Sales Director, France

AVP; Paris; On-site; EUR 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognism is seeking a Sales Director, France, to lead a high-performing team of Account Executives and Account Managers. You will drive New ARR, renewals, and expansion in the French market, reporting to the SVP of Revenue and Growth.

You will align regional goals with global strategy, model best-in-class discovery and negotiation, and partner with RevOps, Marketing, and Product to accelerate pipeline and protect revenue. French native with strong English required.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in B2B SaaS with leadership of multi-layered sales teams.
• Proven track record delivering New ARR, renewals, and expansion in a regional role.
• Deep forecasting, pipeline inspection, and renewal readiness expertise.
• Hands-on, field-focused leader with coaching skills and executive presence.
• Fluent in Salesforce and modern GTM tools including Gong, Outreach, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Responsibilities

• Lead a senior sales team (AEs and AMs) across New Business, Expansion, and Renewals.
• Translate regional goals into clear commercial priorities for the French market.
• Drive pipeline, deals, and customer conversations with strategic engagement.
• Collaborate with RevOps, Marketing, Product, Data, and CS to ensure alignment.
• Foster accountability, inclusion, and high performance within the team.

Skills

B2B SaaS leadership

Forecasting

Deal strategy

Executive presence

Coaching

Tools

Salesforce

Gong

Outreach

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

OpenAI

Pigment

Cognism

Job description

WHO ARE WE

Cognism is the leading provider of European B2B data and sales intelligence. Ambitious businesses of every size use our platform to discover, connect, and engage with qualified decision-makers faster and close more deals. Headquartered in London with global offices, Cognism’s contact data and contextual signals are trusted by thousands of revenue teams to eliminate the guesswork from prospecting.

The Role:

AsSales Director, France you will lead a high-performing team of Account Executives and Account Managers responsible for driving New ARR, Renewals, and Expansion across one of our most strategic regional markets. Based in France, you will act as the regional lead and represent the voice of the French market across the business. This role reports to the SVP of Revenue and Growth and is a key member of the EMEA leadership team.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Execution

• Serves as the country' senior commercial leader and site lead, overseeing AM/AE performance while shaping local culture, alignment, and operations.
• Lead a team of Account Executives and Account Managers across New Business, Expansion, and Renewals through a consistent operating rhythm of pipeline and commit reviews, renewal readiness, and quarterly business reviews that maintain focus, accountability, and execution excellence.
• Own execution end-to-end - partnering with SDR and Marketing leadership to drive pipeline creation, enabling AEs to convert new opportunities, and empowering AMs to strengthen, renew, and grow customer relationships.
• Translate global and regional goals into clear commercial priorities and actions that drive measurable results in the French market.
• Lead from the front by joining strategic customer conversations and modelling best-in-class discovery, value articulation, objection handling, and negotiation.

Revenue Delivery and Forecasting

• Deliver plan across New ARR, Gross Dollar Retention, and Expansion ARR for the French region.
• Conduct weekly inspections of pipeline composition, qualification, and value to ensure balance, predictability, and accuracy.
• Apply a Data → Insight → Action approach to identify early indicators, diagnose root causes, and drive repeatable performance.
• Manage executive sponsorship for top French accounts to accelerate strategic deals and proactively mitigate renewal or expansion risks.

Enablement and Collaboration

• Partner cross-functionally with RevOps, SDR Leadership, Marketing, Product, Data, and Customer Success to ensure tight alignment on execution, customer outcomes, and retention.
• Enforce pricing, process, and forecasting rigor to ensure speed, predictability, and consistency.
• Collaborate with Enablement to deploy methodologies, frameworks, and playbooks that raise execution standards across the French sales organisation.

People and Culture

• Build, coach, and retain a high-performing French sales team with strong bench strength and succession planning.
• Provide hands-on coaching to both managers and individual contributors, raising the bar on deal strategy, qualification, and customer engagement.
• Foster a culture grounded in accountability, inclusion, integrity, and high performance.

Key Requirements:

• 7+ years in B2B SaaS, with 3+ years leading multi-layered sales teams (AEs and AMs) focused on New Business and Account Management at 30M - 150M ARR scale.
• Proven track record delivering plan across New ARR, Renewals (GDR), and Expansion in a regional leadership role.
• Deep expertise in forecasting, pipeline inspection, deal strategy, and renewal readiness.
• Hands-on, field-focused leader with strong coaching skills and executive presence.
• Fluent in Salesforce and a modern GTM tech stack (e.g., Gong, Outreach, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, OpenAI, Pigment, Cognism).
• Experience building trusted executive relationships and driving high-value partnerships with leading French enterprises.
• Native-level French fluency and strong English proficiency are required.

WHY COGNISM

At Cognism, we’re not just building a company - we’re building an inclusive community of brilliant, diverse people who support, challenge, and inspire each other every day. If you’re looking for a place where your work truly makes an impact, you’re in the right spot!

Our values aren’t just words on a page—they guide how we work, how we treat each other, and how we grow together. They shape our culture, drive our success, and ensure that everyone feels valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work.

Here’s what we stand for:

We Own the Outcome Together.
We Deeply Understandour Customers.
We Celebrate Impact Wherever It Comes From.

At Cognism, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and supportive workplace. We welcome applications from individuals typically underrepresented in tech, so if this role excites you but you’re unsure if you meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply!