[Hiring] Director of Sales @Newsela

Role Description

Newsela is seeking a strategic, high-growth Director of Sales to lead, scale, and inspire our Core Curriculum and Supplemental sales organization. Reporting directly to the Sr. Director of Sales, you will oversee the Sales Managers and Account Executives driving the expansion of Newsela’s core curriculum and Newsela supplemental portfolios with an immediate strategic focus on balancing how to amplify the successful national supplemental and California core strategy nationally.

In this role, you will lead through frontline managers to build high-performing sales teams, architect regional go-to-market strategies, and partner with district- and state-level education leaders. You will foster a positive, "people-first" high-performance culture while establishing predictable revenue models, refining enterprise sales plays (utilizing MEDDPICC), and positioning Newsela as the premier core curriculum partner across school districts.

Qualifications

• 10+ years total K-12 Sales Experience
• 4+ years Sales Leadership Experience
• Core Curriculum Mastery
• Enterprise Deal Leadership
• Framework & Tool Mastery
• Location & Travel
• Education & Authorization

Requirements

• Accountable for consistently meeting or exceeding sales targets across new logo acquisition and expansion for both supplemental and core.
• Recruit, hire, coach, and retain top-tier frontline Account Executives that can effectively balance selling core and supplemental Newsela products in adoption and open territory.
• Deliver precise, reliable monthly, quarterly, and annual regional revenue forecasts to executive leadership.
• Maintain rigorous pipeline discipline across teams, ensuring a minimum of 2.5x pipeline-to-quota coverage at all times.
• Lead through frontline leaders by creating an environment that empowers teams, celebrates wins, and establishes repeatable best practices across territories.
• Conduct regular deal and pipeline reviews with Sales Managers and Senior AEs.
• Guide managers in designing and executing comprehensive regional territory plans.
• Travel up to 30–40% within the region to co-sell and build executive relationships with key district superintendents, county office leaders, and state adoption decision-makers.
• Shape Newsela’s go-to-market approach for core subjects and supplemental subjects.
• Serve as the strategic voice of the field to executive leadership, Product, Field Marketing, Customer Success, Enablement, Finance, and Operations teams.
• Oversee accurate CRM usage (Salesforce) and leverage modern AI sales tools to optimize territory prioritization, deal flow analytics, and operational efficiency.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical benefits with employer contribution to premiums and HSA accounts.
• Monthly tech stipend to support WFH needs.
• Inclusive benefits to support you and your family, including parental leave, fertility support, adoption, and more.
• 401(k) plan with employer match.
• Flexible PTO, paid sick time off, company holidays plus winter break (Dec 24th - Jan 1st).
• Annual learning and development allowance for external training sessions, classes, workshops, and conferences.
• Opportunity to make a difference in the future of education and improve the lives of students and teachers.

Company Description

Newsela is a leading education technology company dedicated to meaningful classroom learning for every student. We deliver integrated, AI-powered solutions designed to unlock student engagement, empower teachers, and drive meaningful learning outcomes. Our suite of products supports knowledge and skill development, writing practice, daily instruction, assessment, and data-informed decision-making across K–12 classrooms. Grounded in learning science research, Newsela’s solutions integrate content, assessment, and analytics to help educators track progress, understand student outcomes, and deliver high-impact instruction that supports every learner.