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Head of SLED (State, Local & Education)

IBM

Texas City, TX, USA · California, USA

Posted on Oct 16, 2025

Introduction

At IBM, work is more than a job - it's a calling: To build. To design. To code. To consult. To think along with clients and sell. To make markets. To invent. To collaborate. Not just to do something better, but to attempt things you've never thought possible. Are you ready to lead in this new era of technology and solve some of the world's most challenging problems? If so, lets talk.

Your role and responsibilities

Hakkoda is seeking an experienced Sales and Practice leader to lead and grow our SLED practice. In this role, you will oversee consulting engagements, drive business development and sales, and ensure the successful delivery of data and analytics solutions to public sector and higher education clients. You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including sales, delivery, and engineering, to expand our footprint in the SLED market while ensuring client success.

Key Responsibilities

Practice Leadership & Strategy

● Define and execute the strategic vision for the SLED consulting practice, aligning with company goals.

● Identify market opportunities, develop go-to-market strategies, and drive growth in the SLED sector.

● Establish best practices, methodologies, and frameworks tailored to public sector and higher education clients.

● Identify, recruit, and support the hiring process for account executives and delivery consultants to support the growth of Hakkoda’s SLED practice.

Business Development & Client Engagement

● Build and nurture relationships with SLED stakeholders, including government agencies and higher education institutions.

● Manage and maintain relationships with the Snowflake SLED leadership team, account executives, and sales engineers.

● Develop relationships with IBM SLED sales and delivery leadership teams to drive growth and account development with existing and new IBM clients.

● Lead proposal development, contract negotiations, and pricing strategies for SLED opportunities.

● Collaborate with Hakoda and IBM sales and marketing teams to drive pipeline growth and brand awareness in the SLED space.

Delivery & Operational Excellence

● Oversee consulting engagements to ensure high-quality, on-time, and on-budget delivery.

● Act as an escalation point for client issues, ensuring swift resolution and client satisfaction.

● Mentor and develop a high-performing consulting team focused on SLED projects.

Thought Leadership & Industry Expertise

● Stay ahead of SLED trends, regulations, and emerging technologies (e.g., cloud, AI, analytics).

● Represent the company at industry events, conferences, and forums as a SLED subject matter expert.

● Contribute to whitepapers, case studies, and marketing materials that showcase our SLED capabilities

As of April 2025, Hakkoda has been acquired by IBM and will be integrated in the IBM organization. Your recruitment process will be managed by IBM. IBM will be the hiring entity.

This role can be performed from anywhere in the US.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

● 10+ years of experience in consulting, professional services, or technology leadership, with a focus on State & Local Government and/or Higher Education (SLED).

● Proven track record of growing a consulting practice in the public sector or education space.

● Strong understanding of data, analytics, and cloud technologies (e.g., Snowflake, AWS, Azure, Tableau).

● Experience managing multi-million-dollar engagements and leading cross-functional teams.

● Exceptional business development, client management, and executive stakeholder engagement skills.

● Ability to travel as needed (up to 30%).

.

ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT

IBM Consulting is IBM’s consulting and global professional services business, with market leading capabilities in business and technology transformation. With deep expertise in many industries, we offer strategy, experience, technology, and operations services to many of the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Our people are focused on accelerating our clients’ businesses through the power of collaboration. We believe in the power of technology responsibly used to help people, partners and the planet.

YOUR LIFE @ IBM

In a world where technology never stands still, we understand that, dedication to our clients success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all our relationships, lives in what we do as IBMers as we strive to be the catalyst that makes the world work better.

Being an IBMer means you’ll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you’ll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.

Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.

Are you ready to be an IBMer?

ABOUT IBM

IBM’s greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.

Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we’re also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.

At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it’s time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.

IBM is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, or other characteristics protected by the applicable law. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.

OTHER RELEVANT JOB DETAILS

IBM will not be providing visa sponsorship for this position now or in the future. Therefore, in order to be considered for this position, you must have the ability to work without a need for current or future visa sponsorship.

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