Customer Account Manager – SLED

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

📋 Description

• Oversee the post-implementation customer relationship, recurring revenue strategy, and customer continuity for large and intricate Public Sector and Education accounts.

• Establish and nurture operational, commercial, and executive relationships with Public Sector and Education clients and account teams.

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

• Take responsibility for revenue protection, churn management, renewal execution, and expansion strategies for designated accounts.

• Manage complex, multi-service, multi-location, or multi-year renewals, RFP/RFQ submissions, and executive business reviews.

• Create and implement customer strategies aligned with E-rate funding cycles, eligible service categories, RFP timelines, budget cycles, and procurement needs.

• Identify and promote growth opportunities with Sales by understanding customer infrastructure needs, funding availability, upcoming procurements, technology initiatives, and service expansion possibilities.

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

• Oversee churn forecasts and mitigation strategies while balancing customer outcomes with pricing discipline, contract terms, margin, capital recovery, and long-term account value.

• Design and negotiate save, replacement, portability, migration, network redesign, relocation, decommission, and contract-restructuring strategies.

• Provide senior commercial insight 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.

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

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

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

• Mentor junior 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 role; senior positions usually need 8+ years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Significant experience in telecommunications/digital infrastructure is preferred.

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

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

• Capacity 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

• Health insurance

• Life insurance

• Disability retirement plans

• Paid time off

• Excellent Health, Dental & Vision Insurance

• Retirement 401(k) Savings Plan

• Generous paid time off policy including paid parental leave

• Discretionary annual incentive plan eligibility for non-sales roles

• Sales incentive plan eligibility for sales roles