Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Head of Sales

🎯 Role Definition

The Head of Sales is a pivotal executive leadership role, serving as the chief architect and driver of the company's revenue engine. This individual is accountable for a C-level audience, this position is responsible for not just meeting sales targets, but for building a scalable, predictable, and sustainable sales function. The Head of Sales translates the company's overarching business objectives into actionable sales strategies, fosters a culture of high performance and accountability, and acts as a key voice of the customer within the executive team. Success in this role is measured by revenue growth, market share expansion, and the development of a world-class sales team.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Director of Sales or Senior Sales Director
Vice President of a specific sales division or region
High-performing Senior Enterprise Account Executive with team leadership experience

Advancement To:

Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
VP of Global Sales
General Manager or Country Manager of a business unit

Lateral Moves:

Head of Business Development or Strategic Partnerships
Head of Customer Success
Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a sales-led organization

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-year sales strategy that aligns with the company's growth objectives and ensures the attainment of key revenue targets.
Architect and manage the entire sales organization, including structuring territories, defining roles (e.g., SDR, AE, Account Management), and establishing compensation plans that motivate and drive desired behaviors.
Lead, mentor, and cultivate a high-performing sales team, fostering a culture of success, accountability, continuous learning, and a winning mindset through active coaching and professional development.
Establish and rigorously manage key sales performance metrics (KPIs), including pipeline generation, conversion rates, sales velocity, and customer acquisition cost (CAC), providing transparent reporting to the executive team and board.
Personally engage in and oversee key strategic deals, building and maintaining strong, long-lasting relationships with C-level executives at major client and prospect accounts.
Create and manage the annual sales budget, ensuring optimal allocation of resources to maximize ROI and achieve financial objectives.
Drive the development and refinement of the go-to-market (GTM) strategy in collaboration with Marketing, Product, and Customer Success to ensure a cohesive customer acquisition and expansion motion.
Implement and optimize sales processes and methodologies (e.g., MEDDIC, Challenger Sale) to improve efficiency, predictability, and scalability across the entire sales cycle.
Deliver accurate and reliable sales forecasts and pipeline reports to executive leadership, providing critical insights into market trends, competitive landscape, and business performance.
Champion the use of the CRM (e.g., Salesforce) as the single source of truth for all sales activities, ensuring data integrity and leveraging analytics for strategic decision-making.
Act as a key member of the senior leadership team, contributing to overall company strategy, planning, and policy-making.
Continuously analyze market dynamics, customer feedback, and competitive intelligence to identify new revenue opportunities, potential threats, and areas for strategic pivot.
Collaborate closely with the Head of Marketing to ensure tight alignment on lead generation, brand positioning, and sales enablement materials.
Spearhead expansion into new markets or industry verticals, conducting due diligence and building the business case for investment.
Define and oversee the sales enablement function to ensure the sales team is equipped with the best tools, training, and content to succeed.
Negotiate complex, high-value contracts and agreements, working alongside legal and finance teams to ensure favorable terms.
Represent the company at industry events, conferences, and trade shows, acting as a key evangelist for the company's vision and value proposition.
Build a robust talent pipeline for the sales organization, establishing a strong employer brand to attract and retain top-tier sales professionals.
Manage relationships with key channel partners, resellers, or strategic alliances to create additional revenue streams.
Drive a customer-centric sales culture, ensuring the team is focused on solving customer problems and delivering long-term value, not just closing deals.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis from the board, CEO, or other executive stakeholders to inform strategic decisions.
Contribute to the organization's broader data strategy and roadmap by providing insights on what customer and sales data is critical for GTM success.
Collaborate with business units like Product and Engineering to translate customer feedback and market needs into actionable product development requirements.
Participate in quarterly business reviews (QBRs) and high-level strategic planning sessions that may follow agile-style ceremonies for cross-functional alignment.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

CRM Mastery: Deep, hands-on expertise with enterprise-grade CRM platforms, particularly Salesforce, including reporting, dashboard creation, and process automation.
Sales Analytics & Forecasting: Proven ability to build sophisticated forecast models and analyze complex sales data to derive actionable insights and predict future performance.
Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of P&L management, budgeting, and the financial metrics that drive a SaaS business (e.g., ARR, LTV, CAC, Churn).
GTM Strategy Design: Demonstrable experience in designing, implementing, and scaling successful go-to-market strategies for B2B technology or service offerings.
Sales Methodology Expertise: Deep knowledge and practical application of various sales methodologies (e.g., MEDDIC, Challenger, Solution Selling, Value Selling) and the ability to train a team on them.
Complex Contract Negotiation: Skill in navigating and leading high-stakes negotiations for enterprise-level contracts, including legal and commercial terms.
Sales Enablement Technology: Familiarity with the modern sales tech stack, including tools for sales intelligence, engagement, conversation analysis, and training (e.g., Outreach, SalesLoft, Gong, Highspot).

Soft Skills

Inspirational Leadership: The ability to motivate, inspire, and unite a diverse sales team around a common vision and ambitious goals.
Strategic and Visionary Thinking: Capacity to see the bigger picture, anticipate future market trends, and build a multi-year plan that positions the company for long-term success.
Exceptional Communication: World-class verbal, written, and presentation skills; able to articulate a compelling vision and complex ideas with clarity and conviction to any audience, from an SDR to the board of directors.
Resilience and Adaptability: Thrives in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment; able to navigate ambiguity, pivot strategy when necessary, and maintain a positive, determined attitude.
Executive Presence: The confidence, maturity, and gravitas to operate as a credible and influential member of the senior leadership team and to engage with C-level clients.
Data-Driven Decision Making: A firm commitment to using data and metrics to make objective decisions, diagnose problems, and guide strategy, rather than relying solely on intuition.
High Emotional Intelligence: Strong self-awareness and empathy; able to build trust, resolve conflict, and foster strong interpersonal relationships both internally and externally.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field.

Preferred Education:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent advanced degree.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Finance
Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

12-15+ years of experience in sales, with at least 5-7 years in a progressive sales leadership role (e.g., Manager, Director, VP).

Preferred:

A proven and quantifiable track record of success in leading a B2B sales organization, consistently exceeding revenue targets in a high-growth environment (preferably within SaaS, technology, or a related industry).
Experience scaling a sales team from an early stage to a more mature, structured organization.
Demonstrable experience managing "second-line" leaders (i.e., managing other managers).
Experience working in both startup and larger corporate environments is highly advantageous.