Associate Director, US College Sales

The opportunity:

Behind every strong sales team is a leader who helps them win, and in this role, you'll be the leader for those leaders. As Associate Director, US College Sales, you'll guide regional sales performance across multiple districts by developing District Sales Managers into strategic leaders who know their numbers, understand their markets, and coach their teams to succeed. You'll set clear strategy, bring discipline to execution, strengthen forecasting and pipeline health, and align people and resources around the opportunities that grow adoptions, market share, courseware, and recurring revenue. As a member of the College Sales Leadership Team, you'll also partner with the Vice President to shape the strategy that moves US College Sales forward. If you love developing leaders, building a team-selling culture where everyone contributes, and seeing your coaching show up in results, we'd love to meet you.

What you will help achieve:

• Translate College Sales priorities into measurable regional plans and consistent field execution.

• Build a strong leadership bench by coaching District Sales Managers to know their business, develop their teams, and act on leading indicators.

• Create accountability for pipeline progression, customer engagement, CRM discipline, forecasting, resource allocation, and results.

What you will do:

• Own regional sales performance, market-share growth, courseware adoption, and recurring-revenue outcomes.

• Coach District Sales Managers through regular business, pipeline, talent, and performance discussions.

• Use CRM, Power BI, Seismic, and other available data to identify gaps, challenge assumptions, and establish actions that improve results.

• Align District Sales Managers, Account Executives, Product Specialists, Sales Engineers, and partners around high-value opportunities and priority accounts.

• Recruit, onboard, develop, and retain strong sales managers; support succession, staffing, territory coverage, and performance management.

• Manage regional expenses, travel, and sampling investments with attention to customer impact and return.

• Lead change across the region and contribute actively to College Sales leadership, planning, and national sales meetings.

What you will bring:

• 10+ years of higher education sales experience, including substantial sales leadership and people-management responsibility.

• A record of developing high-performing managers and teams and delivering sustained business results.

• Strong strategic, commercial, analytical, and data-literacy skills, including pipeline and performance analysis.

• Executive-level communication and influence across functions and organizational levels.

• Ability to lead through managers, delegate with accountability, address performance gaps constructively, and sustain change.

Helpful, but not essential:

• Experience with courseware, direct-to-student or recurring-revenue models, CRM discipline, Power BI, and Seismic.

• Experience leading multiple districts or a geographically distributed field organization.

Work and travel:

Frequent overnight travel and regular field presence across assigned districts are expected, particularly during peak selling seasons and major sales or customer events.

Why join Sage?

• Work with colleagues who care about education, evidence, and helping ideas reach the people who need them.

• Contribute in a collaborative, international organization with room to learn, grow, and shape how we work.

• Access a comprehensive benefits package.

An inclusive opportunity

We know that strong candidates do not always meet every preferred qualification. If this role interests you and you can demonstrate many of the capabilities described, we encourage you to apply. We value transferable experience, different career paths, and the perspectives people bring from varied backgrounds and communities.

Sage is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience. If you need a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the process, please let the Talent Acquisition team know.

Sage is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on role-related qualifications, skills, experience, and business needs.

How to apply

Apply through Sage Careers. Please include a resume that highlights the experience and outcomes most relevant to this role.

If you have a disability and you need any support during the application process, please contact hr.resume@sagepub.com All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

Pay Transparency & Benefits Package:

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect. Sage is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation at Sage is influenced by several factors, including but not limited to skill set, nature and level of experience, qualifications, and other relevant considerations. Please note that the compensation details listed in U.S. role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include bonuses or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and additional aspects of the compensation/benefits package for this position during the hiring process. If your desired salary falls outside of this range, we hope you'll still apply as there may be other positions that better align.

In addition to compensation, Sage offers a highly competitive and comprehensive PPO medical, dental, and vision care benefits package with SAGE covering most of the premium costs. Unique program benefits that support a healthy life, a company-sponsored anniversary trip every 5 years, a 401(k)-matching program of 100% up to 5% of pay, and other significant meaningful benefits. In alignment with our value for education, Sage offers financial support for bachelor's and graduate-level degree programs as well as learning for personal interest.

Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day-to-day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role. Join the nearly 2,000 Sage employees worldwide who deliver products and services that serve to fulfill our noble goal of education and dissemination of knowledge globally. We’d love to meet you!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and partnership status, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, race, religion and belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We believe that diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant culture. We want Sage to be an organization where the most talented staff and high-potential staff are recruited, have the opportunity to grow, and want to work. We strive to achieve a better representation of diverse talent at all levels, including leadership, across our workforce.