Sales Operations Manager, Direct Sales

Job Summary

The Sales Operations Manager, Direct Sales is the operational partner responsible for helping the AE organization generate revenue with greater clarity, discipline, speed, and predictability.

This is a manager-level individual contributor role with no direct reports. The role partners closely with Sales leadership, Revenue Operations, Enablement, Finance, Business Systems, SDR, and Marketing to improve how the Direct Sales motion runs from lead and opportunity management through Closed Won.

This is not a reporting-only role or a tactical support desk. The right person will diagnose what is slowing sellers down, pressure-test pipeline and forecast assumptions, identify where process or data is breaking down, and lead operational changes that improve sales execution.

Success in this role means Sales leaders trust the forecast, managers have clear operating views, sellers understand what good looks like, and the business can see where the pipeline is healthy, where risk exists, and where to focus next.

Performance Objectives

Establish Clarity and Trust (First 30 Days)

• Build a deep understanding of the Direct Sales motion, including lead flow, opportunity management, pipeline creation, forecast cadence, sales stages, handoffs, and performance drivers.
• Establish strong relationships with Sales leadership, frontline managers, SDR Ops, Enablement, Finance, Marketing, Business Systems, and Analytics.
• Audit lead and opportunity management processes to identify gaps in adoption, stage integrity, forecast visibility, seller efficiency, and manager accountability.
• Assess pipeline health, CRM hygiene, forecast accuracy, close-date discipline, territory design, quota coverage, and seller tool adoption.
• Identify the highest-impact opportunities to reduce seller friction through process simplification, automation, AI-enabled workflows, or better reporting.
• Deliver a current-state assessment with prioritized recommendations, including quick wins and longer-term improvements.

Build Operational Rigor (60 Days)

• Refine lead and opportunity workflows to improve pipeline quality, accountability, and forecast reliability.
• Implement pipeline hygiene standards, including stage criteria, aging thresholds, next-step expectations, close-date discipline, and forecast category guidance.
• Establish a consistent pipeline inspection and forecasting cadence with Sales leadership and frontline managers.
• Build manager-owned operating rhythms so Sales Ops enables accountability without becoming the long-term owner of seller follow-up.
• Deliver actionable insights on funnel conversion, sales velocity, win rates, stage progression, deal quality, and rep/segment performance.
• Scope automation or AI-enabled opportunities that reduce manual work, improve data quality, or surface risk faster.
• Partner with Business Systems and Enablement to support CRM/workflow improvements, rollout readiness, seller communication, and adoption.

Scale Predictability and Impact (90+ Days)

• Own ongoing pipeline health, stage integrity, forecast inspection, and adoption standards across the Direct Sales motion.
• Improve forecast confidence by identifying risk early and surfacing root causes tied to process, coverage, deal quality, seller behavior, or market dynamics.
• Establish durable reporting and inspection views for sellers, managers, Sales leadership, Finance, and RevOps.
• Assess territory, quota, capacity, and account coverage models; provide recommendations aligned to growth plans.
• Surface repeatable insights on ICP fit, account prioritization, deal quality, source performance, and conversion drivers.
• Build feedback loops with Marketing, SDR Ops, Partners, Product, Enablement, and CS based on field data and funnel performance.
• Drive measurable improvements in tool adoption, seller efficiency, sales cycle visibility, pipeline quality, and forecast accuracy.
• Be viewed by Sales leadership as a trusted operating partner who brings clarity, urgency, and practical solutions.

Ongoing Responsibilities

Pipeline, Forecasting Deal Inspection

• Own pipeline health, stage integrity, and inspection frameworks across the Direct Sales motion.
• Lead or support weekly forecasting cadence with Sales leadership and frontline managers.
• Pressure-test forecast assumptions using stage progression, deal aging, close-date movement, next steps, source quality, ICP fit, and historical conversion.
• Identify forecast risk early and surface root causes tied to process, coverage, deal quality, seller behavior, or market dynamics.

Sales Process, Tool Adoption Change Management

• Diagnose seller friction across CRM workflows, sales tools, lead/opportunity processes, and handoffs.
• Build scalable processes that improve seller productivity without creating unnecessary administrative burden.
• Drive adoption of core sales tools and processes through stakeholder alignment, enablement, manager reinforcement, and adoption tracking.
• Partner with Enablement to create clear, practical training and reinforcement materials.

Automation, AI Seller Efficiency

• Identify opportunities to use automation and AI-enabled workflows to reduce manual work, improve data quality, and surface insights faster.
• Partner with Business Systems, Analytics, and Enablement to scope, test, and roll out workflows that improve seller and manager productivity.
• Explore use cases such as CRM update support, call/note summarization, pipeline risk detection, qualification validation, account prioritization, manager inspection summaries, executive forecast summaries, and seller prep automation.
• Measure whether automation and AI-enabled workflows improve adoption, efficiency, pipeline quality, forecast confidence, or sales cycle performance.

Territory, Quota, Capacity Account Strategy

• Design, maintain, and recommend improvements to territory and account assignment models.
• Partner with Sales leadership, Finance, Analytics, and SDR Ops on quota modeling, capacity planning, and coverage analysis.

Disclaimer: This job posting and Location has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.