delivering presentations to Customers, and creating sales proposals.
  • Collaborate with a dedicated BDR to prospect and develop new business opportunities across a strategic account list. Conduct research, identify key players, and execute with a value story.
  • Collaborate with a dedicated Solution Engineer to inspire and uncover opportunities and pave the way for solid expansion.  Securing the tech win.
  • Collaborate with dedicated Customer Success professional, to deeply understand and align on the customers goals, execute against them and map out a growth path.
  • Align with critical SI and Tech partners to drive the Contentful value story alongside theirs.
  • Work with the wider GTM team, including field and partner marketing  
  • Position, negotiate, and close both new and expansion opportunities.
  • Oversee RFI/RFQ requests.
  • Refine and evolve our strategic sales model 
  • Develop proposals, position complex pricing structures and negotiate contracts and deal-closing requirements efficiently.

What you need to be successful?

  • 7-10+ years of experience selling enterprise SaaS or PaaS platforms, with expertise in Martech, CMS, personalization, or digital experience technologies.
  • 3+ years experience selling across North America. 
  • Proven experience in expanding large multinational accounts.
  • Working knowledge of selling and positioning to customers a technical SaaS and/or PaaS platform, and orchestrating an internal team to win.
  • Demonstrated experience using the MEDPICC (or equivalent) sales qualification framework to structure, manage, and close large, complex enterprise deals.
  • Advanced skills in value-based selling and consultative sales methodologies, with the ability to articulate and deliver measurable customer outcomes.
  • Deep knowledge of digital marketing technology, including headless CMS, content personalization, customer data integration, and cross-channel content delivery.
  • Expertise working within a partner ecosystem and leveraging partnerships to land, expand, and drive customer value.
  • Strong communication, proposal development, and presentation skills, with an ability to engage and influence both technical and business decision-makers.
  • Prior experience in CMS sales is highly preferred.
  • Demonstrated knowledge of how to sell transactions of $3000k+ to organizations with $5b+ in revenue and frequent engagement with VP and C-level executives.

What's in it for you?

  • Join an ambitious tech company reshaping the way people build digital experiences
  • Full-time employees receive Stock Options for the opportunity to share in the success of our company
  • Comprehensive healthcare package covering 100% of monthly health premiums for employees  and 85% of costs for your dependents. 
  • Fertility and family building benefits, including a lifetime reimbursable wallet to support your growing family.
  • We value Work-Life balance and You Time! A generous amount of paid time off, including vacation days, sick days, compassion days for loss,  education days, and volunteer days
  • Company paid parental leave to care for and focus on your growing family 
  • Use your personal annual education budget to improve your skills and grow in your career
  • Enjoy a full range of virtual and in-person events, including workshops, guest speakers, and fun team activities, supporting learning and networking exchange beyond the usual work duties 
  • An annual wellbeing stipend to care for your physical, financial, or emotional health
  • A monthly communication stipend and phone hardware upgrade reimbursement.
  • New hire office equipment stipend for hybrid or distributed employees. Get the gear you need to work at your best.

This role will need to be conducted in a state in which we are currently registered to do business. 

Salary Statement: The salary range displayed is specifically for those potential hires who will work or reside in the state of Illinois if selected for the role. Any offered salary is determined based on internal equity, internal salary ranges, market data/ranges, applicant's skills and prior relevant experience, certain degrees and certifications (e.g. JD/technology), for example.

Salary Range: $280,000 - $350,000

[This position is eligible for equity awards, annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards, where applicable, in accordance with the terms of Contentful’s variable compensation plans.]

#LI-Remote

Who are we?

Contentful is a leading digital experience platform that helps modern businesses meet the growing demand for engaging, personalized content at scale. By blending composability with native AI capabilities, Contentful enables dynamic personalization, automated content delivery, and real-time experimentation, powering next-generation digital experiences across brands, regions, and channels for more than 4,200 organizations worldwide. More than 700 people from more than 70 nations contribute their energy and creativity to Contentful, working from hubs in Berlin, Denver, San Francisco, London, New York, and distributed worldwide.

Everyone is welcome here!

“Everyone is welcome here” is a celebrated component of our culture. At Contentful, we strive to create an inclusive environment that empowers our employees. We believe that our products and services benefit from our diverse backgrounds and experiences, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical [dis]ability, or length of time spent unemployed. We invite you to apply and join us!

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