Account Executive II - Forward Deployed

Own expansion and modernization across a portfolio of complex, high-profile Regional Enterprise accounts by connecting customer priorities to measurable outcomes enabled by network, cloud, security, managed services, and related technology solutions. You independently plan the account approach, create demand, shape commercial outcomes, and lead cross-functional pursuit teams without formal authority. Your deep understanding of customer business and financial priorities, market context, and relevant solutions makes you a trusted specialist who develops customers’ and colleagues’ understanding.

• 6+ years of complex B2B sales experience, or equivalent evidence of capability, with sustained success growing existing customer relationships and achieving sales goals. • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience; practical experience with AI-enabled sales tools is preferred. • Experience owning complex or high-profile accounts and advancing multi-stakeholder technology opportunities from discovery through negotiation and close. • Deep expertise in one or more relevant domains, such as customer business and financial drivers, networking, cloud, security, managed services, or enterprise technology sales. • Demonstrated judgment and discretion in structuring and negotiating product, service, pricing, or commercial terms with senior customer stakeholders. • Ability to plan account strategy independently, influence colleagues’ approaches, and lead cross-functional teams without formal authority. • Strong executive communication, business-case development, forecasting, pipeline management, and CRM discipline.

The Role Own expansion and modernization across a portfolio of complex, high-profile Regional Enterprise accounts by connecting customer priorities to measurable outcomes enabled by network, cloud, security, managed services, and related technology solutions. You independently plan the account approach, create demand, shape commercial outcomes, and lead cross-functional pursuit teams without formal authority. Your deep understanding of customer business and financial priorities, market context, and relevant solutions makes you a trusted specialist who develops customers’ and colleagues’ understanding. Main Responsibilities Own account strategy and create demand • Own and execute account strategies for complex or high-profile Regional Enterprise customers, including accounts with significant revenue, broad geographic reach, and diverse needs. • Analyze each customer’s business model, financial priorities, operating challenges, technology environment, and buying signals to identify whitespace, stakeholders, use cases, and funding paths. • Build qualified expansion pipeline through executive relationships, proactive discovery, account intelligence, partners, marketing, and focused prospecting. • Prioritize opportunities and resources based on customer value, solution fit, competitive dynamics, risk, and revenue potential; provide input that improves colleagues’ account approaches. Shape decisions and solutions • Lead consultative discovery with executive, business, technical, operational, and financial stakeholders to define desired outcomes, value at stake, decision criteria, and urgency. • Translate customer needs into outcome-based solution narratives and quantified business cases addressing value, investment, implementation considerations, risk, and cost of inaction. • Serve as a recognized expert in one or more business, sales, product, or service areas; develop customer and colleague understanding through informed points of view and best practices. • Direct and coordinate Solutions Engineering, Customer Success, Product, Delivery, Marketing, channel, and partner resources around clear customer and commercial objectives. Lead commercial outcomes • Own expansion opportunities through qualification, solution validation, proposal, negotiation, close, and transition to activation. • Exercise broad authority and moderate-to-considerable discretion, within company governance, to shape and negotiate product, service, pricing, and commercial terms with senior customer stakeholders. • Establish mutual action plans, stakeholder commitments, milestones, and next steps; identify customer risk, competitive threats, and dependencies early. • Lead small-to-medium cross-functional pursuit teams without supervisory authority and hold contributors accountable for agreed actions and customer outcomes. Operate with discipline and sound judgment • Maintain rigorous account plans, stakeholder maps, pipeline coverage, qualification, forecasts, next steps, and CRM records. • Use AI, agents, and automated workflows to improve research, prioritization, meeting preparation, follow-through, and opportunity management; validate outputs and apply sound judgment. • Share customer and market insight, coach peers on proven practices, and help improve sales execution and solution fit. Qualifications • 6+ years of complex B2B sales experience, or equivalent evidence of capability, with sustained success growing existing customer relationships and achieving sales goals. • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience; practical experience with AI-enabled sales tools is preferred. • Experience owning complex or high-profile accounts and advancing multi-stakeholder technology opportunities from discovery through negotiation and close. • Deep expertise in one or more relevant domains, such as customer business and financial drivers, networking, cloud, security, managed services, or enterprise technology sales. • Demonstrated judgment and discretion in structuring and negotiating product, service, pricing, or commercial terms with senior customer stakeholders. • Ability to plan account strategy independently, influence colleagues’ approaches, and lead cross-functional teams without formal authority. • Strong executive communication, business-case development, forecasting, pipeline management, and CRM discipline. ABOUT ALKIRA Alkira, a Lumen company, is building the future of enterprise networking: one programmable platform to connect, secure, and operate every cloud, site, partner, data center, and AI workload. Founded by Amir and Atif Khan, the creators of Viptela and pioneers of the SD-WAN market, Alkira was built to radically simplify how enterprises deploy and manage network infrastructure. Today, as part of Lumen, we are bringing that cloud-native operating model to a global network foundation trusted by the world’s largest enterprises. Our platform helps customers move faster without managing hardware, stitching together providers, or operating fragmented cloud networks. Teams can build and scale connectivity on demand, apply consistent security and segmentation, and gain visibility across distributed environments from one place. At Alkira, you’ll help shape the next chapter of networking: cloud-like consumption, private-network performance, and total control across the enterprise. We move fast, solve hard problems, and build technology that changes how global businesses connect. Join us and help build the future of networking. COMPENSATION This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors. Location Based Pay Ranges: $109,649 - $146,192 in these states: AZ UT $115,133 - $153,507 in these states: CO NV OR $120,617 - $160,812 in these states: CA TX WA Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solutio