JOB LOCATION

We are a remote-first company. You will work from home. However, this role requires local travel and an understanding of the local small business ecosystem. We are therefore only accepting candidates in one of the following locations:

• Washington, DC
• Prince George’s County, MD

Company Overview

OpenClassrooms is a mission-driven company that makes education accessible to all. Our goal is to become the leading apprenticeship and reskilling provider, all over the world. We are already the leading online education platform in Europe, expanding in the US. Every month, we offer fully-accredited online diplomas to 14,000 students and free courses to more than 300K students.

We are very proud to be a B-Corp company (combining a for-profit activity with general social impact), we’re recognized as one of the best workplaces in France by Great Place to Work. We’ve received multiple other awards (Next 40/120, Entrepreneur of The Year by EY, etc.), but what really matters to us is that in 2023, more than 50,000 individuals attributed a positive move in their careers to OpenClassrooms.

We raised a total of 150 million dollars since inception with world-class investors like General Atlantic, Salesforce Ventures, GSV, or Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. This will help us invest in our product, continue our growth and make education even more accessible across the world!

CONTEXT

OpenClassrooms is committed to expanding its mission and increasing its footprint in the US market, with a focus on the deployment of modern tech registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs). To do so, OpenClassrooms is partnering with private or public sector stakeholders involved in education, employment, and registered apprenticeships.

TEAM & ROLE

The US go-to-market Team is made up of the following functions: Marketing, Direct Sales, Government & Partnership Sales, Customer Success & Operations, and Accreditation. We are supported by other HQ teams such as Learning and Product, Tech, & Data.

The Sr. SMB Account Executive is part of the Direct Sales Team and will help us scale apprenticeship sales in the US market. You will help small business clients become future-proof through the fulfillment of their talent acquisition, reskilling, and upskill needs.

About You

As a self-motivated and experienced quota-bearing business development professional, you are able to build rapport with customers quickly to sell to the small businesses. You are a hands-on self-starter with an entrepreneurial flair and possess at least 5 years of senior sales and business development experience in the US. You have sold Talent, Learning & Development, HigherEducation, EdTech, or Saas products before. Experience selling Apprenticeship Programs is highly desirable. Excellent communication skills and a thorough understanding of the SMB sales funnel is key to succeed in the role.

Responsibilities

As the senior SMB Account Executive, you will:

Prospecting:

Identify and add SMB prospects to Salesforce based on our best customer fit. For example, apprenticeship prospects should have tech hiring needs and may be facing a talent shortage. Upskilling prospects may want to increase employee retention, and reskilling customers could be undergoing a digital transformation

Select and attend industry-specific events and conferences to find new prospects interested in tech apprenticeships. This may involve manning a booth or presenting to a small group of small business owners (

Come up with and implement new SMB prospecting strategies

Lead nurturing:

• Create, run, and optimize email / call sequences to nurture prospects to generate meetings
• Organize local in-person Meet & Greet events with our partners to present our offering to employers

Opportunity management:

• Create and pitch innovative talent management solutions to help clients cope with complex problems such as skills gaps and talent retention
• Build and present proposals
• Proactively follow up on open opportunities to shorten the sales cycle
• Work closely with the customer success team to shortlist and share talent profiles with interested employers
• We organize job matching events throughout the year together with our Community Colleges partners. You will be asked to participate in such events and work closely with employers to fulfill their talent needs

Deal closing:

• Work with procurement, legal, and security teams all the way to contract signature
• Hand-off deal to customer success properly to ensure stellar onboarding and project kick-off

Pipeline management:

• Produce weekly, monthly, and quarterly SMB sales forecasts
• Own and manage your individual sales pipeline from discovery to close
• Update Salesforce as needed to provide the most up to date information
• Create and implement corrective action plans to get back on track when needed

RFPs:

• We participate in RFPs to seek out public funding for our programs. You will need to participate in those RFPs by obtaining letters of support from employers for example

Expand existing relationships:

• Renew and upsell existing customers

Other activities as they come up:

• For instance, we work with partners such as community colleges to sell our apprenticeship programs to employers. You will need to build relationships and work with our partners in order to be successful
• You may need to network for organized employer coalitions such as Chambers of Commerce and Workforce Development Boards

You will wear multiple hats in this role as you will need to partner with many internal and external stakeholders to win new business: Learning, Government & Partnerships, Marketing, Accreditation, Customer Success, etc.

You will need to travel to close deals:

• Locally in Prince George’s County, Maryland. These will be same-day trips.

KPI’s:

• Hold one Meet & Greet per week with 40 employers to introduce our tech apprenticeship programs
• Create >30 opportunities per month in salesforce
• Convert >10 opportunities per month
• Create, share, and report back on weekly sales commitments
• Generate >120 apprentices per year

Skills & Experience Required

• Proven experience in SMB sales quota-bearing roles, with a track record in achieving high level sales achievement (above $1M/year)
• Strong business development skills in a Go-To-Market (GTM) environment, with ability to build new relationships and secure new customers.
• Demonstrated interest in education, technology, and labor market trends.
• Experience and an active network in US apprenticeship, bootcamp, vocational training, tech recruitment, or EdTech sectors is preferred.
• Familiarity with US Registered Apprenticeship Programs is a plus.
• Startup mindset: proactive, action-oriented, flexible, and thriving in fast-paced environments.
• Strong business acumen and analytical skills, with a data-driven approach to problem-solving.
• Tech-savvy and comfortable using SaaS tools such as Salesforce, Notion, Slack, Google Suite, etc.
• Experience in small event planning and hosting

At OpenClassrooms, we prioritize learning potential over a perfect alignment with every job criterion. We highly value qualities such as eagerness to learn, commitment, and the potential for growth. If you are motivated and confident in your ability to excel in the role, we enthusiastically encourage you to submit your application.

REPORTING LINE

You will report directly to the SVP, International

HIRING PROCESS :

• HR interview (30min)
• Manager Interview (1 hour): with Jeremy Durand, SVP International, to delve into your professional background and achievements.
• Case Study
• Team/Stakeholder Interview (45 mins) with two members of our teams to evaluate your compatibility with our work environment and values.

OUR PERKS :

• OpenClassrooms operates as a "remote-first" company, making remote work the standard.
• Our work environment and culture are rooted in the company's four core values:we care, we dare, we persist, we tell it as it is.
• Stock option plan for all employees
• 401(k) with a 5% match
• Health Insurance with United Health Care (100% covered for you and 75% covered for your family)
• Dental & Vision Insurance with Guardian (100% covered for you and 75% covered for your family)
• Company-provided MacBook.
• Access to OpenClassrooms' training catalog.
• 20 days of Paid Time Off per year
• 5 "Caretaker Days" per year are provided, allowing you to take care of your loved ones.
• Complimentary access to the Teale app (mental health solution)

Join our Team !

Intrigued? Let's get to know each other! Apply today — we're looking forward to receiving your application!

Feel free to check out our online course How do we work at OpenClassrooms to better understand our mission, culture, and team composition.