Senior Sales Specialist

Senior Sales Specialist opportunity with a growing UK SaaS business to help build its North American presence across higher education.

There is already traction in the region, a clear product need and support from the wider business. The next step is turning that early demand into a more predictable, scalable new business approach.

This is a role for someone who knows how higher education institutions evaluate software, understands complex sales cycles and enjoys creating momentum in a market that still has plenty of room to grow.

The role

You’ll own new business development across North American higher education, selling accessibility and learning support software that helps students overcome barriers to learning.

This will involve opening new relationships, building pipeline through targeted outbound activity, managing multi-stakeholder sales cycles and closing larger institutional agreements. You’ll be selling into environments where procurement, budget ownership, internal influence and timing all matter.

The buying process will require someone comfortable with proactive outbound, direct engagement and the more relationship-led sales style often needed in the US education market. This is not a territory where you can wait for demand to arrive. You’ll need to create conversations, understand where buying power sits and build trust across institutions that can be complex to navigate.

The role is not just about delivering a number. You’ll also play a key part in refining how the business approaches the market, working within the wider commercial strategy agreed with senior leadership. That means feeding back what you’re hearing from prospects, refining messaging, improving account strategy and helping the company make better decisions about where to focus.

You’ll work closely with senior leadership, marketing, product and customer-facing teams. As the North American opportunity develops, your insight will help shape the commercial playbook and inform future growth in the region.

What success looks like

In the first 12–18 months, you’ll be expected to:

• Win new higher education customers across North America
• Build strong relationships with senior buyers, influencers, procurement teams and budget holders
• Create and manage a healthy pipeline through proactive outbound activity
• Navigate complex sales cycles from initial outreach through to close
• Develop repeatable account strategies that can be used as the business scales
• Share market insight that improves positioning, product direction and go-to-market focus
• Help establish a repeatable sales approach that supports future growth in North America

What they’re looking for

You’ll likely be a strong fit if you have:

• Experience selling SaaS into North American higher education institutions
• A track record of winning new business rather than relying on inbound demand
• Confidence managing complex sales involving multiple stakeholders
• Experience closing larger agreements across complex organisations, not just smaller departmental deals
• The ability to work independently while contributing to an agreed commercial strategy
• Strong judgement around territory planning, account prioritisation and deal progression

This is likely to suit someone who still enjoys being close to the sale. You may have led or mentored others, but you should still want to own pipeline, prospect directly, run deals yourself and help establish a repeatable approach to winning business in the market.

Experience in education technology, digital learning, student support or related software markets would be useful, but it is not the only route in. The main requirement is a strong understanding of how US and Canadian higher education institutions evaluate, procure and adopt software.

Why it’s interesting

This is an opportunity to help develop a market, not just inherit a territory.

You’ll have autonomy over how you build and manage your pipeline, direct access to senior decision-makers inside the business and the chance to influence how the company approaches North America through evidence and market insight.

It will suit someone who likes the pace and ambiguity of a scaling software business, but still wants enough product-market fit, customer proof and internal support to build from a credible base.

For the right person, there is an opportunity to help establish the sales processes and commercial foundations that support a larger North American operation over time. The immediate priority is winning new customers, building a healthy pipeline and developing a repeatable approach to growth.

On offer

• Remote, UK-based, with travel to North America as required
• Competitive base salary dependent on relevant experience
• OTE of 40% uncapped commission and benefits