Available now · Open to relocation
Chief Revenue Officer · SVP / EVP Sales

Ran the network.
Then sold to it.

Revenue run as a P&L, not a quota.

Seasoned executive scaling carrier and telecom revenue on both sides of the network, from running it as an operator to selling to it as a vendor. Full P&L ownership to a $260M peak. Two-time Global Sales Leader of the Year.

MBAPMPKellogg AI Certificate
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Derek T. Newbern
Track record across Nokia Spirent Keysight T-Mobile Sprint US Cellular Google CellularONE
$260M
Peak P&L owned
Nokia T-Mobile software segment
$48M
Peak P&L owned
Spirent accounts
2x
Global Sales Leader of the Year
Nokia 2018 · Spirent 2024
50+
Global team led
direct and indirect
The Difference

Three things a pure sales leader can't claim.

Carrying the number is table stakes. The differentiator is owning the whole P&L behind it: pricing, margin, forecast, delivery, and the team that grows it.

01

Own the full P&L

Pricing, margin, forecast, and delivery, not just quota attainment. Running the business behind the revenue and growing it year over year.

$260M peak P&LForecast to delivery
02

Build the team

President's Club performers and future leaders developed every year. Selected for high-potential leadership cohorts across more than a decade.

President's Club, every year50+ global team led
03

Grow through partnership

Growth comes from customer outcomes and solution selling, built on real understanding of the network and the operator's business, not from displacing the competition.

Solution / value / outcomeCxO relationships
Track Record

Where the number moved.

Three transformations across the operator and vendor sides of telecom. Every number below reflects direct ownership, not a team total.

01

Built the T-Mobile software business at Nokia

Nokia · Vice President, Nokia Software · 2007–2019

Led the Core business as VP on the T-Mobile account, growing it from $10M to $100M. After Nokia's acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, took over the combined Nokia Software business and grew it from $100M to a $260M peak, navigating a complex post-acquisition sales environment. Directed a 50+ person team, direct and indirect, across strategy, sales, services, and delivery for cloud, security, network management, and 5G core. This sat inside the broader team account that grew from $300M to over $4B. Named Nokia Global Software Sales Leader of the Year in 2018.

$10M→$260M
Peak P&L · Core to Software
02

Tripled the Spirent P&L through a GTM rebuild

Spirent, now Keysight · VP, Client Partner Executive · 2019–2026

Grew the P&L from $15M to a $48M peak, averaging $35M a year, across T-Mobile, Sprint, US Cellular, and roughly a dozen device and OEM accounts including Google, Samsung, and Motorola. Redefined the go-to-market from the lab to the live network across active service assurance, automation, application security, and UE validation. Named Spirent Global Sales Leader of the Year in 2024.

$15M→$48M
Peak P&L · $35M avg
03

Ran the network before selling to it

Dobson / CellularONE · Cell Site Tech to Director, Network Operations · 1998–2007

Came up on the operator side, from cell site technician to Director of Network Operations running field operations across five states with full CAPEX and OPEX budget responsibility. Drove dropped-call rate from 2.5% to an all-time low of 1.1%. That is why carriers get a partner who has carried the pager, not an outsider.

2.5%→1.1%
Dropped-call rate
Recognition

Backed by the company, on the record.

Derek Newbern on stage receiving Spirent Global Sales Leader of the Year at the 2025 Global Sales Meeting
Spirent Global Sales Leader of the Year · 2025 Global Sales Meeting
Derek Newbern and team receiving Nokia's President's Award check on stage, 2019
Nokia President's Award · Nokia Software's first $100M deal · 2018
Derek Newbern receiving the Nokia Global Software Sales Leader of the Year award on stage, 2019
Nokia Global Software Sales Leader of the Year · 2018
Outlook

People still close the deal. AI clears the path.

Revenue at this level is won by people: CxO trust, disciplined execution, teams that believe in the plan. AI does not replace that. Used well, it clears manual work out of the way, research, forecasting, prep, so the team spends more time on what actually moves revenue. A Kellogg AI certificate backs a practitioner's view of where it helps and where it does not.

// 01

Leadership and trust still close deals

No tool replaces a leader teams believe in or a CxO relationship built over years. That stays the foundation, the same one behind the Nokia and Spirent track record.

// 02

AI's job is to clear the path, not lead it

The research, the forecast, the account plan, the prep behind every meeting: AI strips the manual work out so the team spends more time with the customer, not with the busywork.

// 03

Fewer tasks, better decisions is the only bar that matters

Not a demo, not a buzzword. The measure is a team that moves faster because the grind is gone and the thinking is sharper, freeing people to do the work only people can do.

Operating Principles

Four principles behind the number.

Character that holds up under pressure, on and off the clock: a Team Rubicon disaster-response volunteer, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt under a world champion, and an FCC-licensed amateur radio operator. The same discipline goes into building revenue teams.

// Builder mentality

Scale it, don't just maintain it

Every number on this page started smaller. Take a function, build the strategy, pricing, and team to grow it, then do it again.

// Customer partnership

Growth comes from understanding the customer's business

Lead with the operator's outcomes, network, and economics. Trust at the CxO level compounds into multi-year revenue, not one-off wins.

// Team development

The team is the product

A year is measured by how many people made President's Club and how many grew into bigger roles. Contributors developed every year.

// Operating discipline

Discipline under the relationships

Solution, value, and outcome selling, backed by disciplined qualification and forecast accuracy. The rigor sits under the relationship, it does not replace it.

Open To

The next role.

Senior revenue leadership where the mandate is to build and scale, not to defend a flat number.

SVP / EVP Sales

Lead a sales organization through a growth or transformation phase. Strong fit for PE-backed environments with a clear scale mandate.

Primary target

Chief Revenue Officer

Full revenue ownership across sales, GTM, and post-sale. Telecom, networking, cloud, or security businesses where operator and vendor experience is a direct advantage.

Strong fit

Building or scaling a revenue org? Let's talk.

If you need leadership that owns the P&L and builds the team to grow it, reach out.