Strategic Account Director

October 31, 2026

Other Jobs To Apply

No other job posts for this day.

Job Description Join us at Zendesk, where we’re on a mission to power exceptional service for every person on the planet. We’re building products rooted in AI, automation, and intelligent customer experiences, because behind every interaction lies an opportunity to make a human connection. We’re looking for a Strategic Account Director to win new business with large enterprises across industries. You’ll build trusted relationships with executive buyers, connect their priorities to Zendesk’s service and AI solutions, and guide complex opportunities from first conversation through close. You’ll help grow our enterprise customer base and make a clear, thoughtful handoff to the post-sale team. What You’ll Be Doing <ul><li>Build and manage qualified pipeline through targeted prospecting, inbound opportunities, partner relationships, and territory planning.</li><li>Lead complex sales from discovery and qualification through business case, proposal, negotiation, and close.</li><li>Connect customer goals and service challenges to a credible Zendesk platform and AI solution, with measurable outcomes.</li><li>Build relationships across executive, business, technical, finance, security, and procurement teams.</li><li>Own pursuit strategy, deal progression, and commercial decisions within approved guidelines.</li><li>Bring together Solution Engineers, Product Specialists, Marketing, SDR/BDR teams, partners, and leaders to advance opportunities.</li><li>Maintain accurate CRM records and forecasts, surface risks early, and keep buyers aligned on next steps.</li><li>Document customer goals, commitments, and success conditions to support a smooth handoff and share market insights with internal teams. </li></ul>What You Bring To The Role <ul><li>A strong new-business mindset and the discipline to create demand through thoughtful, consistent prospecting.</li><li>A consultative approach to discovery that uncovers business problems, urgency, stakeholders, and measurable outcomes.</li><li>The ability to earn trust and guide decisions across executive and cross-functional buying groups.</li><li>Commercial judgment to build business cases, manage deal economics, negotiate, and qualify opportunities honestly.</li><li>Strong operating habits: accurate forecasting, clear next steps, early risk visibility, and reliable follow-through.</li><li>Clear communication that makes complex platform and AI value understandable to business and technical audiences.</li><li>A collaborative approach to leading specialists and sharing customer and market insight across teams. </li></ul>Basic Qualifications <ul><li>Typically 12+ years of related experience, with demonstrated success in complex B2B SaaS sales.</li><li>A record of owning new-business opportunities and delivering measurable commercial outcomes, such as quota attainment, new ARR, or equivalent growth results.</li><li>Experience with prospecting, value-based discovery, executive engagement, and complex deal ownership.</li><li>Ability to discuss AI, automation, and platform value credibly, and to involve specialists when deeper technical expertise is needed.</li><li>Equivalent practical experience is welcome; no specific degree is required. </li></ul>Preferred Qualifications <ul><li>Repeated success closing large, complex net-new enterprise deals.</li><li>Experience creating demand and shaping account or market strategy for high-value prospects.</li><li>Strength in ROI storytelling, competitive positioning, and guiding multi-stakeholder buying decisions.</li><li>Experience partnering with channel or ecosystem partners and cross-functional sales teams.</li><li>Familiarity with service operations, customer experience, or AI-enabled business transformation. </li></ul>AI literacy You’ll use approved AI tools to improve account research, preparation, follow-through, and synthesis of customer and market signals while protecting confidential information. You should be comfortable discussing AI opportunities in terms of customer outcomes, adoption, security, governance, and implementation readiness—and be clear about where human judgment and specialist expertise matter. What Makes This Role Distinctive You’ll help enterprise customers turn service challenges into a clear case for change. The role combines disciplined new-business selling with the judgment to make an AI-powered future state credible to executive buyers. The Intelligent Heart Of Customer Experience Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love. Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law. Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here. Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.

Back to blog

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...