The American economy is broken. Today 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. And these talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time bootcamp programs don’t offer enough flexibility, and online courses don’t have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.
Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans without college degrees, stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: we start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers, and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we work with a broad constellation of local and national employers like JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to place learners into higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $19k. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. We’re on track to generate $1B in wage gains by 2024.
About the Role:
The primary mission of the founding Head of Sales is to build and lead the sales function at Merit America, hiring for and managing a team, and carrying team and personal revenue quotas.
The Head of Sales is an exempt role and will report to the Vice President of Earned Revenue. A successful candidate will:
1. Create systems and playbooks to build replicable sales processes;
2. Update our G2M strategy and execute it with operational excellence; and
3. Hire, manage, and develop sales staff while carrying a team and personal revenue quota and closing deals.
As the founding Head of Sales at Merit America, this role will also have a unique opportunity to help design and implement the systems and processes to build our sales function and keep our employer pipeline flowing – increasing placement for our learners and expanding the impact Merit America is capable of achieving.
What You’ll be Doing:
The responsibilities of the Head of Sales will include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Build systems and processes: develop approaches and playbooks to build replicable sales processes so we can source high-quality employer partners
- Update strategy: Update our G2M strategy by researching prospective customers and buyer profiles to refine our approach to generating a pipeline and shortening the time to close
- Execute G2M strategy: Demonstrate operational excellence by conducting outreach to potential partners and leading the team to do the same to execute the plan and close new contracts and expand reach
- Collaborate cross-functionally: Work with Marketing, Client & Partner Success, Operations, and Programs teams to drive collaboration and organizational success
- Hit ambitious revenue targets: Close new earned revenue accounts and partnerships to meet our budgetary needs by:
What Makes a Successful Candidate:
We know that women and people of color are often less likely to apply to a position if they don’t match 100% of the job qualifications. Don’t let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of these skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:
Must Haves:
Sales Strategy and Implementation
- 5-10 years of B2B enterprise and mid-market sales experience, with experience leveraging Trusted Advisor, Challenger, and MEDDIC methodologies
- Experience building, inspiring, and mentoring a brand-new sales team that is still working out the optimal pricing, markets, and story
- Experience creating and executing a G2M strategy for a relatively new business line
- Ability to build pipeline quickly and close deals directly while coaching and mentoring direct reports to do the same
- Knowledge of and experience leveraging and managing teams using Sales CRM, Database, Engagement, and Communications platforms.
Data-Driven & Results-Oriented Operations
- Bias for action – a willingness to roll up your sleeves and lead by example to make the team and company successful
- Phenomenal operational skills and experience, including an obsession with using data to manage performance and drive experimentation; passionate about fostering a strong team data culture
- Ability to design sales playbooks quickly, test them, measure performance with data, and iterate rapidly
- Comfort making bold, data-backed changes to achieve annual targets
- Impressive attention to detail
Experience in High-Growth Organizations:
- Strong background in managing organizational change while establishing credibility to drive impact quickly and efficiently
- Exceptional organizational skills to juggle multiple demanding opportunities at once and thrive in a rapidly-changing environment
Exceptional Interpersonal Skills and Motivation:
- High emotional intelligence, with an aptitude to empower and enable team members through authenticity, integrity, advocacy, empathy, and levity
- Strong written & verbal communication skills that translate into clear and concise strategy and execution
- Extremely responsive and fast on follow-through; excellent tracking of tasks and execution through completion
- Commitment and focus on developing a team to surpass goals consistently
- Solutions-oriented and highly motivated to create and operationalize systems and processes where they don’t yet exist
Mission-Driven Team Player:
- Be energized by our organizational mission – to provide a pathway to family-sustaining careers for Americans without college degrees
- Proven history of living within our values
- Sense of deep personal responsibility for our collective success
- Commitment to DEIJ
Nice to Have:
- Experience in talent acquisition or staffing industry
- Deep understanding of customer experience post sale and the importance of sales integrity
- Technical acumen with Salesforce reports, dashboards, and data management; a willingness to help create operational processes
Other Logistics:
- This position is full time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
- Location: Remote
- Salary : $220,400 – $220,400
We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits:
- 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
- Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
- Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
- Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
- Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
- Education reimbursement & personal development stipend
- Short and long-term disability
- Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
- Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
- 10 federally recognized holidays
- 1 week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
- 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
- 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
- Employee Assistance Program | Talkspace | Sanvello
- Discount perks at work program
- Phone/technology stipend
- Home office setup stipend
Remote Work & Sponsorship
Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship.
Equal Opportunity Statement
Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.
This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.
We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.
Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.
E-Verify Statement
This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.
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