Sales Director

Are you passionate about education and training, and want to help exceptional individuals and organisations achieve their data ambitions? iO-Sphere is an exciting ed-tech startup that is looking for an ambitious commercial leader to build an industry-leading B2B sales function.

About iO-Sphere

For companies, we exist to help close their data talent and skills gaps, fast! iO-Sphere is an innovative ed-tech startup that creates amazing training and talent products that deliver lasting outcomes for our partner employers.

iO-Sphere launched in 2023 with an unique bootcamp - the Experience Accelerator - which takes a radically different approach to training for data analysts and engineers. For our partner employers, we have created a new talent pool of diverse, high-performing data analysts and engineers that we have trained with our experience-driven model. For individuals, we unlock high-growth, rewarding careers without the traditional financial barriers that exist.

We are now looking to make a strategic investment into B2B sales to unlock our next phase of growth and bring new product lines to market. The opportunity is huge, and we need a world-class sales team to help seize it.

About the Role

iO-Sphere is hiring for a talented, ambitious Commercial Director / VP of Sales to build and lead our B2B sales team. We have amazing products, a great team, excellent investors, and the drive to build a market-leading business. All the pieces are there, we just need the right leader to build and scale an exceptional go-to-market function.

This is a unique opportunity for an ambitious person who wants to join an exciting start-up and use their sales experience to have a real impact. If you’re curious and want to know more, please apply so that we can have an initial conversation to answer any questions you might have.

Location: iO-Sphere is headquartered in London, and we are looking for candidates who can be present in our London office (near Liverpool St Station). We don’t mandate office days and often work remotely, and want people who enjoy the exciting office atmosphere of a startup. Some weeks that means 5 days in the office, others none.

Salary Range: £80-120k base + OTE + equity*

*We are looking for someone who is interested in the long haul (5-7 years), with the equity to match.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a results and data-driven sales leader who wants to nurture and build an industry-leading sales team. You will lead-from-the-front, hire, develop, and coach an exceptional team, and most importantly create a sustainable and fast-growing B2B revenue pipeline. You will have complete ownership over B2B sales, and will be ultimately accountable for B2B revenue growth across the business.

At iO-Sphere we value diversity, and we know we get the best outcomes when we have people from all different backgrounds. If you are in doubt about your suitability, please apply so that we can review your application! Our ideal candidate is:

• Mission-led – our small but mighty team all share our passion to democratise access to opportunity for ambitious individuals
• Collaborative - assumes positive intent, able to work in and lead a team, ask for help when they need it, and give help to others when needed.
• Outcomes-driven – we deliver lasting results for our partners, we exceed our targets, we know that outcomes are what matter
• Scrappy – able to do more with less, overcome unexpected challenges, adapt to rapidly changing markets, thrives in ambiguous situations
• Own it - able to make decisions, display ownership over their areas, take responsibility, operate independently, and support a high-agency culture

Responsibilities:

• Recruit, lead, and retain a happy and engaged B2B sales team. You will build process-first with an eye for scale, and use tooling and training to increase the impact of your team
• Create, build, and grow a continuous pipeline of fast-growing revenue. You will be ultimately accountable for B2B revenue growth across the business
• Set the sales strategy, and directly influence the product roadmap required by our partners. This will involve working across product lines, customer sizes, and deal complexity
• Lead from the front - initially you will close your own deals, and in the future you will support your team to close
• Use data to report on your team’s performance, and identify opportunities to improve and coach your team members
• Create the right incentive structures to motivate and reward your team
• Create supporting materials to help take new products to market
• Provide feedback to the wider team on areas for improvement

Ideal Requirements:

• You've led, for at least 3-5 years, a team in technology/SaaS or education sales
• You have a proven track record of exceeding revenue targets both as an individual contributor and manager
• Experienced with value selling, comfortable holding strategic conversations with decision makers, and C-level executives and able to establish long term relationships
• Experience managing full sales cycles of different deal types, sizes, and client sizes
• Obsessed with sales best practices and the ambition to create a market-leading team
• Familiarity with Apprenticeship Levy in the UK (ideal, but not required)
• Familiarity working with data teams is as an asset, but not required
• Right to work in the UK (unfortunately we are not able to accept candidates requiring sponsorship at this time)
• Fluent in written and spoken English