Account Executive - Bristol

Location: Bristol, (5 days on-site) 
Salary: £45k - £60k OTE

👋 I'm Claire, VP of Sales at Zen Educate ...and I'm looking for Account Executives who want to take on a big challenge: helping schools save millions by changing how they hire, vet, upskill and retain their teaching staff.

If you love winning new business, closing deals, and making a genuine difference in education, this might be the perfect next step for you.

🌍 What we're building (and why it matters)

At Zen, we're a certified B Corp transforming how schools and educators connect, because every student deserves consistent access to excellent teaching. Zen Educate is a digital staffing platform matching teachers, teaching assistants, special education support staff, substitute and supply teachers, early years educators, and wider school support staff with the schools that need them. By replacing traditional agency intermediaries with smart matching technology, we charge roughly half the typical agency fee, so educators earn more and schools save money.

Getting the right staff into a classroom is what makes everything else possible. Whether it's a Year 1 teacher to greet their class each morning or a teaching assistant to support a pupil through the school day, Zen helps schools find the right educators faster without breaking the bank. School leaders can search, book, and manage staff in real time, with full visibility and control over their spend and compliance.

Now we're growing our New Business team, and we need salespeople who can win new schools and get them up and running with Zen.

💼 What this role looks like day-to-day

This isn't your typical "call some leads and move on" kind of sales job. As an Account Executive, you'll be the engine of our new business growth. Your focus is on two things: winning new schools, and getting them fully up and running on Zen.

Here's what your week might look like:

• Run a discovery call with a Headteacher about moving their supply spend to Zen.

• Visit a school to demo our Zen+ platform and show how it can save them time and money.

• Bring a new school on board and guide them through their first steps with Zen.

• Check in with a recently signed school to make sure nothing is blocking them from going fully live.

• Run targeted outreach to a shortlist of high-priority schools in your region.

• Share feedback with our Product team on what schools love (and what we can improve).

It's fast-paced, hands-on, and full of variety. You'll be a key part of shaping how we grow.

🙌 Who you are

You don't need to have worked in education before, we'll teach you that. But we think you'll thrive if you're:

• A natural closer who loves turning warm conversations into signed, active partnerships.

• Experienced in B2B or SaaS sales, ideally in a closing role.

• Someone who enjoys picking up the phone, getting creative with outreach, and building genuine connections.

• Strategic and commercially minded, you can see both the mission and the numbers.

• Confident presenting to senior decision-makers and managing multiple stakeholders.

• A self-starter who loves autonomy but knows when to collaborate.

• Passionate about doing work that actually matters.

💡 What you might like (and what might not be your thing)

✅ You might love this role if:

• You want to combine serious commercial impact with a meaningful mission.

• You like selling products that make a tangible difference to people's lives.

• You love the buzz of winning new business and seeing your results stack up.

• You thrive in fast-paced, scaling environments where things are always improving.

🤔 You might find it tricky if:

• You prefer a highly structured corporate environment with set processes.

• You're not comfortable leading sales conversations face to face and over the phone.

• You'd rather manage long-term accounts than win new ones.

• You want every week to look the same, this role evolves constantly.

🎁 What's in it for you

• Competitive salary + ownership in the company.
• 25 days holiday + all the usual UK public holidays.
• Meaningful work - this isn’t just another SaaS tool; you’re literally helping schools save money and pay teachers more.
• 1-1 coaching to keep you growing personally and professionally.
• Life & Health Insurance, Cycle to Work Scheme, Electric Car Scheme.
• Join a certified B Corp: where your work creates a real, positive impact.

🌱 How we hire

We like to move quickly and keep things simple:

1. Intro chat - A short conversation with our recruiter.

2. Sales interview - Let's talk about your approach to discovery, objection handling, and closing.

3. Practical task & role play - Show us how you'd run a realistic school meeting.

4. Culture chat - Meet the wider team and make sure it's a great fit both ways.

If it's a yes, we'll let you know fast, no endless waiting around.

💜 Diversity & inclusion

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds, and different experiences and perspectives, just like the staff who teach through Zen and the children at the schools we work with. We believe in hiring the best people from the widest pool and creating an inclusive atmosphere with a culture where people's voices are heard and all our team can look forward to coming to work. We value and respect all differences in all people (seen and unseen). We believe in an environment with equal access to career development opportunities and actively encourage applications from BAME candidates.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during your interview process with us, please do let us know.

Please note before applying: This role is based full-time at our Bristol office and requires onsite attendance five days per week during term time. We encourage applications from candidates who live in or near the local area of this office, or plan on relocating.

Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that we are unable to provide individual feedback on initial submissions.