Sales director · job description template

Sales director job description

The short answer · updated 28 September 2026

A sales director job description sets out the senior leader who owns revenue from new and existing customers and the team that wins it. The core responsibilities are sales strategy and targets, leading and hiring the sales team, forecasting and pipeline, key accounts and pricing, and working with marketing and finance.

Hire a sales director →Book 15 minutes

Job purpose

The purpose line should say why the company needs a sales director now: a revenue target the current team cannot reach, a move into a new market or segment, a founder who can no longer sell every deal, or a pipeline and forecast the board does not trust. Name that problem first, then the number the role owns. For the role itself, see what does a sales director do.

Keep the duties specific to your sales motion: field or inside sales, new business or account growth, direct or through partners. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) work for a sales director as well as for any other role.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical sales director job description covers:

setting the sales strategy: markets, segments, channels and the sales motion for each;
agreeing revenue targets with the board and turning them into territories, quotas and plans;
leading, hiring, coaching and developing the sales team and its managers;
running the pipeline and producing a forecast the board can rely on;
owning the largest customer relationships and negotiating key deals;
setting pricing, discounting and deal approval rules with finance;
designing commission and incentive plans that reward the behaviour the company wants;
working with marketing on lead generation and with customer success on retention and growth;
choosing and running the CRM, sales tools and reporting;
keeping gifts, hospitality, agents and intermediaries within the company’s anti-bribery procedures;
keeping pricing and any contact with competitors within competition law;
reporting sales performance to the chief executive and the board.

Reporting line and scope

A sales director usually reports to the chief executive, or to a commercial director or chief revenue officer where the company has one. Heads of sales, regional or channel sales managers, account managers and business development teams report in; sales operations and bid teams often do too. List what reports in, and whether customer success sits with sales or elsewhere.

Board exposure varies. Many sales directors present the pipeline and forecast at board meetings without a board seat; some are statutory directors. Say which applies, and whether the role takes part in pricing or commercial committees.

Head of sales job description

A head of sales job description is usually narrower. The head of sales runs the sales team and delivers the number against a plan agreed above them; the sales director sets that plan, owns the relationship with the board and often has several heads of sales reporting in. In a smaller company the head of sales may be the most senior sales role, and the job description then carries more of the strategy.

Write a head of sales job description around the team and the target: the size and make-up of the team, the segment or region, the quota, the pipeline standards and the reporting to the sales director, commercial director or chief executive. Leave out board reporting unless the role has it. Where the company is choosing between a head of sales and a chief revenue officer, see our CRO recruitment page.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No law requires a sales director to hold a qualification, and most job descriptions do not ask for one. The Institute of Sales Professionals’ Sales Capability Framework sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours for effective and ethical selling at each level, and its code of conduct covers integrity and acting lawfully; either can help describe what good looks like. Mark any membership as desirable, not essential.

a record of leading a sales team to a target at a comparable scale, deal size and sales cycle;
experience in the same sales motion: enterprise, mid-market, transactional, channel or partner-led;
forecasting and pipeline management the board has relied on;
hiring and developing sales managers and account executives;
negotiating large or complex deals;
working with marketing, customer success and finance on the whole revenue process;
sector knowledge where the buyers, regulation or sales cycle are specialised.

Fractional sales director job description

A fractional sales director works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the few problems that matter most (a sales process and CRM set up, a first sales team hired, a forecast the board can use, a new market opened) and the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months. Say who runs the team day to day in between.

A fractional sales director often works through their own company, so the engagement may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests. To see how the engagement works, read how to hire a fractional head of sales.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim sales director works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a sales team that has missed its number, a departed leader, a restructure, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See our interim sales director page.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the markets to win over several years, the team to build and the systems to scale on. When the sales director is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. For the neighbouring role, see our commercial director job description.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a sales director brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: sales director or head of sales, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the CEO, commercial director or CRO, with any board seat; list the sales roles who report in.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the revenue problem it must solve.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described by sales motion, deal size and team size.
Terms: full-time or days a week, location and travel, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary and commission, or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a sales director job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the sales director reports to and who reports in, the purpose of the role, the key responsibilities, the experience required, and the terms. Keep the revenue problem the sales director must solve at the top.

How long should a sales director job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. Targets, territories and the commission plan belong in the candidate pack and the offer.

What is the difference between a sales director and a head of sales job description?

A head of sales job description centres on running the team and delivering the number; a sales director job description adds the sales strategy, the board and, often, several heads of sales reporting in. In a smaller company the two can be the same job.

How is a fractional sales director job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the few problems to fix, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months, and who runs the team in between. See how to hire a fractional head of sales.

What does a sales director earn?

It depends on the size of the company, its sector, the commission plan, and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. Our sales director salary page sets out pay and day rates, each figure with its source.

How do I hire a sales director?

Define the revenue problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against the sales motion you run. Our sales director page sets out the process; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.