HED Regional Manager Solution Sales, MI​/IL​/IN​/MN​/IO (Remote

Cengage Regional Manager of Solutions Specialists, BHT

At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping students 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.

Cengage's Higher Education business, Cengage, supports learning and student success by providing materials and digital solutions to faculty and students enrolled in two-year, four-year and vocational programs. We currently serve more than 10 million of the 18 million students in US higher ed. Setting a new standard of service for our customers, we deliver quality, easy-to-use course materials from textbooks and eBooks to courseware such as Mind Tap and Web Assign.

In the US, we offer Cengage Unlimited and Cengage Unlimited for Institutions. We help instructors be better teachers, we help institutions solve problems and we empower students to leverage the power and joy of learning to transform lives.

The Regional Manager of Solutions Specialists, BHT leads a team of approximately 10 discipline aligned, new business sellers responsible for driving digital adoption, capturing competitive takeaways, and growing market share at the course and department level. This manager is a critical first line sales leader who coaches the team through the entire sales cycle, ensures disciplined execution, and drives accountability against new business and digital adoption targets.

Operating within Cengage's specialized coverage model, the Regional Manager provides day-to-day coaching, strategic deal guidance, territory prioritization, and partnership with cross functional teams. They ensure Solutions Specialists deliver exceptional discovery, consultative selling, demo excellence, and competitive positioning. The Regional Manager collaborates with the National Director of Solution Sales to help shape national strategy while ensuring strong local execution.

This role requires a leader who is hands-on, data driven, inspiring, and adept at developing a high performing sales team.

1. Leadership, Coaching & Team Development

• Lead and develop a team of ~10 Solutions Specialists responsible for full cycle course- and department level new business.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, field coaching, and joint customer engagements to strengthen discovery, demo quality, and closing skills.
• Build a culture of performance, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Provide role clarity and coaching to ensure alignment with the specialized new business sales motion.

2. New Business Strategy & Sales Execution

• Guide the team in building and executing discipline aligned, data driven territory plans.
• Ensure high-quality pipeline creation and consistent progression through the sales funnel.
• Review opportunity strategies and provide actionable feedback on positioning, messaging, and competitive differentiation.
• Drive team accountability for achieving discipline specific new business, digital adoption, and competitive displacement targets.

3. Deal Support & Strategic Opportunity Management

• Partner with Solutions Specialists on high potential or complex opportunities, providing coaching and tactical support.
• Coordinate with Product Consultants to ensure timely SME engagement for down funnel support and high stakes presentations.
• Reinforce excellence in demo delivery, solution mapping, and value messaging to improve team win rates.
• Support cross-team collaboration during multi-section or multicourse opportunities.

4. Collaboration With Account Teams

• Maintain tight alignment with Account Directors to ensure departmental wins clearly support broader institutional strategy.
• Share insights from departmental activity that may influence institutional conversations—without handing opportunities off.
• Partner with Account Directors to ensure visibility, consistency, and strategic harmonization across campus stakeholders.

5. Cross Functional Partnership

• Collaborate with Customer Success to ensure adoption considerations are incorporated early in the sales process.
• Work with Product, Marketing, and Technology to share customer insights, support campaigns, and identify solution gaps.
• Participate in cross-functional planning to ensure Solutions Specialists are equipped with the right tools, messaging, and competitive intelligence.

6. Pipeline, Forecasting & Operational Excellence

• Drive accurate forecasting and ensure pipeline hygiene within Salesforce.
• Monitor KPIs to identify coaching needs, performance gaps, and territory optimization opportunities.
• Lead weekly sales reviews and performance checkpoints to ensure focus on the highest value opportunities.
• Support messaging consistency, enablement adoption, and process adherence across the team.

7. Recruiting, Hiring & Talent Development

• Help recruit and onboard high caliber Solutions Specialists with strong consultative selling and digital competency.
• Build a talent pipeline and partner with…