Account Executive 4, Higher Ed Specialist

Dell Technologies

22h • $275,000 - $330,000

About The Position

Account Executive, Direct Sales Higher Education Specialist Do you have the higher education expertise and strategic acumen to shape markets, create demand, and establish Dell Technologies as the leading partner for digital transformation in U.S. colleges and universities? Higher education is undergoing profound transformation, shaped by artificial intelligence, changing student demographics and engagement patterns, staff burnout, heightened cybersecurity risk, and new opportunities to reimagine teaching, learning, research, and community engagement in a digital economy. Dell Technologies collaborates with colleges and universities to advance their missions of recruiting, retaining, educating, and graduating students by providing secure, scalable, and cost-optimized multicloud and modern infrastructure solutions that span the campus data center, public cloud, and edge environments. Institutions increasingly turn to Dell to establish a modern digital foundation, enhance the student experience, accelerate research, modernize constituent services, and enable institutional innovation and agility. Role Overview The Higher Education Strategist shapes markets, creates demand, and positions Dell as a thought leader in U.S. colleges and universities through strategic advisory work, executive relationship-building, and thought leadership. This role identifies and qualifies opportunities at the top of the funnel, provides market intelligence, and establishes Dell's credibility with senior institutional leaders. This is a strategic advisory and market-shaping role, not a sales support or deal execution role. The strategist engages directly with senior higher education leaders to understand their most pressing challenges and long-term goals, then works with Dell account teams and internal stakeholders to align the right strategies, solutions, and partnerships. They spend significant time on campus and in virtual executive conversations, facilitating dialogue among diverse stakeholders and building deep, trusted relationships. The strategist serves as a bridge between vertical expertise and technical credibility. They bring deep knowledge of higher education - including governance, funding, academic and research missions, and institutional dynamics - combined with technical fluency often gained as former CIOs or CTOs who have led infrastructure modernization, cloud migrations, research computing, and cybersecurity initiatives. This dual expertise allows them to engage leaders on both strategic priorities and technical challenges, connecting how Dell's capabilities address both. When an AE brings a strategist to a meeting, they're bringing someone who understands higher education, understands technology, and can connect the two. This role is supported by vertical leaders and the Head of Public Strategy to ensure effective cross-functional collaboration and organizational influence.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of experience working within or closely with higher education institutions.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior higher‑education leaders, including presidents, provosts, CIOs, and CFOs.
• Demonstrated experience leading strategic, consultative, and executive‑level engagements, including discovery, facilitation, and high‑stakes communication.
• Established thought leadership through conference speaking, publications, or major transformation initiatives in higher education.
• Strong understanding of higher education ecosystems—governance, funding, accreditation, and digital transformation—paired with technical fluency across cloud, infrastructure, cybersecurity, research computing, and data platforms.
• Excellent communication and cross‑functional collaboration skills, active participation in higher‑ed associations, and willingness to travel up to 60%.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in education, information technology, computer science, business, or related field strongly preferred
• Doctorate-level degree in education, information technology, computer science, business, or related field
• Direct leadership or senior-level experience in a higher education institution
• Direct experience as CIO, CTO, or senior technology leader in higher education with hands-on responsibility for infrastructure, cloud, research computing, security, or data initiatives
• Experience facilitating executive workshops or strategy sessions
• Leadership positions within higher education associations, consortia, or professional networks
• Executive presence & adaptive communication: Confidently engages presidents, provosts, CIOs, and trustees while tailoring complex technical and strategic concepts to diverse audiences.
• Institutional systems thinking: Understands how academic, research, finance, student success, and IT functions interconnect and identifies where technology creates cross‑institutional impact.
• Consultative discovery & strategic synthesis: Uncovers true institutional priorities and translates complex challenges into clear, actionable strategic options aligned with governance and culture.
• Cross‑silo relationship building: Builds trust across academic, administrative, and technical stakeholders, creating connections that enable collaboration and shared vision.
• High‑stakes facilitation & influence without authority: Designs and leads strategic conversations among leaders with competing priorities, shaping outcomes through insight and credibility rather than formal power.
• Vertical and technical expertise: Combines deep higher‑education knowledge with strong technical fluency to connect institutional strategy with modern infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and data solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery conversations with institutional leaders to understand strategic priorities and desired outcomes across teaching, learning, research, student success, and campus operations, with particular depth in technical areas such as infrastructure modernization, cloud migration, research computing, cybersecurity, and data strategy
• Help higher education leaders align technology initiatives with institutional strategic plans and long-term visions
• Provide consultative guidance on digital campus strategies, hybrid and online learning, research computing, student experience, and data-informed decision making
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior institutional leaders including Presidents, Provosts, CIOs, CFOs, Deans, and Vice Presidents
• Extend Dell's reach beyond IT contacts to engage academic affairs, student success, enrollment, finance, research, and operational leaders
• Serve as strategic advisor to institutional leaders, aligning Dell's capabilities with their missions
• Design and participate in Executive Briefing Center sessions, Visioning Days, and workshops that bring together academic, administrative, and IT stakeholders to explore future-state possibilities
• Design strategic events including roundtables, summits, and market briefings that position Dell and create demand
• Foster collaborative partnerships between institutions and Dell, including pilots, co-innovation initiatives, and joint storytelling
• Identify and qualify strategic opportunities at the top of the funnel, shaping them before they become formal RFPs and positioning Dell early in decision-making
• Make strategic connections across and within institutions to support integrated strategies and uncover opportunities
• Help institutional customers network with one another, sharing best practices and facilitating communities of practice
• Position Dell as a thought leader through speaking at conferences, delivering keynotes, serving on panels, and contributing to content that spotlights higher education innovation
• Monitor and interpret trends in higher education and translate them into insight for customers and internal teams
• Partner with sales teams to inform and strengthen account strategies, bringing vertical expertise and technical credibility that helps account executives understand dynamics, motivations, challenges, and context
• Provide strategic input in account planning sessions on governance, funding cycles, policy influences, and long-term priorities
• Develop and deliver enablement programs on higher education market trends, institutional structures, stakeholder roles, and strategic engagement approaches
• Provide market intelligence that shapes how Dell positions its offerings in higher education
• Facilitate collaboration across sales, presales, services, and Strategically Aligned Businesses to create cohesive engagement plans
• Provide strategic context to help internal teams leverage higher education relationships to co-create solutions
• Provide input to product, services, and solution teams to influence offerings that better support institutional needs
• Serve as voice of the customer into marketing, portfolio, and business units, ensuring messaging and content reflect higher education realities
• Work with marketing as a higher education SME to review and refine content for relevance and accuracy
• Identify and connect marketing and sales teams with customer stories, references, and advocates

Benefits

• Dell is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.
• The Total Target Compensation range for this position is $275,000 - 330,000 which includes base salary and commissions.
• You can explore the overall benefits experience that awaits you as a Dell Technologies team member — right now at MyWellatDell.com

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level