Director Sales, UK & Ireland - New Business

Diligent; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading SaaS company is looking for a Director of Sales for the UK & Ireland to drive new business while managing a high-performing team. This role involves establishing sales strategies, forecasting, and leading negotiations for strategic deals. The ideal candidate should have significant experience in SaaS sales, ideally within the mid-market or SMB segments, and a proven track record of meeting sales targets. This position will follow a hybrid work model requiring some onsite attendance.

Benefits

Flexible work environment

Health benefits

Generous time off policy

Wellness programs

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience leading sales teams in SaaS environments.
• 8+ years in direct sales with a track record of achieving sales targets.
• Experience in managing the sales funnel from end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage the operating rhythm for sales prospecting and pipeline creation.
• Deliver executive updates and deal reviews across the region.
• Lead negotiations for strategic deals and set team performance expectations.

Skills

Leadership

Sales strategy

Negotiation

Coaching

Sales methodologies

Tools

Salesforce

Gong

Outreach

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Job description

Director Sales, UK & Ireland - New Business

London, England, United Kingdom

About Us

Diligent is the AI leader in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) SaaS solutions, helping more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members to clarify risk and elevate governance. The Diligent One Platform gives practitioners, the C‑Suite and the board a consolidated view of their entire GRC practice so they can more effectively manage risk, build greater resilience and make better decisions, faster.

At Diligent, we're building the future with people who think boldly and move fast. Whether you're designing systems that leverage large language models or part of a team reimaging workflows with AI, you'll help us unlock entirely new ways of working and thinking. Curiosity is in our DNA, we look for individuals willing to ask the big questions and experiment fearlessly - those who embrace change not as a challenge, but as an opportunity. The future belongs to those who keep learning, and we are building it together. At Diligent, you’re not just building the future - you’re an agent of positive change, joining a global community on a mission to make an impact.

The Director of Sales, reporting to the RVP Commercial Sales, will be responsible for overseeing the new business strategy for SMB and Mid‑Market in the UK & Ireland, managing a team of Account Executives for Diligent in the region. The Director of Sales is responsible for driving increased revenue from a new customer base. They will establish the operating rhythm for prospecting, pipeline creation, deal execution, and forecast rigor, ensuring predictable attainment and clear accountability, as well as consistency across the team.

We’re looking for an entrepreneurial sales leader who can set the tone for excellence, build a high‑performing team, and execute a crisp go‑to‑market for their relevant segment. You’ll develop and coach talent, bring discipline to forecasting, and partner cross‑functionally – including Product Marketing, Sales Development, Marketing – to generate and convert high‑quality pipeline. You thrive on building repeatable processes, upleveling deal strategy, and winning new logos at pace.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish the operating rhythm for sales outbound prospecting, multi‑channel pipeline creation, deal execution, and forecast accuracy to ensure predictable pipeline and bookings attainment.
• Deliver clear, concise written and verbal communications, including executive updates, deal reviews, and cross‑functional alignment across the region.
• Lead complex negotiations to close strategic deals while setting a high bar for deal strategy, execution discipline, and team leadership.
• Own forecast accuracy and cadence, providing precise weekly and monthly projections, risk/opportunity reviews, and action plans to close gaps.
• Own territory and market intelligence for the segment you are overseeing, tracking progress on market share capture, emerging opportunities and competitor intelligence.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, train and retain high‑performing sales account executives; set clear expectations and coach for continuous improvement and accountability; and lead from the front by role‑modeling sales excellence to the team
• Define and execute the regional sales strategy in partnership with cross‑functional stakeholders, including territory design, commercial plays and team enablement to achieve growth targets.
• Drive pipeline generation and inspection rhythms; partner with Marketing, Sales Development and Revenue Operations to improve pipeline creation in target segments, shorten sales cycles, and increase win rates.

Required Experience/Skills

• Minimum 3 years of leading successful new business sales teams in SaaS/Software environments
• Minimum 8 years of successful direct sales experience in SaaS/Software environments
• Proven track record of achieving sales targets and driving revenue growth in the UK & Irish mid‑market and SMB segments, both as a leader and as an individual contributor; regular Presidents’ Club achievement for you and your teams. Excellent coaching, leadership and management skills with the ability to motivate and inspire a team
• Proven experience managing the sales funnel end‑to‑end, leveraging data and metrics to inform strategy and systematically identify and resolve performance gaps, with a data‑driven focus on pipeline hygiene, activity quality, and rigorous deal inspection.
• Dedicated focus on forecasting accurate and achievable results
• Expertise in sales methodologies including MEDDPICC, Force Management, Challenger Sales
• Proficiency with modern sales tooling (e.g., Salesforce, Gong, Outreach, LinkedIn Sales Navigator), coupled with a deep curiosity about AI and demonstrable examples of leveraging AI to raise efficiency and outcomes for yourself and your team.
• Deep understanding of value drivers in recurring revenue business models
• Strategic planning and implementation skills, ability to think ahead
• Excellent communication and presentation skills

What Diligent Offers You

• Creativity is ingrained in our culture. We are innovative collaborators by nature. We thrive in exploring how things can be differently both in our internal processes and to help our clients
• We care about our people.Diligent offers a flexible work environment, global days of service, comprehensive health benefits, meeting free days, generous time off policy and wellness programsto name a few
• We have teams all over the world. We may be headquartered in New York City, but we have office hubs in Washington D.C., Vancouver, London, Galway, Budapest, Munich, Bengaluru, Singapore, and Sydney.
• Diversity is important to us. Growing, maintaining and promoting a diverse team is a top priority for us. We foster and encourage diversity through our Employee Resource Groups and provide access to resources and education to support the education of our team, facilitate dialogue, and foster understanding.

To all recruitment agencies

Diligent does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, Diligent employees or any other organization location. Diligent is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

We are a drug free workplace. Diligent is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer related or HIV/AIDS related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See alsoDiligent's EEO Policy and Know Your Rights .We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail] .

Diligent created the modern governance movement. Our world-changing idea is to empower leaders with the technology, insights and connections they need to drive greater impact and accountability –to lead with purpose. Our employees are passionate, smart, and creative people who not only want to help build the software company of the future, but who want to make the world a more sustainable, equitable and better place.

Headquartered in New York, Diligent has offices in Washington D.C., London, Galway, Budapest, Vancouver, Bengaluru, Munich, Singapore and Sydney. To foster strong collaboration and connection, this role will follow a hybrid work model. If you are within a commuting distance to one of our Diligent office locations, you will be expected to work onsite at least 50% of the time. We believe that in‑person engagement helps drive innovation, teamwork, and a strong sense of community.