Strategic Initiatives Manager

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values diversity, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive and diverse workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through inclusive programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see ***/about/inclusion-and-diversity/ .

What you'll do here:

• Work with individual Gale North American sales team members within their respective territories to achieve financial targets for both new and renewal business of Gale Accelerate and the Gale Digital Scholar Lab.

• Work with the Inside Sales team members within their respective territories to achieve financial targets for the Gale EBA program.

• Deliver consistent annual billings growth of the Gale Accelerate & Archive EBA program from the entire North American territory.

• Drive implementation & awareness of the Gale Digital Scholar Lab and Gale Research Showcase within the North American market through the Accelerate, Archive EBA, and individual sales.

• Retain and grow Gale Accelerate and Archive EBA customers and revenue, year over year

• Drive increased year over year adoption of the Gale Digital Scholar Lab, including increased usage and creation of content sets, and the Gale Research Showcase

• Create and implement sales strategies and tactics for the Gale Accelerate and Archive EBA program.

• In partnership with the respective Field Sales Executive, plan and attend customer meetings, prioritize opportunities and efficiently follow through all stages of the sales cycle to conclusion.

• Uncover opportunities and solicit information from academic librarians, subject librarians, academic teaching staff and researchers through effective questioning and listening

• Maximize sales through identifying customers needs and matching Gale Accelerate to those needs.

• Work with the Field Sales Executive to prepare and deliver Gale Accelerate sales presentations, write proposals, and close sales.

• Work with the EMEA Strategic Initiatives Manager to develop and refine the Gale Accelerate proposition.

• Work with the Digital Humanities team to design and implement a plan integrating the Gale DS Lab with Archive products, including content set creation

• Represent Gale at key industry events such as conferences, exhibitions and trade shows

• Forecast territory projected sales accurately in conjunction with the sales management team, as well as insure that activity is updated in CRM systems on a regular basis

• Attend weekly Gale Accelerate Status calls with Sales Leadership to provide an update on opportunity progress

• Partner with Marketing to ensure our Gale Accelerate message remains correctly targeted and focusses on solving library, faculty, and student problems.

• Conduct (monthly) with the regional North America Sales Teams to share intelligence from The Field and how our customers are responding to Gale Accelerate and our Digital Humanities offerings.

• Represent Sales and Gale customers during internal discussions about Gale Accelerate.

• To cultivate and maintain extensive product knowledge of a large and growing product list

• To work closely with internal teams such as marketing, academic outreach, sales and product development as a recognized product expert

• Provide feedback to the product and technology teams on customer accessibility and discovery requirements that are needed to support Gale Accelerate and the Lab

• Support and assist the sales management team on strategy around Accelerate and Lab customers

• Flexibility to travel is essential as this role will require travel throughout the North America and some travel outside the territory for conferences. Travel may also on occasion take place over weekends.

• Attendance at region and National sales meetings will be required.

• The Strategic Initiatives Manage will need to be flexible in working virtually to accommodate their team across North American time zones.

Skills you will need here:

• Proven sales experience, ideally within the information or higher ed publishing industry with a passion for digital humanities

• College degree level with significant senior field sales experience - consistently hitting plan

• Must be able to strategically align company solutions and vision to higher education institutional strategic objectives

• A customer-focused attitude

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to manage relationships between key partners, across teams, and within large academic institutions

• Excellent presentation and sales call preparation skills

• The capacity to absorb product information, and to maintain and develop extensive product knowledge

• Enthusiasm with a self-motivated, dynamic attitude

• Strong organizational skills with an enthusiastic and self-motivated approach

• The ability to communicate with all levels of personnel both internally and externally

• Good English language skills

• Proficient MS Office skills, experience with Tableau, Salesforce, and Knowledge of Library Systems a plus

Desirable Attributes

• Strong Sales experience

• Experience working across teams in an individual contributor role

• Passion for the humanities and learning are essential

Gale, part of Cengage Group, partners with librarians and educators around the world to connect 30 million distinct learners annually to essential digital content through user-friendly technology that enhances experiences and improves learning outcomes. For more than 65 years, Gale has collaborated with academic institutions, schools, and public libraries around the world, empowering discovery and insights that push the boundaries of traditional research and advance learners in all areas of life.

Cengage Group is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organization.