Sales Manager, ClassMate

World Book Inc.As a part of the global industrial organization Marmon Holdings—which is backed by Berkshire Hathaway—you’ll be doing things that matter, leading at every level, and winning a better way. We’re committed to making a positive impact on the world, providing you with diverse learning and working opportunities, and fostering a culture where everyone’s empowered to be their best.Responsible for achieving budgeted sales with the corporation’s largest and most sophisticated clients. Focus may be single or multi-client. Executes account sales plans in conjunction with subordinated sales positions.About the roleClassMate is World Book's next-generation K-12 instructional platform — and we're building the sales engine that will put it in classrooms across the country. We're looking for a Sales Manager who has the drive to build the team and leads it to a scaled, repeatable revenue motion.This is a player-coach role. You'll carry a personal book of strategic accounts and run point on our most consequential deals; you’ll also lead a team of National Account and Bottoms-up Sellers. You'll own the team's quota, the forecast it rolls up to, and the playbook that gets us there.You know what it takes to navigate long cycle district buyers and capitalize on high velocity school deals. You're as comfortable opening a CAO conversation as you are coaching a rep through their pipeline review. If that sounds like you, this role was built for you.What you'll doCarry your own quotaOwn a personal book of strategic district accounts — typically the most complex, highest-value opportunities in the pipeline.Run executive-level conversations with Superintendents, CAOs, Directors of Curriculum, and CTOs. Build multi-threaded relationships across cabinet and committee.Personally drive deals through Discovery, Evaluation, Vendor Selection, and Procurement — including RFP responses, pilot design, and board-approval support.Lead and coach the teamManage and develop a team of four sellers operating across National Accounts, Large/Mid Districts, Small Districts, and individual Schools.Coach reps through the realities of K-12 selling: 12-24 month district cycles, July 1 fiscal-year timing, board approvals, multi-stakeholder consensus, and the very different velocity of school-level deals.Run weekly 1:1s, pipeline reviews, and deal strategy sessions. Build sellers who can navigate from classroom champion to cabinet sponsor.Own hiring, ramping, and performance management. Identify when to scale the team up — and when a rep needs a new plan to get back on track.Own pipeline, forecast, and revenue planDrive pipeline coverage discipline. Ensure each rep is building enough qualified pipeline (Discovery and beyond) to clear quota with appropriate stage-weighted coverage.Run a clean Salesforce instance: stage hygiene, BANT qualification, next steps, close-date discipline. The forecast is only as good as the data. Build and defend an accurate forecast.Surface risk early. When pipeline maturity signals trouble against the plan, you'll be the first to call it and propose the response.Partner cross-functionally to sharpen GTMWork with Marketing to refine ICP targeting, messaging, and demand-gen plays across the four buying segments.Partner with Product to feed field intelligence into the roadmap — what's winning deals, what's losing them, and what gaps competitors are exploiting.Iterate on sales scripts, discovery frameworks, demo flows, and competitive positioning. Translate what works in the field into a repeatable team playbook.Coordinate with Customer Success and Training to ensure clean handoffs and renewal-ready accounts.What you bringRequired experience6+ years of K-12 EdTech sales experience, with a strong track record selling instructional or curriculum solutions into school districts.2+ years of direct sales management experience — hiring, coaching, and managing quota-carrying reps to plan.Demonstrated success closing complex district deals ($100K+) with multi-stakeholder buying committees, RFPs, pilots, and board approvals.Fluency with the K-12 buying cycle — needs assessment, goal setting, vendor evaluation, procurement — and the personas who drive each stage (Superintendent, CAO, Director of Curriculum, Director of Instructional Technology, Principal, Instructional Coach).Salesforce proficiency: stage management, forecasting, pipeline analytics, and rep accountability.How you operatePlayer-coach mindset. You can close a deal on Tuesday and run a rep's pipeline review on Wednesday without dropping either one.Forecast discipline. You believe a missed forecast is a process problem, not a luck problem — and you build the systems to fix it.Coaching instinct. You'd rather make a rep great than do their job for them. You give direct feedback and you make it stick.Cross-functional credibility. Marketing, Product, and CS partners want you in the room because you bring sharp field signal, not just complaints.Comfort with ambiguity. ClassMate is a growing product line — you're as ready to write the playbook as to run it.Why ClassMateWorld Book has been a trusted name in K-12 education for over a century. ClassMate is how we bring that legacy into the AI-enabled classroom — built specifically for middle school instruction, with the rigor educators expect and the student experience to drive real learning outcomes.You'll join at a moment when the product is real, the pipeline is building, and the next chapter of the company is being written by the people in the room. If you want to sell something educators are excited about, lead a team that's hungry to win, and help shape how a category-defining product gets to market — let's talk.Compensation - Base Salary $115,000 plus eligible for CommissionWorld Book is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.Pay Range:84,000.00 - 126,000.00We offer a comprehensive benefits package that may include medical, dental, vision, 401k matching, and more!Following receipt of a conditional offer of employment, candidates will be required to complete additional job-related screening processes as permitted or required by applicable law.We are an equal opportunity employer, and all applicants will be considered for employment without attention to their membership in any protected class. If you require any reasonable accommodation to complete your application or any part of the recruiting process, please email your request to View email address on click.appcast.io, and please be sure to include the title and the location of the position for which you are applying.SummaryLocation: Chicago, ILType: Full time