Synopsys Inc is the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products. The Academic Account Manager will lead academic sales across North America, managing university relationships and coaching a distributed team of Regional Managers to enhance their performance and drive successful partnerships with academic institutions.
Responsibilities:
- Lead academic account strategy across North America, managing a portfolio of university relationships while coaching and supporting a distributed team of Regional Managers
- Step into complex deals and renewals when your team needs senior support, whether that means negotiating with procurement, reframing value with a dean, or unsticking a multi-year agreement
- Identify market trends and emerging opportunities across your region by synthesizing feedback from your team, then turn those insights into coordinated plays that the whole team can execute
- Plan regional coverage for conferences, student competitions, and university events to maximize team presence, optimize travel budgets, and ensure we show up where it matters
- Coach Regional Managers in real time on deal strategy, stakeholder management, and positioning, helping them level up their skills while increasing win rates
- Connect cross-region opportunities like multi-university research consortia or national lab partnerships, ensuring we coordinate across teams and do not leave value on the table
- Build and maintain relationships with key academic stakeholders including department chairs, research administrators, and university leadership to position Synopsys as a long-term strategic partner
Requirements:
- 7+ years in academic sales, university partnerships, or education technology sales with a proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder deals
- Experience leading or coaching a sales team, whether formally or informally, you have been the person others come to for deal strategy and you know how to make them better
- Deep understanding of how universities buy, including procurement processes, budget cycles, faculty influence, and the difference between departmental and institutional decision-making
- Demonstrated ability to negotiate complex agreements that balance pricing, adoption goals, and long-term strategic value for both sides
- Comfort working across a large geographic territory, managing your own accounts while supporting a distributed team and coordinating regional activity
- Experience with CRM tools like Salesforce for pipeline management, forecasting, and activity tracking
- Willingness to travel regularly across North America for customer meetings, conferences, and team collaboration, approximately 40-50% travel expected