Strategic Account Manager

Strategic Account Manager Category:  Sales Req ID:  918 Date:  Mar 5, 2026 Location:  AZ, US CA, US We Impact Lives Through Purpose-Driven Work in A People First Culture   Ascend Learning, a leading healthcare and learning technology company, is the connection between a powerful portfolio of brands serving students, educators, and employers with outcomes-based, data-driven solutions across the lifecycle of learning. From testing to certification, Ascend Learning products are used by physicians, emergency medical professionals, nurses, allied health professionals, certified personal trainers, financial advisors, skilled trades professionals and insurance brokers.   Headquartered in Burlington, MA, with additional office locations and hybrid and remote workers in cities across the U.S., Ascend Learning was recognized by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group as one of America’s 2025 Greatest Workplaces as well as America’s Best Places to work for Mental Well-Being for 2025.    We're always looking for talented, passionate professionals to join us in our mission to help change lives. If this sounds like an environment where you'd thrive, read on to learn more.    Ascend Learning's Nursing Category is fueled by a commitment to excellence as we support the full learning journey of future nurses.  Our nursing brands — ATI, APEA, and NursingCE — offer evidence-based solutions designed to develop practice-ready nurses who are prepared for board certification and clinical practice. We use data analytics and engaging learning tools to help nursing students master core content. And we provide nursing education administrators and faculty with best-in-class support and expertise from some of the sharpest minds in nursing education. We aid nurse educators in understanding students' comprehension based on nearly two decades of data — including more than 12 million proctored assessments — that detail student learning and performance. The result is customers who are confident in their program offerings and positioned for healthy outcomes.   WHAT YOU'LL DO     As a Strategic Account Manager, you’ll be responsible for maintaining and expanding relationships with strategically important large customers.  Assigned to the highest-value clients, the Strategic Account Manager is tasked with building a deep understanding of the clients’ business processes, goals, and strategies to align our offerings and drive mutual growth and success.     WHERE YOU’LL WORK     This position will have the flexibility to work remotely while residing within the Phoenix or Southern California area. Travel required.   HOW YOU’LL SPEND YOUR TIME    Serve as the lead point of contact for strategic account matters, build and maintain strong, long-lasting client relationships, develop trusted advisor relationships with key accounts, customer stakeholders, and executive sponsors  Identify and understand the roles of the clients’ stakeholders, identify champions, users, the technical team, and the economic buyers  Manage relationships with existing clients to ensure their retention, and customer loyalty – including annual account reviews and reporting  Manage and nurture the sales pipeline, ensure timely follow-ups, and progress tracking  Uncover clients' objectives and pain points, build strategic roadmaps to drive positive outcomes and solutions to meet client needs while providing exceptional customer collaboration and guidance  Develop account growth strategies, collaborate with category leadership, leverage market knowledge and client insights, including territory management, pipeline opportunities, and cross-sell opportunity referral activity where applicable  Prepare compelling sales strategies, messaging, and presentations. Negotiate and close deals, collect implementation details for client execution  Ensure timely and successful delivery of Ascends solutions according to customer needs and objectives, exceeding client expectations  Prepare and present regular reports on account opportunities, sales forecasts, tailwinds, and headwinds to management  Maintain CRM to include prospective client headcount or other category suitability  Stay up to date with, and share, industry trends, competitors, and market conditions to identify new business opportunities    WHAT YOU'LL NEED    Bachelor’s degree required  6+ years of relevant sales work experience and healthcare industry experience  Prior track record of influencing stakeholders up to the executive level, with proven negotiation skills for securing advantageous agreements  Skilled in delivering tailored solutions to clients and managing multiple projects with precision  Proficient in written communication for creating sales documents (proposals, contracts)  Ability to build trust and proactively engage in upselling and cross selling  Strong analytical abilities for sales data interpretation and strategy formulation  Proven track record of delivering results in a quota-based sales environment with multi-year multimillion-dollar contracts