Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Sales

💰 $ - $

SalesLeadershipManagement

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Sales is a senior commercial leader accountable for defining and executing the sales strategy to achieve revenue, margin, and market-share targets. This role leads a team of sales managers and individual contributors across named accounts, territories, or verticals; partners cross-functionally with marketing, product, finance, and customer success; and builds the processes, tools, and coaching needed to scale repeatable revenue. The Director of Sales owns forecasting, quota attainment, pipeline health, and the sales operations needed to support sustained growth in enterprise, mid-market, or SMB segments.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Account Executive or Enterprise Account Executive
  • Regional Sales Manager or Area Sales Manager
  • Head of Business Development

Advancement To:

  • Vice President of Sales
  • Senior VP / Head of Revenue
  • Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Lateral Moves:

  • Head of Customer Success
  • Director of Partnerships / Channel Sales

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and execute a comprehensive sales strategy aligned with company revenue targets, market opportunity, and product roadmap, using data-driven planning and cross-functional alignment to hit quarterly and annual bookings goals.
  • Own full-funnel pipeline management for assigned regions and segments, ensuring robust lead-to-close conversion, accurate stage gating, and visibility into deal velocity and risk mitigation.
  • Build, coach, and scale a high-performing sales organization by recruiting top talent, implementing structured onboarding, delivering regular 1:1 coaching, and driving a performance culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
  • Establish and manage quota setting, territory design, compensation plans, and incentive programs that motivate the team, optimize coverage, and drive profitable growth while maintaining alignment with finance and HR.
  • Produce reliable, auditable sales forecasts and KPI reporting (ARR, MRR, churn impact, win rate, average deal size) and deliver weekly/monthly/quarterly updates to the executive team with actionable insights and remediation plans.
  • Design and operationalize go-to-market (GTM) motions for new products, market expansions, and channel initiatives, collaborating closely with marketing, product, and operations to maximize launch effectiveness and adoption.
  • Lead complex contract negotiations and deal structuring with enterprise customers, ensuring alignment with legal, finance, and product on pricing, commercial terms, and acceptable risk profiles.
  • Implement and optimize CRM processes and playbooks (Salesforce or equivalent) to maintain pipeline hygiene, improve forecasting accuracy, and enable repeatable sales execution across the team.
  • Identify and cultivate strategic partnerships and channel relationships to expand distribution, accelerate market penetration, and create joint GTM motions with partners and resellers.
  • Drive account-based selling strategies for named accounts and enterprise targets, coordinating cross-functional resources (solutions engineers, customer success, marketing) to deliver high-touch, value-based selling experiences.
  • Monitor competitive dynamics and market trends, translate insights into differentiated sales messaging, and enable the team with objection handling and competitive positioning materials.
  • Lead pricing, discounting, and deal approval processes in partnership with finance to protect margin, manage deal exceptions, and ensure legal/compliance standards are upheld.
  • Create and manage regional and segment P&L responsibility where applicable, including revenue attainment, operating expense control, and ROI on sales investments.
  • Champion customer-centric selling by partnering with customer success and product teams to reduce churn, drive renewals, and accelerate expansion opportunities within existing accounts.
  • Build scalable sales enablement programs including onboarding curricula, playbooks, objection frameworks, demo/case-study libraries, and recurring training to raise ramp speed and quota attainment.
  • Drive adoption of sales technology and analytics (Salesforce, Gainsight, Tableau, HubSpot, Gong/Chorus) to improve rep productivity, coaching efficacy, and decision-making across the sales organization.
  • Implement metrics-driven performance management: set OKRs, run quarterly business reviews, enforce clear consequence structures for underperformance, and celebrate wins to sustain morale and retention.
  • Manage cross-functional initiatives (pricing changes, product launches, major RFP pursuits) and act as the primary commercial owner for enterprise deals that require executive sponsorship.
  • Establish and nurture a scalable hiring pipeline: develop campus recruiting, referral programs, and external bench strength to meet growth plans and minimize time-to-hire for key sales roles.
  • Drive continuous improvement in sales processes through A/B testing of cadences, email templates, pricing offers, and outreach strategies to maximize conversion and reduce sales cycle length.
  • Serve as a public-facing leader representing the company at industry events, customer executive briefings, and analyst forums to increase brand awareness and generate strategic opportunities.
  • Ensure compliance with contract and revenue recognition policies; partner with legal and finance to close deals in a controlled and auditable manner.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc executive-level commercial analyses (CAC, LTV, payback period) and provide recommendations to optimize customer acquisition and retention levers.
  • Partner with marketing to design demand-gen programs, inbound lead qualification processes (SDR/BDR alignment), and account-based marketing campaigns to feed the pipeline.
  • Participate in product roadmap discussions to represent customer needs, sales feedback, and competitive pressures that influence prioritization.
  • Collaborate with customer success on life-cycle management, renewal strategies, and upsell/cross-sell programs to maximize customer lifetime value.
  • Contribute to quarterly business reviews and strategic planning sessions, sharing market intelligence and recommended adjustments to GTM tactics.
  • Mentor sales leaders on coaching techniques, negotiation strategies, and career development to build bench strength for senior commercial positions.
  • Oversee commercial tooling budget and vendor selection, ensuring the tech stack scales with operational needs and ROI targets.
  • Lead post-mortems on lost deals and major wins to capture learnings, refine playbooks, and disseminate best practices across the organization.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strategic Sales Planning and GTM Execution — experienced in building multi-year revenue plans and operational roadmaps.
  • Forecasting & Pipeline Management — mastery of CRM-driven forecasting, quota mathematics, and sales metrics (ARR, MRR, ACV, NRR).
  • Enterprise Sales & Complex Deal Structuring — proven ability to negotiate multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts and manage procurement/legal processes.
  • CRM & Sales Tools Proficiency — hands-on experience with Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar CRMs; familiarity with Gong/Chorus, SalesLoft, Outreach, and BI tools (Tableau, Looker).
  • Sales Enablement & Training Design — ability to create playbooks, onboarding curricula, and competency frameworks that accelerate rep productivity.
  • Pricing Strategy & Commercial Acumen — skilled at discounting frameworks, margin protection, and building financially sound commercial offers.
  • Channel & Partner Management — experience launching and scaling partner programs, VARs, and strategic alliances.
  • Territory Design & Go-to-Market Segmentation — competency in market sizing, ICP definition, and territory alignment.
  • Data Analysis & Sales Operations — ability to use data to diagnose performance issues, design experiments, and optimize conversion metrics.
  • P&L Management — experience owning or influencing revenue and expense levers for a sales region or segment.

Soft Skills

  • Inspiring Leadership — motivates and develops teams, creating a culture of accountability, growth, and high performance.
  • Communication & Storytelling — distills complex strategies into succinct narratives for executives, customers, and cross-functional partners.
  • Coaching & Talent Development — strong coach/mentor with a track record of promoting internal talent into senior roles.
  • Negotiation & Influence — persuades stakeholders across functions and closes complex deals with balanced outcomes.
  • Problem Solving & Critical Thinking — synthesizes quantitative and qualitative inputs to make rapid, high-impact decisions.
  • Resilience & Adaptability — thrives in ambiguous environments and leads teams through change and market shifts.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration — builds trust and alignment across product, marketing, finance, and operations.
  • Customer Empathy — prioritizes customer outcomes and partners to deliver value that supports retention and expansion.
  • Strategic Vision — balances short-term quota attainment with long-term organizational scaling and brand positioning.
  • Ethical Judgment & Compliance Mindset — maintains rigorous standards for contract, legal, and revenue recognition practices.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Economics, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • MBA or advanced degree in business, strategy, or a technical discipline for companies selling complex solutions.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing
  • Finance / Economics
  • Computer Science / Engineering (for technical product-focused sales)
  • Communications / Organizational Leadership

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8–15 years of progressive sales experience with a minimum of 3–5 years in frontline sales leadership (managing managers or large teams).

Preferred:

  • 10+ years in B2B sales environments, with demonstrable success in enterprise or mid-market segments.
  • Prior experience at high-growth SaaS, cloud, technology, or enterprise software companies is highly desirable.
  • Track record of scaling teams from startup to scale-up, building processes, and contributing to executive-level GTM strategy.
Explore More Careers