Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Head of Sales Operations

🎯 Role Definition

As the Head of Sales Operations, you will be the strategic partner to the Chief Revenue Officer and the backbone of the entire sales organization. You are a builder, an analyst, and a leader who will design, implement, and manage the operational infrastructure that enables our sales team to scale and succeed. This role is pivotal in driving sales productivity, optimizing our go-to-market strategy, and providing the critical insights that inform executive-level decisions. You will own the sales tech stack, compensation plans, territory design, forecasting, and all performance analytics, ultimately serving as the catalyst for our revenue engine's efficiency and effectiveness.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Director of Sales Operations
Senior Manager, Revenue Operations
Head of Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy

Advancement To:

VP of Revenue Operations (RevOps)
VP of Go-to-Market Operations
Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Lateral Moves:

Head of Business Operations
Head of Corporate Strategy

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Design, implement, and manage a sophisticated sales forecasting, planning, and budgeting process in alignment with company objectives and in partnership with Finance and Sales Leadership.
Lead the strategic design and equitable administration of sales territories, account segmentation, and quota allocation to maximize sales potential and market coverage.
Develop, manage, and evolve sales compensation and incentive programs that motivate sales behavior, drive desired outcomes, and align with financial goals.
Act as the primary owner of the sales technology stack, including the CRM (Salesforce), sales engagement platforms, BI tools, and CPQ systems, ensuring optimal configuration, integration, and user adoption.
Architect and maintain a robust sales analytics framework, delivering actionable insights and comprehensive dashboards on pipeline health, sales velocity, win/loss analysis, and individual rep performance.
Lead a high-performing Sales Operations team, providing mentorship, coaching, and professional development to foster a culture of excellence, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement.
Continuously identify and eliminate friction in the sales process by refining sales methodologies, rules of engagement, and lead-to-opportunity workflows to enhance sales productivity and efficiency.
Establish and govern a Deal Desk function to provide strategic support for complex, non-standard deals, ensuring commercial viability, compliance, and optimized deal structure.
Partner closely with sales leadership to define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics, presenting findings and strategic recommendations to the executive team and board.
Drive the annual and quarterly GTM planning cycle, including headcount modeling, resource allocation, and setting performance targets for all sales segments.
Oversee the full data lifecycle for sales information, establishing rigorous data governance policies and processes to ensure the highest level of data integrity and accuracy within our CRM.
Collaborate with the Sales Enablement team to identify training needs based on performance data and process changes, ensuring the sales team is equipped for success.
Evaluate, select, and implement new sales tools and technologies that provide a competitive advantage, improve rep productivity, and deliver a strong return on investment.
Create and manage a comprehensive reporting suite for all levels of the organization, from individual rep scorecards to executive-level business reviews and board materials.
Conduct in-depth analysis of sales cycles and customer cohorts to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for process optimization and strategic pivots.
Serve as the key liaison between Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Customer Success to ensure seamless cross-functional alignment on go-to-market execution and strategy.
Develop and execute projects and initiatives aimed at improving overall sales team effectiveness, from lead routing and management to contract processing and handoffs to post-sales teams.
Manage sales contract and order processing workflows to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and compliance with internal policies.
Build and maintain capacity planning models to inform hiring decisions and ensure the sales organization is properly staffed to meet future growth targets.
Lead the operational aspects of sales kickoffs (SKOs) and mid-year business reviews, focusing on content strategy, performance analysis, and goal setting.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer pressing strategic questions from leadership.
Contribute to the organization's broader data strategy and roadmap by representing the needs and priorities of the sales function.
Collaborate with business units like Marketing and Product to translate cross-functional data needs into engineering and system requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within data, business systems, or other technical teams to ensure sales operational needs are met.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Expert-Level CRM Administration: Deep, hands-on expertise in Salesforce (SFDC), including complex workflow rules, process builder, data architecture, and object management. Salesforce Admin certification is highly preferred.
Business Intelligence & Visualization: Proficiency in creating complex dashboards and reports using BI tools such as Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or similar platforms.
Advanced Data Analysis: Mastery of Microsoft Excel and/or Google Sheets (e.g., pivot tables, complex formulas, data modeling) and a strong understanding of SQL for querying relational databases.
Sales Tech Stack Management: Experience managing and integrating a modern sales tech stack, including sales engagement tools (e.g., Outreach, SalesLoft), CPQ software, and data enrichment services.
Financial & Sales Modeling: Proven ability to build sophisticated models for forecasting, territory planning, compensation plan design, and headcount capacity.
Process Mapping & Optimization: Skill in diagramming and re-engineering complex business processes to drive efficiency and scalability.

Soft Skills

Strategic & Analytical Mindset: Ability to see the big picture, translate business goals into operational plans, and use data to tell a story and drive strategic decisions.
Inspirational Leadership: Proven experience in building, mentoring, and leading high-performing operations teams in a fast-paced environment.
Exceptional Communication: The ability to articulate complex analyses, processes, and recommendations clearly and concisely to a wide range of audiences, from individual sales reps to C-level executives.
Change Management: Adept at driving change within a sales organization, managing stakeholder expectations, and ensuring successful adoption of new processes and technologies.
Project Management: Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple competing projects and priorities simultaneously from conception to completion.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: A natural ability to build strong, trusted relationships with partners in Sales, Marketing, Finance, and other departments to achieve shared goals.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s Degree

Preferred Education:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent advanced degree

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Finance
Economics
Data Science or Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10-15+ years of experience in sales operations, revenue operations, or a related field, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity managing a team.

Preferred:

Experience in a high-growth B2B SaaS or technology company.
A proven track record of scaling sales operations functions from the ground up or through significant transformation.
Experience supporting a multi-channel sales organization (e.g., Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB, Channel).