Account Director – Southern California (Remote)

About the Role

The Account Director at Accela is a strategic leadership position designed for sales professionals who combine ownership mentality with enterprise-level selling expertise. This role sits at the intersection of sales management and direct account development, requiring you to drive overall sales strategy while maintaining hands-on responsibility for territory growth. You'll guide and direct team members to enhance growth and viability across your assigned territory, coordinating efforts across multiple teams and ensuring successful execution of all sales initiatives.

As an Account Director covering Southern California, you'll work with a cross-functional regional sales team to identify net new business opportunities while maintaining, upselling, and cross-selling across all product offerings. This position demands a strategic mindset combined with consultative selling skills—the ability to understand customer needs deeply and guide prospects through complex solution development.

Key Responsibilities

• Account Management & Growth: Manage and grow key accounts while ensuring customer satisfaction and building long-term strategic partnerships that drive recurring revenue.
• New Business Development: Identify and progress new business opportunities with top prospects, developing comprehensive territory plans that outline strategies to secure high-value clients.
• Strategic Planning: Develop and execute strategic account plans that achieve sales targets, own your pipeline to ensure consistent quarterly and annual quota achievement.
• Revenue Expansion: Maintain and grow revenue from existing customers by selling and cross-selling solutions into new departments and identifying upsell opportunities within accounts.
• Relationship Building: Identify and build relationships with key decision makers in existing and prospect organizations, creating high-value proposals focused on delivering desired business outcomes.
• Team Leadership: Work with and provide guidance to Account Executives (AEs), offering leadership and support to help them succeed and grow within the region.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams including marketing, implementation, and customer success to deliver exceptional customer and prospect experiences.
• Market Analysis: Analyze market trends, customer needs, and emerging opportunities to identify growth vectors and competitive positioning within your territory.
• CRM & Forecasting: Maintain accurate and up-to-date forecast opportunities and records in CRM systems, ensuring data integrity and visibility for leadership planning.
• RFP Leadership: Lead and contribute to RFP responses, positioning Accela's solutions effectively against competitors.
• Quota Achievement: Meet annual sales targets consistently, demonstrating accountability for territory performance and revenue generation.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience demonstrating sales excellence.
• Enterprise Sales Experience: 5+ years of proven sales experience with enterprise software solutions, with demonstrated success in complex, multi-stakeholder selling environments.
• Track Record: Proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets and successfully managing and growing key enterprise accounts over time.
• Sales Fundamentals: Prior experience in correctly qualifying new opportunities and accurately forecasting pipeline and revenue outcomes.
• Strategic Thinking: Strategic mindset with strong analytical abilities to examine data and market trends, identifying gaps and growth potential within territories.
• Leadership Skills: Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, and presentation skills with the ability to influence and guide both team members and clients.
• Collaboration: Strong cross-functional collaboration skills with proven ability to work effectively with marketing, product, implementation, and customer success teams.
• Technology Proficiency: Proficiency with CRM software and modern sales tools, with ability to leverage technology for pipeline management and forecasting.
• Travel Commitment: Ability and willingness to travel in excess of 50% to meet with prospects and customers across the Southern California territory.

Why Join Accela

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced enterprise sales leader ready to step into a director-level role with significant territory ownership. You'll work for a company focused on government and public sector solutions, with a meaningful product that impacts how municipalities and agencies operate. The position offers the autonomy to build your own strategy while having support from a cross-functional regional team.

Remote-based flexibility combined with territory focus gives you control over your schedule while maintaining the face-to-face relationships critical to enterprise sales success. The leadership opportunity to guide Account Executives provides a pathway for those interested in sales management and growing within an organization.

💰 Compensation not publicly listed. Market estimate for similar roles: from $200K, varying by experience and location.