Director of Sales and Business Development - MSC

BDO; City Of London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading accounting and advisory firm in the UK is seeking a Director of Sales & Business Development. This role requires strong leadership skills and experience in managing sales teams. The ideal candidate will implement strategies to drive revenue and enhance sales performance. Responsibilities include designing sales methodologies and developing team capabilities. The firm values agile working and supports personal career growth.

Benefits

Agile working opportunities

Career development programmes

Qualifications

• Proven experience in direct sales in a professional services sector.
• Significant experience in leading large sales teams.
• Strong history of transforming sales teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement the sales strategy for the community.
• Design a skills development programme across the firm.
• Lead and develop a high-performing sales team.
• Collaborate with Central Operations teams to enhance processes.

Skills

Direct sales experience

Sales enablement experience

Leadership of sales teams

Analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Client-centricity

Project management skills

Tools

CRM platforms (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics)

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially‑spirited and high growth businesses that fuel the economy – and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

The Role

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with BDO’s partners and your direct team. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our sales performance and be considered a subject matter expert on winning work in a professional services environment.

The Director of Sales & Business Development is a new, senior role responsible for developing people, processes and technology for a community of sales professionals working across the sales cycle to drive revenue for the firm through various practice areas, internal channels and the go‑to‑market programme. The role requires a client‑centric, commercial mindset to build relationships with senior partners and understand their markets and growth strategies. Leading the sales community, the successful applicant will ensure the team is equipped to deliver the skills and services required to support their growth plans nationally across service lines, sectors and regional markets. It’s a fast‑paced, hands‑on role requiring an ability to blend strategy with execution.

The Director of Sales and Business Development will collaborate with other Directors in the MSC leadership to align on the overall MSC strategy and deliver a consistent people experience, ensuring the function’s processes are appropriately applied. They will also oversee the skills development programme for their part of the function, working internally and externally to establish excellence in their area of expertise.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Define and implement a comprehensive vision and strategy for the sales and business development community, supporting MSC’s overall strategy, to develop professional sales skills focused on a comprehensive understanding of the sales cycle.
• Design and execute a skills development programme to provide the BDO business with capabilities that can be deployed in the right place, with the right skills, at the right time.
• Create a culture of client centricity, speed to market and commercialism whilst fostering an environment which is collaborative, high energy and high impact.
• Identify future sales requirements in the function, and across the wider practice to both meet the needs and expectations of our customers and retain a competitive advantage in the market.

Firmwide Business Development Capabilities

• Own the firm’s sales methodology, to ensure it is updated to reflect the latest selling trends and skills that showcase “best practice”. Also ensure people in the capability are experts at understanding the methodology, that they are using it, and able to coach others.
• Engage with the business to identify and address skills gaps in the business and ensure there is consistency of implementation of the sales process and the right behaviours adopted to apply them.
• Assess key behaviours across key business development activities associated with finding work, winning work and growing relationships to build tools and guides which drive more consistency and improve the mindset, skillset and toolset of practice staff across the sales cycle.

Data Analysis & Sales Performance

• Collaborate with other parts of MSC and the wider business to understand pipeline metrics and trends to identify sales/business development opportunities for the business and the MSC function.
• Establish key performance indicators and metrics to measure performance of teams and individuals across the sales cycle. Where appropriate, establish principles through which resources can be deployed into various practice areas and programmes across BDO.
• Report to senior stakeholders on KPIs to demonstrate value and impact across the sales cycle of the people working in MSC.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead from the front, building, leading, and developing a high‑performing sales team by providing coaching (skills development), filling gaps where needed and nurturing talent.
• Ensure that policies, procedures, and processes are clearly defined, documented, and adhered to, promoting operational efficiency and data accuracy across the capability.
• Work with the HR function and MSC leadership to ensure performance management issues are appropriately addressed across MSC in a consistent and timely manner.
• As a member of the MSC leadership team, collaborate with colleagues and/or lead on a wide range of MSC‑specific and firm‑wide activities.
• Engage with colleagues in the global BDO network in similar roles to drive consistency and collaboration across the wider business.

Technology Management

• Utilise the MSC technology stack supporting sales and business development, ensuring it is maintained, optimised, and customised as necessary.
• Ensure that the firm’s CRM system is used appropriately across the capability.
• Identify opportunities to simplify and improve systems and processes, avoiding unnecessary complexity and customisation.
• Working with the Operations Director, horizon scan opportunities for new potential technology platforms for future consideration by the function and/or the wider firm.

Collaboration

• Work closely with the other capability Directors to align MSC activities across the firm’s Gold Programmes and to ensure a seamless transition between sales and marketing activities.
• Collaborate with other Central Operations teams and workstreams to connect processes for winning work to provide a frictionless experience for the business.

Risk, People & Compliance Management

• Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards, proactively identifying and mitigating operational risks.
• Work with the HR function and MSC leadership to ensure performance management issues are appropriately addressed in a consistent and timely manner.

You’ll be someone with:

• Proven experience in direct sales, and/or sales enablement, with significant experience in a senior management role leading large teams covering the end‑to‑end sales cycle within the professional services sector.
• Experience in evaluating, enhancing and delivering sales methodologies and training within a professional services environment.
• A strategic sales background, with a proven track record of leading and transforming sales/BD teams across Account Management, Lead Generation, Bids & Proposals.
• Strong analytical, organisational, and project management skills with attention to detail.
• A focus on client‑centricity, commercial decision making and a “can‑do” attitude.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to influence cross‑functional teams and senior leadership.
• Ability to multitask, prioritise, and thrive in a fast‑paced environment.
• Experience of using CRM platforms, including Microsoft Dynamics and other technology sales enablement tools to drive data‑driven sales decisions.
• Ability to build senior internal relationships and manage external partners and vendors.
• Strong leadership skills, with the energy, motivation and leadership to build and transform a “best in class” sales function which contributes directly to top line revenue.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to the business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer every colleague the opportunity to work in ways that suit you, your teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

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