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Salary: USD 255,000 - 315,000 / annual
Freshworks is seeking an experienced Senior Director of Sales to lead go-to-market execution across three strategic vertical markets: Manufacturing, State/Local/Education (SLED), and Federal/Government, covering the US and Canada. Reporting to the SVP & GM of America's Sales, you will oversee three sales teams and their respective leaders, responsible for building and executing strategy to accelerate Freshworks' growth within these specialized markets.
You will lead, coach, and develop sales leaders responsible for each vertical, establishing high performance standards and accountability. Your responsibilities include developing and executing a comprehensive vertical sales strategy aligned with Freshworks' broader North America and enterprise growth objectives; owning revenue performance including pipeline generation, forecasting, deal execution, and attainment; and building a scalable operating model that recognizes the distinct customer, regulatory, and procurement requirements of each market.
You will drive expansion into larger, complex enterprise SaaS opportunities, serve as an executive sponsor on strategic deals, and establish strong inspection and forecasting discipline across the organization. You'll recruit and retain exceptional sales talent as the vertical organization scales, and partner closely with Marketing, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services, Channels & Alliances, Revenue Operations, Finance, and Product to develop integrated vertical go-to-market strategies.
Additionally, you will build relationships with channel, technology, and ecosystem partners; bring market intelligence back to Product and GTM leadership; and represent the verticals organization within the North America sales leadership team to contribute to broader strategy and execution.
Success means building a high-performing, predictable, and scalable North America vertical sales organization that establishes Freshworks as a stronger enterprise partner. You will develop leaders who can independently run strong businesses, create consistency in pipeline and forecasting, improve enterprise execution, and build repeatable vertical-specific sales motions that scale with Freshworks' growth.
REQUIREMENTS:
- 15+ years of progressive sales experience, ideally within enterprise software or SaaS organizations
- 8+ years of sales leadership experience, including 5+ years leading managers and operating at a second- or third-line leadership level
- Demonstrated success building, scaling, and leading high-performing enterprise sales organizations through multiple layers of leadership
- Significant experience selling into and leading sales organizations focused on SLED and/or Federal/Government markets (required), with strong understanding of public-sector buying cycles, procurement processes, contracting requirements, and go-to-market dynamics
- Experience within Manufacturing or other complex enterprise vertical markets (strongly preferred)
- Deep understanding of complex enterprise SaaS sales cycles, including executive engagement, multi-threaded decision processes, procurement, security, legal, implementation, and commercial negotiations
- Proven track record of consistently delivering against ambitious revenue targets and driving predictable, sustainable growth
- Experience developing and executing vertical-specific GTM strategies rather than relying solely on traditional geographic or territory-based sales models
- Strong command of pipeline management, forecasting, territory planning, account strategy, and sales productivity
- Demonstrated ability to coach and develop experienced sales leaders while creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, and high performance
- Strong executive presence with ability to engage credibly with C-suite customers, senior government and public-sector stakeholders, internal executives, partners, and other senior decision-makers
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment and balance long-term strategic thinking with hands-on leadership and execution
- Strong cross-functional leadership skills and track record of influencing across complex organizations
- Experience in a high-growth SaaS environment and/or helping an organization successfully move upmarket (highly desirable)
