Global Account Director

Certara is a growing company that provides a dynamic and exciting place to work. Our purpose is to assist in accelerating the development of meaningful medicines that make an impact on our society and the people that need them most. Innovation and creativity are highly valued, and everyone is given the opportunity for training and continuous development. Our portfolio spans the discovery, preclinical, clinical and post-marketing phases of drug development, working with 1,200 commercial companies, 250 academic institutions, and numerous regulatory agencies.

Certara is hiring a Global Account Director (GAD) to manage select global accounts. The GAD will be part of the commercial organization and will drive growth across all Certara’s software solutions and services offerings. The GAD will manage select accounts globally. We view the GAD as the “Commercial Quarterback” on the account in an end-to-end global context.

The GAD will be responsible for managing and orchestrating all customer-facing activities within the assigned global accounts (typically 1 to 3 accounts) who are amongst the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies. In this role, you will engage and drive a Certara wide engagement team of portfolio teams and subject matter experts (SME). The GAD is required to maintain a global account plan for the assigned accounts to guide commercial growth efforts for new and renewal business.

We will expect you to build and maintain a thorough understanding of Certara software (e.g., Simcyp, Phoenix, Pinnacle 21) and services offerings (e.g., QSP, PBPK, PMX, HEOR) and understand how to position and co-sell software and services as solutions. Your target will be to grow each assigned global account year over year, by selling all Certara software solutions and services to help your account transform their drug discovery and development processes.

The role requires extensive industry knowledge which involves understanding the competitive landscape, account and key stakeholder management, ability to uncover key customer requirements and opportunities, turning those into commercial signed and contracted business. The role will require commercial acumen, strategic consultative thinking and collaborative leadership skills to coordinate across the broader Certara team, including Marketing, Product, Delivery, Client Success, and other Commercial colleagues.

The ideal candidate for this position will possess a strong sales track record in software and services sales within the biopharmaceutical industry, and a strong growth and collaborative mindset utilizing consultative sales methodologies. Extensive use of applications like Salesforce CRM and other modern selling solutions is vital.

You will build and orchestrate a virtual global team for each assigned account to develop, coordinate, and implement plans designed to develop and increase existing and new business. As part of the sales engagement(s), the virtual team will assist you in opportunity identification, account planning, solution strategy and deal execution. You must be intimately aware of organizational growth initiatives related to the life science market and customer contacts, as well as Certara’s potential to meet customer needs with software solutions and services.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish multiple-level contacts within assigned accounts by presenting to, consulting with, and cultivating relationships at all influencers levels including C-level executives.
• Qualify assigned accounts and contacts to understand strategic needs and challenges and translate these into pipeline and solutions.
• Execute on the defined account tactics and shape each engagement towards long-term, strategic partnerships.
• Understand organizational power structures, decision-making processes, and global and local buying dynamics across the buyer organization.
• Expand account pipeline, whitespace coverage, and bookings through on-account business development, lead conversion, and collaboration with Marketing on account based marketing strategies. Lead account specific solution strategies and contribute to the RFP/RFI response and proposal process, developing appropriate value-based win strategies based on your knowledge of the account.
• Support implementation of governance models between Certara and strategic customers (e.g., executive sponsorship, joint steering committees).
• Create and manage strategic global account plans to drive growth across software and services.
• Lead and participate in Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR’s) to review performance and define next steps in account expansion. Represent Certara at scientific and industry events to build credibility and strengthen senior relationships within named accounts.
• Document communication and discussions and all opportunity details in Certara CRM to ensure a tracked record of existing activities, and/or future next steps required. Maintaining strong data cleanliness.
• Provide accurate forecasting and other analysis as required during weekly territory forecast calls.
• Meet/exceed sales quota on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.

• 10+ years as a Senior Sales Account Manager, preferably selling enterprise B2B software and service solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree required while a Master’s degree preferred and/or equivalent years of relevant and applicable experience.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Strong consultative selling skills and executive engagement skills are required in addition to proven and relevant industry sales experience.
• Strong strategic thinking skills but with a strong attention to detail also.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to multi-task and set priorities
• Ability to work in a high energy but specialized commercial team matrix environment
• Understanding of the R&D enterprise software industry landscape is preferred.
• Strong collaboration and indirect leadership skills are essential.

Certara bases all employment-related decision on merit, taking into consideration qualifications, skills, achievement, and performance. We treat all applicants and employees without regard to personal characteristics such as race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, nationality, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental condition, genetic information, military service, or other characteristic protected by law.