Customer Account Manager – SLED

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California.

📋 Description

• Oversee the post-implementation customer relationships, recurring revenue strategies, and customer continuity for large and complex Public Sector and Education accounts.

• Cultivate and sustain operational, commercial, and executive relationships with Public Sector and Education clients and account teams.

• Create multi-year account, renewal, and network strategies based on customer priorities, service requirements, contract status, funding cycles, procurement schedules, competitive risks, and financial exposure.

• Be responsible for revenue protection, churn management, renewal execution, and expansion strategies for assigned accounts.

• Lead intricate multi-service, multi-location, and multi-year renewals, as well as RFP/RFQ responses and executive business reviews.

• Formulate and implement customer strategies that align with E-rate funding cycles, eligible service categories, RFP timelines, budget cycles, and procurement requirements.

• Identify and promote growth opportunities in collaboration with Sales by understanding infrastructure needs, funding availability, procurement processes, technology initiatives, and service expansion opportunities.

• Navigate state contract vehicles, cooperative purchasing programs, education consortiums, and other public-sector procurement methods.

• Manage churn forecasts and mitigation plans while balancing customer outcomes, pricing discipline, contract terms, margins, capital recovery, and long-term account value.

• Develop and negotiate strategies for save, replacement, portability, migration, network redesign, relocation, decommissioning, and contract restructuring.

• Provide senior-level commercial judgment on credits, ETL, portability, contract exceptions, rate increases, renewal pricing, and revenue treatment.

• Coordinate customer requirements and decisions across Sales, Sales Engineering, Finance, Billing, Legal, Deal Management, Service Assurance, Service Delivery, Product, and Operations.

• Counsel customers on Zayo services and their alignment with Public Sector and Education requirements, procurement processes, and funding programs.

• Monitor funding, procurement, and market conditions, translating changes into actionable account strategies.

• Lead customer business reviews and executive engagements focused on service performance, business priorities, procurement readiness, funding opportunities, and future network requirements.

• Mentor less-experienced CAMs and contribute to renewal playbooks, training, negotiation practices, and operational standards.

⛳️ Requirements

• Typically requires 6+ years of experience in Customer Retention, Strategic Account Management, Client Services, Sales, or a similar customer-facing position; senior roles generally require 8+ years.

• Proven success in managing large, complex SLED accounts, including public-sector, government, education, K-12, higher education, or similarly procurement-intensive organizations.

• Demonstrated experience in handling complex, strategic, or high-revenue customer relationships with multiple stakeholders and prolonged buying cycles.

• Established expertise in the E-rate program, encompassing E-rate funding cycles, eligible service categories, application timelines, and associated procurement requirements.

• Strong grasp of SLED procurement processes, including RFP/RFQ development, formal bidding procedures, state contract vehicles, cooperative purchasing programs, and education consortiums.

• Familiarity with state and local government purchasing environments and intricate procurement, contracting, budgeting, and approval processes.

• Advanced experience in renewals, retention, commercial negotiations, RFP/RFQ responses, contract execution, and revenue preservation.

• Solid understanding of churn, gross and net revenue retention, renewal performance, discount performance, and recurring revenue management.

• Significant telecommunications/digital infrastructure experience preferred.

• Exceptional executive-level communication, presentation, negotiation, and facilitation skills.

• Strong analytical, organizational, project management, and problem-solving abilities.

• Capability to manage complex timelines and multiple competing priorities.

• Ability to collaborate effectively across Sales, Sales Engineering, Finance, Legal, Operations, Service Delivery, Product, and other cross-functional teams.

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Business, Sales, Public Administration, Education, or a related field is preferred.

• Willingness and ability to travel based on customer and business needs.

🏝️ Benefits

• Non-sales positions may qualify for participation in a discretionary annual incentive plan.

• Sales positions may be eligible for a sales incentive plan.

• Health insurance coverage.

• Life insurance options.

• Disability retirement plans.

• Paid time off benefits.

• Comprehensive Health, Dental & Vision Insurance.

• Retirement 401(k) Savings Plan.

• Generous paid time off policy, including paid parental leave.

• Reasonable accommodations during the employment selection process.

• Equal employment opportunity and protections for protected groups.