Key Skills

Job Description

We believe in the power and joy of learning At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping learners 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. The role: As the Sales Executive for Benelux, Nordics & Israel at Cengage, you will play a key role in growing revenue across our Higher Education Textbook and Library Reference markets. This is a proactive, new-business-focused sales role. We are looking for someone with a genuine hunter mentality who enjoys identifying prospects, opening doors and building opportunities from the ground up. You will be expected to spend a significant amount of time prospecting and engaging potential customers through cold calling, outbound outreach and networking, alongside developing existing accounts. The post holder for this role must be based in The Netherlands and will be expected to travel regularly so that 3 out of 5 days per week can be spent on campus hunting new business. What you’ll do: Actively prospect for new business, using cold calling, email, LinkedIn and other outbound approaches to identify and engage potential customers. Build your own pipeline by researching target institutions, identifying decision-makers and creating opportunities rather than relying solely on inbound leads. Own and manage a high-quality sales pipeline, progressing opportunities from initial prospecting and qualification through to close, renewal and expansion. Win new customers and expand Cengage's presence across the Benelux, Nordic and Israeli markets. Develop relationships with library, faculty and institutional decision-makers, introducing them to the wider Cengage portfolio. Develop compelling value propositions that demonstrate the impact Cengage can have on teaching, research outcomes and workforce readiness. Support the transition from individual student-purchase models towards balanced institutional agreements. Grow the value of existing accounts through cross-brand opportunities, upselling and effective retention strategies. Act as a knowledgeable and credible ambassador at industry conferences, exhibitions, trade shows and customer events. Maintain a broad understanding of Cengage's products and solutions to support consultative, value-led sales conversations. Skills you’ll need: 3+ years of sales experience, ideally in a new-business, business development or outbound sales environment. A demonstrable hunter mentality, with the drive and resilience to proactively seek out new customers and create opportunities from scratch. Confidence and experience with cold calling and high levels of outbound prospecting – this will be a regular and important part of the role. A track record of winning new business and achieving or exceeding revenue targets. Strong pipeline management skills, including prospecting, qualification, opportunity progression and accurate forecasting. Strong commercial acumen and the ability to identify and develop new revenue opportunities. Excellent communication, influencing and presentation skills, with the confidence to engage new contacts and senior decision-makers. Ability to build strong relationships with library, faculty and institutional stakeholders. Willingness to travel regularly across the territory to meet customers, prospects and attend industry events. Proficiency in Salesforce or a similar CRM, with strong discipline around customer information, pipeline activity and reporting. You’ll thrive in this role if you enjoy the challenge of finding the next opportunity, making the first contact and turning a cold prospect into a long-term customer. About Cengage Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education. Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws. Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [email protected].

Core Responsibilities

Prospect for and win new customers across the Benelux, Nordic, and Israeli markets, managing opportunities from initial outreach through close. Grow existing accounts through relationship development, cross-selling, upselling, retention, and consultative promotion of Cengage products.

Requirements

Candidates need at least three years of sales experience, a proven record of winning new business and meeting revenue targets, and confidence with cold calling and outbound prospecting. Strong pipeline management, communication, stakeholder relationship-building, CRM proficiency, and willingness to travel regularly are also required.