Head of Sector Sales

Want to deliver tech with purpose, with people who care?

Join us in our mission to create solutions that help keep children safe online.

Who we are?

Headquartered in Perth, Australia, Qoria is an ASX listed global leader in child digital safety technology and services. We are a purpose driven business, operating under the ‘Linewize’ brand in North America and Asia Pacific, under the ‘Smoothwall’ brand in the UK, and under the ‘Qoria’ brand in EMEA. Our solutions are utilized by schools, school districts and their parental communities to protect children from seeing harmful content online, to identify children at risk based on their digital behaviors and to ensure teachers maintain focus and safe learning in the digital classroom. 27k schools and 6 million parents depend on our solutions to keep 22 million children safe in 180 countries around the world.

What’s the opportunity?

You will be a highly motivated and experienced Head of Sales responsible for leading a team of sales people to drive our efforts in the education sector, specializing in supporting schools with meeting and exceeding their safeguarding requirements, as defined by legislation. This role will have a dual focus: driving new business by targeting white space market potential and expanding our relationships and footprint within our existing client base to achieve growth thus driving positive net revenue retention. You will lead a small sales team, develop strategic plans, ensure execution of sales initiatives, and work closely with the Customer Success and Channel teams. You will be player manager who will act aw a role model and mentor for your team and working closely with the Sales Director to execute a successful sales strategy, whilst ensuring those within your team, and the SDR’s sat outside of your team, continue to develop and have a clear focus, with a clear understanding of what success looks like, and how to achieve it. This role requires a blend of strong leadership, strategic thinking, and an in-depth understanding of the education sector’s needs.

Here’s how you’ll do it:

As Head of Sector Sales, you will be accountable for the strategic direction and execution of our sales efforts within the education sector for your team. You will work closely with the Sales Director to create and execute such plans to ensure success, by pivoting and offering creativity and fresh ideas, should initiates be unsuccessful.

Your focus will be split between driving new business by acquiring new Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), and single schools and growth by expanding relationships within existing clients leading to successful Cross Sell into the base. You will lead a small team, manage both individual and team sales targets, and work cross-departmentally to ensure alignment across functions.

It is essential that you personally adopt a hunting mentality, leading by example, and foster a team environment whereby personal accountability for hunting out new opportunities is the fundamental goal of the team sales strategy. 

Objectives:

• Achieve Personal and Team Sales Targets

• Drive both new business acquisition and account growth to meet or exceed individual and team sales targets

• Ensure high conversion ratio of leads into opportunities

• Simultaneously drive acquisition business and strong net revenue retention within the existing client base.

• Develop and Execute Strategic Sales Plans

  • Create and implement a strategic sales plan for new business targeting untapped Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and schools to ensure hunting mentality 

  • Work in partnership with CS Director and Sales Director to create and execute combined plan for intelligently targeting existing base with new products to drive x-sell

  • Guide your sales team in developing and executing individual plans, ensuring alignment with the broader sales goals and company objectives.

• Lead and Manage Sales Team Performance

• Provide leadership and mentorship to your sales team, ensuring they are motivated, well-trained, and equipped to succeed

• Accurately forecast on a monthly basis and ensure sales opportunities from the team meet BANT

• Foster a high-performance culture through continuous development, sharing best practices, and offering consistent feedback to optimize individual and team results

• Strengthen Relationships with Key Clients by offering value - taking lessons learnt from new business & sharing with our existing base, including offering competitor intelligence 

• Build and maintain strong, long-term relationships with existing customers, ensuring their ongoing satisfaction and success.

• Collaborate closely with the Customer Success (CS) team to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities, ensuring a focus on maximizing account value and retention

• Expand Market Presence and Brand Awareness

• Evaluate and prioritize industry events, conferences, and expos to ensure the company is visible in key education technology forums - accountable for presenting to marketing

• Work with channel partners via the Channel team to expand the company’s market reach and generate new business opportunities

• Ensure Timely Follow-Up and Lead Management 

• Guarantee that all leads are followed up within one hour and ensure the sales team consistently meets this standard

• Continuously refine the lead-follow-up process to maximize response rates and convert opportunities into closed deals.

• Maintain Competitive and Industry Knowledge

• Stay informed of industry trends, competitor activities, and changes in relevant education regulations and legislation 

• Share insights with your sales team and the wider sales & CS teams to ensure they remain competitive and relevant in their sales approaches.

• Continuously identify areas for improvement in the sales process, ensuring efficient lead management and effective prospecting and Share Best Practices

• Foster knowledge-sharing within the sales team, emphasizing successful sales tactics, case studies, and lessons learned from both new business and account growth activities

• Take shared responsibility for the sales forecasting, performance tracking, and reporting of both personal and team sales activities - support will be given from Sales Director and VP Sales

• Regularly review progress with the Sales Director, adjusting strategies as necessary to meet sales targets and business objectives

• In partnership with CS, ensure customers are aware of new products and features, driving product adoption and expanding the use of our solutions within existing accounts

• Actively participate in customer meetings, promoting the value of new solutions and collaborating with the Customer Success team to ensure smooth onboarding and customer satisfaction

Requirements

What are my day to day responsibilities?

New Business Development

• Identify and target new MATs and schools we do not currently work with, building strong relationships with decision-makers and stakeholders

• Respond to inbound leads in a timely manner & ensure team do also - accountable for high conversion ratios & strong win ratios

• Develop and execute a strategic sales plan for acquiring new business and guide your team in creating their own plans

• Focus on proactive lead generation, prospecting, and cold outreach (calls, emails, events).

• Work closely with partners and channel teams to expand reach and opportunities

• Plan and prioritize industry events, ensuring we’re visible in key education forums - feed this back to marketing

• Lead large bids, tenders, and strategic sales opportunities, collaborating with the Sales Director for support

Growth 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with existing customers with the support of the Customer Success team, to ensure strong net revenue retention 

• Attend customer meetings regularly and advocate for new product offerings, ensuring customers are informed and engaged

• Share best practices, success stories, and learnings between new business and growth teams.

• Keep track of competitor offerings and market trends, sharing insights with your team & the CS team to stay ahead of the curve.

• Develop creative strategies for client engagement in partnership with CS and the Sales Director and lead your team in executing those ideas.

• Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, mentor, and inspire your sales team, ensuring they meet and exceed targets.

• Provide training, guidance, and ongoing feedback to support their development and growth.

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by sharing insights, processes, and effective sales techniques.

• Collaborate with the CS, Pre-Sales, Marketing, Channel, Delivery and Product teams to ensure a cohesive and effective approach to sales.

• Input into the sales forecasting, reporting, and tracking of progress against goals, supported by Sales Director and VP Sales

• Collaborate with the Sales Director to review your team’s performance and adjust strategies as necessary

• Ensure timely follow-up on leads and prospects, with a strong focus on optimizing sales processes

• Work collaboratively with other Head of Sector Sales to ensure aligned strategies & sharing best practice, together with the Sales Director.

What do you need to be successful in this role ?

Proven Sales Experience: Demonstrable success in selling web filtering, monitoring, safeguarding solutions, or similar technologies, specifically in the education sector (targeting MATs and schools). Specific proven experience in large strategic sales

Leadership Experience: Strong background in managing and/or mentoring, with a focus on developing individuals to achieve personal and team targets. This is desirable but not essential if the right candidate can demonstrate a strong, successful background in strategic selling and possess the qualities to become a leader.

Industry Knowledge: In-depth understanding of the education sector, including the challenges faced by MATs and schools, and knowledge of relevant safeguarding legislation

Competitor Awareness: Ability to monitor and analyze competitor activities and market trends to inform sales strategies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively across departments to align on business goals and customer outcomes.

Strong Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence key decision-makers at all levels of an organization.

Drive Sales Results: Consistently meet or exceed personal and team sales targets, with a strong focus on both new business generation and account growth.

Lead and Inspire Your Team: Provide clear direction, mentorship, and support to your sales team, helping them achieve their individual and collective goals.

Be a Strategic Thinker: Develop and execute forward-thinking sales strategies that evolve with market trends, customer needs, and company goals.

Build and Maintain Strong Relationships: Engage with existing clients with the support of CS identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. Relationships with customers & colleagues will be vital to success.

Act as an Industry Expert: Stay up to date with the latest trends, regulations, and technologies in the education sector and use this knowledge to inform your sales approach.

Ensure Effective Follow-Up: Implement and maintain strong processes for lead management and ensure the sales team follows up on leads in a timely manner (within 1 hour).

Collaborate Across Teams: Work closely with Customer Success, Channel, Pre Sales, Marketing, and Product and Delivery teams to drive customer success, share insights, and develop effective sales strategies.

Adapt Quickly to New Technologies: Embrace and promote new sales tools and products, ensuring your team is fully equipped to sell the latest solutions