VP of Sales

SchooLinks is a series B stage startup that's solving mission-critical problems in college and career readiness. With a fresh take from technology stack to product design, SchooLinks has become the household name for college and career readiness in many states, serving millions of students and families.     

With customers in more than 42 states, 10+ states experiencing 2x growth, and 30-50% market share in key states, SchooLinks has been consistently named Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. Our largest logos include Chicago Public Schools, Dallas ISD, Newark, Houston…  Districts typically adopt SchooLinks at a district level (from 6th through 12th grade) on 3-5-year contracts. Our current gross retention is 97%. SchooLinks implementation can range from 2 weeks to 10 months+ depending on data complexity, district size, and amount of products purchased. Once implemented, SchooLinks is the mission control for some of the most critical workflows, such as college application management, state-mandated activities, and accountability tracking.

Role Description

The VP of Sales is a proven leader with a track record of scaling SaaS sales organizations at venture-backed/PE startups (series A or later). Reporting directly to the CEO, the VP of Sales will be responsible for managing the entire sales department, ensuring sales quota attainment through coaching, enablement, process improvement, and territory management.

The ideal candidate is

• Hands-on - not afraid to roll up their sleeves and execute, whether it’s chasing down a deal, or creating a presentation or model. They are not afraid to execute by themselves to increase pace. We need this person to lead from the front to advocate for our all hands on deck culture.
• Technical and product-driven - not afraid of technical details of the product and cares about the actual implementation process to drive better deals, and set CS up for success and the organization's long term success. 
• Proactive -  they look for problem solving opportunities, processes to improve, and areas to coach. They don’t wait for things to be escalated to them.
• Accountable - to company goals long term success beyond just the sales goals.
• Fast-paced - used to working in a fast-paced environment, and can make decisions and execute on ideas. We understand the importance of change management, but we need to operate on the scale of days and weeks and not months and quarters to move projects and initiatives forward both internally and externally.
• Data-driven & operationally minded - ability to approach problems with an analytical eye based on data and people dynamic. Ability to instrument, analyze, create, and critique processes. Concretely this means excel modeling for capacity, and speaking with data prepared.
• A thought partner and teammate to other executive team members -  SchooLinks has a strong leadership team culture and subscribes to the “radical candor” communication style. You’ll be joining a talented, ambitious, and devoted team of peers leading other departments and you’ll need to work closely with them to align the sales department with broader goals and initiatives in the company.
• Excited and willing to be always learning -  our vertical is changing quickly and subject to legislative change, fast trend switches, a lot of market forces and M&A. Internally, we’re always pushing to iterate our methods– you have to be excited by change and the opportunity, and understand the need to be nimble. 
• Inspirational  - someone who can motivate and instill confidence in our team and customers.

Responsibilities 

• Executive/ Strategic: 
• New product GTM motion.
• Collaborate with the entire leadership to develop, lead, monitor, and measure the success of go-to-market strategies.
• Collaborate with VP of Success to execute on cross sale and expansion strategy.
• Collaborate with VP of Marketing to execute on various lead gen and marketing campaigns.
• Collaborate with CFO on driving revenue KPIs.
• Day to Day Management of New Logo and Expansion: 
• Provide deal coaching and mentorship for individual sales reps and SDR manager.
• Maintain pristine sales pipeline via a data-driven management approach.
• Identify gaps in sales process and rep performance and improve conversion rate through coaching and mentorship.
• Forecast deal flow and architect and negotiate large and strategic deals and partnerships.
• Lead the strategic development, growth, and scaling of the sales function, including recruitment and career development, enablement, capacity planning, comp design and organizational design.
• Team HR & Operations 
• Cultivate a culture of positivity, teamwork, and collaboration.
• Guide and oversee the assessment and ongoing evolution of the sales operations, including systems and tools, data sources and processes, to identify changes and/or enhancements needed to increase scale, efficiency, and quality.
• Implement and execute rigorous performance management process and top grading.

Requirements

• 5+ years experience in leading sales organizations, ideally in enterprise software and SaaS in education technology.
• Experience in selling complex technology solutions to government entities with multi-stakeholders.
• Ability to manage influence through persuasion, negotiation, and consensus building.
• Strong commercial chops – ideally honed through both post sales & sales experience.
• Passion for revenue and growth and empathy for startup culture.
• Analytical and process-oriented operational mindset.
• Demonstrated desire for continuous learning and improvement.
• Enthusiastic and creative leader with the ability to inspire others.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ideally gone through a growth phase with a venture/PE backed startup from Series A through D.

Benefits

• 100% health care coverage
• 401K with company matching
• Dental & Vision
• Parental Leave
• Subsidized gym membership
• Remote work stipend
• Annual team offsite

SchooLinks is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.