Account Director - Education (South)

At CDW, we make it happen, together. Trust, connection, and commitment are at the heart of how we work together to deliver for our customers. It’s why we’re coworkers, not just employees. Coworkers who genuinely believe in supporting our customers and one another. We collectively forge our path forward with a level of commitment that speaks to who we are and where we’re headed. We’re proud to share our story and Make Amazing Happen at CDW.

CDW is looking for a new Account Director specialising in the Education space to join our team in the South. The purpose of the Account Director role is to establish and maintain strong relationships with key clients, understanding their business needs and objectives to provide tailored IT solutions. Developing and implementing comprehensive account strategies that maximise client satisfaction and retention whilst achieving the company goals of driving revenue and profitability. Fostering long-term partnerships with both clients and partners is of the utmost importance and overall commercial accountability, viability and profitability of a deal is held by the role of Account Director at CDW.

The Account Director supports business objectives through:

• Revenue growth
• Customer retention
• Strategic alignment
• Market insights

What you will do:

• Developing and implementing sales strategies, conducting sales campaigns, and leading negotiations for long-term contracts within the Education space.
• Strategic account management, develop and implement account plans and objectives to achieve sales targets and client objectives.
• Ownership of gross profit target and forecast numbers, maintaining accurate sales forecasts and reporting on account performance as well as tracking and reporting on individual, account and team performance against KPIs.
• Regular engagement and meetings with the customers to build relationships and understand needs.
• Leading virtual teams comprising sales and sales support, solution and technical specialists and pre-sales co-workers.
• Act as the key interface between the customer and all relevant divisions.
• Lead strategic customer engagements (services, transformation, multi capability, complex deals).
• Accountable for overall customer experience.
• Lead whitespace to scale revenue.
• Holding overall accountability for Bid/No Bid decisions.
• Building new business relationships using existing industry contacts.
• Playing an integral role in new business pitches.
• Leading strategic vendor relationships for allocated customer accounts.
• Work in alignment with relevant vendors and partners.
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and the competitive landscape.

What we expect of you:

Success Measures:

• Achievement of revenue and profit targets.
• Growth and retention of designated accounts.
• New business development.
• Blend of sales across technology and services.

Preferred skills, experience, and qualities needed:

Essential experience:

• Experience working in or selling to high growth tech companies or digital native enterprises.
• Proven track record of exceeding sales targets in complex, consultative sales environments.
• Experience of leading virtual teams across an organisation.
• Experience influencing and supporting customer decision making up to and including C-Level.
• Experience of executing against defined strategy for account territories in line with organisational goals.
• Experience of developing and executing against strategic account plans.
• Strong understanding of enterprise level technology trends.
• Comfortable with digital tools, CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce) and virtual collaboration platforms.

Desirable experience:

• Understanding of current and emerging technology trends and the ability to articulate the impact this is having on organisations.
• Ability to articulate and discuss ESG principles and how technology can drive sustainable outcomes.

Skills:

• Strong opportunity qualification and forecasting skills.
• Strong business and financial acumen.
• An ability to connect technology to business, technical, operational and financial goals.
• Strong executive presence and ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Resiliency, flexibility and agility.
• An ability to execute while managing ambiguity.
• Strong relationship management skills e.g. stakeholder management, building strong customer partnerships and conflict resolution.

Competencies:

• Communication skills - Demonstrates the ability to combine communication, negotiation, and storytelling skills with experience in technology consulting to effectively convey complex solutions to clients, ensuring clarity, engagement, and successful outcomes.
• Customer-centric mindset - Applies deep customer empathy, industry knowledge, and leadership experience to drive customer-centric initiatives, ensuring consistent delivery of value and alignment with client needs and desired outcomes.
• Relationship management - Leverages strong relationship management capabilities, including stakeholder engagement, customer partnership building, and conflict resolution skills, to foster trust and drive collaborative, long-term success across complex environments.
• Strategic and critical thinking – Using insight and analytical skills to align customer objectives with broader business goals. Able to anticipate opportunities and challenges, ensuring solutions benefit both the client and the organisation.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in business, Technology, or a related field.
• Certifications in sales methodologies (e.g. MEDDPICC, Challenger).

CDW is committed to being an AI-fluent organization. We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, a learner’s mindset, and a willingness to engage with ever-evolving technology and tools. We value adopting AI as a partner, openness to experimentation, and a shared interest in learning together on AI. Our goal is to create a culture where AI enhances—not replaces—human creativity and decision-making. You don’t need to be an expert today; what matters is your readiness to explore, adapt, and grow with us as we integrate AI responsibly and effectively into our work.

Additionally, CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, our goal is to understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. As an AI forward company, we see AI not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for new ways of thinking, creating, and communicating. We encourage candidates to embrace an AI mindset, one’s curious, adaptive, and ready to explore what’s possible. We welcome thoughtful use of AI to expand your perspective and elevate how you share your story, while ensuring your application remains rooted in your own background, judgment, and voice.

About Us: CDW is a Fortune 500 technology solutions provider that helps businesses, government, education, and healthcare organizations achieve what’s possible through technology. What makes CDW different isn’t just what we do—it’s how we do it. At CDW we act as one—building trust, speaking candidly, and working together to achieve more. We play to win—focusing on what matters most and delivering for our customers. And we think forward—staying curious, moving fast, and continuously learning. We believe meaningful work happens when people feel supported, heard, and empowered to contribute. That’s why we think of ourselves as coworkers, not just employees—working together to solve complex challenges and deliver real impact for our customers and communities. As a full‑stack, full‑lifecycle technology partner, CDW brings deep expertise, strong relationships, and broad industry knowledge to help turn ideas into outcomes. When you join CDW, you become part of a collaborative environment where your work matters, your growth is supported, and your contributions help shape what’s next. Together, we deliver the full promise of what technology can do. Together, we Make Amazing Happen.

CDW is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other basis prohibited by state and local law.