Sales Account Lead, Large Accounts

RM plc; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - GBP 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading education technology company in the UK is seeking a Sales Account Lead to manage and secure new business within major education trusts, engaging with C-suite stakeholders. You will identify growth opportunities, lead your team, and ensure successful sales cycles. Ideal candidates will have proven B2B sales experience, ideally in education or technology sectors, and strong skills in strategy and customer engagement. The role offers flexible working conditions and a competitive benefits package.

Benefits

Private medical healthcare

Life assurance

Group Personal Pension Plan

Voluntary benefits like cycle-to-work scheme

Qualifications

• Proven B2B sales track record, ideally in education or technology.
• Experience managing and coaching others to improve performance.
• Ability to engage senior decision-makers and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Manage and secure new business with large education customers.
• Identify and develop new sales opportunities within your customer base.
• Lead a small team, coaching and managing their performance.

Skills

B2B sales experience

Engagement with C-suite stakeholders

Strategic thinking

CRM proficiency

Job description

Overview

Would you like to help enrich the lives of learners around the world?

At RM, we’ve been pioneers of education technology since 1973. We provide technology and resources to the education sector, supporting over 20 million students and improving educational outcomes worldwide.

What we do helps learners at all stages of their lives, from preschool to higher education and professional qualification; we partner with schools, examination boards, governments, and professional organisations globally to make learning more accessible, more engaging, and more impactful.

RM operates through three divisions: Assessment (digital assessment and marking solutions), Technology (managed services, hardware, and software for schools), and TTS (educational resources).

Technology

RM Technology has shaped future generations for over fifty years by implementing innovative technology solutions in schools and colleges. Founded in 1973, we’re a trusted Edtech partner, transforming teaching environments to be more productive, resilient, and sustainable.

Our committed team pioneer, collaborate, and continually push the bar on products and services in the EdTech space.

Visit us here to find out more: www.rm.com/education

Sales Account Lead

As a Sales Account Lead, you will be responsible for some of our largest customers. You will manage and secure new business within our largest customers and from other large multi-academy education trusts (30+ schools). You’ll sell RM’s technology products and services to K-12 schools that reside in the largest authorities, trusts, building long‑term relationships with key C‑suite decision‑makers such as IT professionals, Authority leads, Trust Heads, and School Business Leaders amongst our most high‑profile customers.

Your role involves identifying high‑value opportunities, qualifying growth opportunities, and managing sales through bids and informal routes. You’ll lead a small team and provide coaching, management and support when required as well as being the pipeline/commit point of contact for your division. You’ll collaborate with the bid team to create compelling proposals, providing commercial direction, pricing, and unique value propositions to win deals in a competitive market.

Success means engaging with trust leadership C‑suite teams to uncover opportunities, qualifying them (BANT), and converting them into orders to exceed sales targets. You’ll combine deep knowledge of your customers’ needs, market expertise, and RM solutions to build out long‑term strategic account plans that retain and grow revenue and profitability. You’ll sell RM solutions by building value, overcoming objections, and securing financial commitments.

You’ll also need to stay updated on education sector trends, ensuring RM’s offerings align with market needs. Reporting to the Head of Sales, you’ll contribute to accurate forecasting and strategic input for large opportunities.

We encourage early applications as the vacancy may close once the position has been filled or final interviews have been arranged.

Responsibilities

Opportunity identification, development and closure

• Identify, pursue and develop new opportunities within your customer base, using a tailored approach.
• Map out key trust decision‑makers and build an engagement plan for those stakeholders.
• Where applicable, lead the bid response effort with the support of the bid management team.
• Generate account growth through prospecting, networking, attending events, and leveraging consolidation opportunities.
• Conduct needs assessments and deliver tailored product/service demonstrations with the support of RM colleagues.
• Manage the full sales cycle from renewal through to negotiation and close.
• Win significant business growth opportunities, working with the Go‑to‑market team, bid team and the rest of RM as appropriate, positioning RM as a credible organisation to grow the partnership with the trust.
• Take and lead bids through formal governance & executive steering for permission to bid, no bid, submission and contract close.

Customer engagement

• Map out, engage, maintain and influence a network of decision‑makers and influencers within the trusts you manage to generate long‑term strategic relationships that can be converted to tangible future sales opportunities.
• Attend customer meetings, growing personal profile and connections across the trust.
• Act as a window into RM as a point of escalation for the customer.
• Grow and maintain a network of contacts across the trust schools.

Pipeline management & forecasting

• Deliver against targets through pipeline management within RM’s CRM.
• Track pipeline and ensure coverage against target.
• Accurately forecast pipeline and commit on behalf of your team at regular pipeline commit meetings with sales leadership.
• Ensure appropriate regular contact with all opportunities and the account in general.
• Identify and mitigate risks within your pipeline and the wider team.
• Prioritise opportunities and the time allocated to them.

Improvement focus

• Work closely with your sales colleagues to share best practice and help each other improve win‑rates.
• Identify any solutions gaps/requirements that RM needs to address to be successful in any given initiative and support the business in bringing this to life in bids and customer engagements.
• Work with marketing and product management colleagues to develop a replicable bank of sales assets and case studies to engage/ influence the market with, in terms of RM’s capability.

Team Management

• Oversee team operations by ensuring efficient and effective day‑to‑day operations, including team workflows, processes and overall approach to sales execution.
• Drive team performance through coaching, feedback and goal setting.
• Support team wellbeing by actively managing team welfare and promoting a supportive team culture.
• Collaborate with sales leadership to attract, interview and onboard new team members, ensuring a smooth and successful induction process.

Experience

Skills and Experience

• You will have proven experience of:

• B2B sales, with a strong track record, and ideally experience in the education or technology sectors.
• Engaging with senior C‑suite stakeholders and decision‑makers in schools and trusts.
• Working in and leading matrixed sales and bid teams, involving different specialists.
• Managing, coaching or developing others, helping them grow their performance.

You will be:

• Self‑motivated, target‑driven, and able to work independently.
• A strong strategic thinker, commercial decision‑maker and account planner, able to analyse complex market dynamics and requirements, and develop a coherent and compelling response that continues to demonstrate RM’s value as a partner for the long term.
• Analytical, able to understand both RM’s business drivers, solutions and delivery, and customers’ key drivers and their impact on solution design and how these are brought together effectively under effective commercial contract.
• Self‑motivated and highly organised, able to operate within a complex environment.
• Someone who acts with initiative, able to find a creative approach to solving customer problems and finding channels to market.
• A great communicator, able to engage with and influence external and internal stakeholders of different levels, including at the C‑suite, articulate complexity in a clear and straightforward manner, negotiate effectively and present compellingly.
• Proficient in using CRM systems.

You will have:

• Experience in building strategic relationships at an Executive/Director level within the Trust.
• A full UK driving licence, and a willingness to travel.
• Passion for working with the Education sector.
• A flexible can‑do attitude, with a willingness and ability to adapt within the role.
• A strong alignment to RM's core behaviours: Be Brave, Win Together, Be Curious, Make it Simple and Consider it Done.

What’s in it for you?

At RM we have My Work Blend @RM which provides office‑based colleagues with multi‑location and hybrid working options. As well as your office base, you can spend a proportion of your time working at other locations that suit your role and your life, including home, other offices, customer sites, distribution centres or on the move. We encourage you to discuss arrangements for this role with your potential line manager during the recruitment process.

RM is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all permanent and temporary staff to share this commitment. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and all successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks along with other relevant employment checks.

As well as a competitive salary and our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available, some roles are also eligible for a performance‑related bonus. There are lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign up for a health assessment, or take part in our cycle‑to‑work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.

To better reflect the society that we serve, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all. To achieve this, we create teams of talented people from different backgrounds and experiences and strive to be a business where our people can bring their whole selves to work, we also want to make the recruitment process as inclusive as possible for everyone. Should you require additional support with your application or through the interview process, please contact us at [e-mail].

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.