Head of Direct Sales

United Gas & Power; Guiseley; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

8% employer pension contribution

25 days annual leave

Holiday purchase scheme

Ongoing training and guidance

Job summary

United Gas & Power in Guiseley, Leeds is seeking a Head of Direct Sales to lead a growing B2B sales function and join the Senior Management Team, owning Direct Sales, SDR and Partnerships strategies.

You will be responsible for forecasting, margin delivery, KPI management and developing a high-performing sales organisation, coaching managers, scaling teams, and partnering with Marketing and Pricing to improve conversion and commercial results.

Qualifications

• 3+ years leading high-performing B2B sales teams, including experience at senior sales leadership / head of department level.
• Experience leading sales managers or team leaders (not just individual contributors).
• Strong commercial awareness, strategic thinking and financial/forecasting capability.
• Demonstrable track record in recruitment, talent development and succession planning.
• Experience managing CRM systems and sales reporting.
• Excellent leadership, coaching and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience within the UK business energy sector.
• Experience managing or scaling SDR/BDR teams.
• Experience using HubSpot CRM.
• Experience leading commercial transformation or business improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Own and deliver the Direct Sales strategy, aligned to wider business objectives, and contribute to commercial strategy as an SMT member.
• Deliver margin targets, own departmental forecasting and pipeline management.
• Track and improve core commercial KPIs: gross margin, pipeline coverage, forecast accuracy, sales productivity, and conversion rate.
• Identify new commercial opportunities, market trends and routes to market; support strategic customer opportunities directly where needed.
• Develop the SDR and Partnerships channels as scalable sources of qualified pipeline and profitable new business.
• Lead an established Direct Sales team consisting of 1 Senior Account Manager and 8 Account Managers.
• Manage the SDR Manager, with overall responsibility for 4 SDRs and planned growth of the team to 8 during the year.
• Manage the Strategic Partnerships Manager, setting clear expectations around partnership development, lead generation, pipeline and revenue.
• Run regular 1:1s, performance reviews and development plans, building a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Coach and mentor future sales leaders and drive engagement, retention and succession planning across the department.
• Own recruitment across Direct Sales and Sales Development, partnering with the People team on attraction, assessment and onboarding.
• Support the SDR Manager in successfully scaling the SDR function from 4 to 8.
• Build talent pipelines and structured development plans for high-potential team members.
• Ensure new starters are inducted and ramped to productivity quickly.
• Drive continuous improvement in sales process and operational efficiency, including effective use of HubSpot CRM and reporting tools.
• Own UGP’s KPI framework and scorecards across Direct Sales, SDR and Partnerships, ensuring clear accountability for performance.
• Maintain high standards of CRM compliance, pipeline management and sales governance.
• Use data to identify performance gaps, improve conversion and ensure activity translates into commercial results.
• Partner closely with Marketing on lead generation, campaigns, data, events and conversion, ensuring effective alignment with SDR and Partnerships activity.
• Collaborate with Pricing and other commercial functions to improve competitiveness and conversion.
• Support wider initiatives in digital transformation, AI adoption and sales enablement
• As a member of the Senior Management Team, you'll also contribute to company-wide business planning, budgeting and resource planning, and act as a role model for UGP's values and leadership standards.

Skills

B2B sales leadership

Strategic thinking

Forecasting & budgeting

CRM management

People leadership

Stakeholder management

Tools

HubSpot CRM

Job description

As one of the fastest-growing and highest-rated commercial energy suppliers in the UK, we are looking to recruit Head of Direct Sales based at our office in Guiseley, Leeds.

Our ambition is to become the UK's most trusted business energy supplier by combining exceptional customer service with innovative commercial strategy and operational excellence.

We’re looking for an experienced, commercially-minded sales leader to take ownership of one of UGP’s largest commercial divisions. This is a Senior Management Team role with accountability for new business acquisition across Direct Sales, Sales Development and Strategic Partnerships, alongside forecasting and the development of a high-performing sales organisation.

The role has responsibility for an established Direct Sales team, our Partnerships channel and a growing SDR function, which is planned to double in size during the financial year.

At UGP we aim to attract people from diverse backgrounds to build on our inclusive culture. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, race, gender, religion or beliefs, disability, gender identity or sexual orientation.

Responsibilities

• Own and deliver the Direct Sales strategy, aligned to wider business objectives, and contribute to commercial strategy as an SMT member.
• Deliver margin targets, own departmental forecasting and pipeline management.
• Track and improve core commercial KPIs: gross margin, pipeline coverage, forecast accuracy, sales productivity, and conversion rate.
• Identify new commercial opportunities, market trends and routes to market; support strategic customer opportunities directly where needed.
• Develop the SDR and Partnerships channels as scalable sources of qualified pipeline and profitable new business.

People leadership

• Lead an established Direct Sales team consisting of 1 Senior Account Manager and 8 Account Managers.
• Manage the SDR Manager, with overall responsibility for 4 SDRs and planned growth of the team to 8 during the year.
• Manage the Strategic Partnerships Manager, setting clear expectations around partnership development, lead generation, pipeline and revenue.
• Run regular 1:1s, performance reviews and development plans, building a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Coach and mentor future sales leaders and drive engagement, retention and succession planning across the department.

Talent & Recruitment

• Own recruitment across Direct Sales and Sales Development, partnering with the People team on attraction, assessment and onboarding.
• Support the SDR Manager in successfully scaling the SDR function from 4 to 8.
• Build talent pipelines and structured development plans for high-potential team members.
• Ensure new starters are inducted and ramped to productivity quickly.

Operational excellence

• Drive continuous improvement in sales process and operational efficiency, including effective use of HubSpot CRM and reporting tools.
• Own UGP’s KPI framework and scorecards across Direct Sales, SDR and Partnerships, ensuring clear accountability for performance.
• Maintain high standards of CRM compliance, pipeline management and sales governance.
• Use data to identify performance gaps, improve conversion and ensure activity translates into commercial results.

Cross-functional collaboration

• Partner closely with Marketing on lead generation, campaigns, data, events and conversion, ensuring effective alignment with SDR and Partnerships activity.
• Collaborate with Pricing and other commercial functions to improve competitiveness and conversion.
• Support wider initiatives in digital transformation, AI adoption and sales enablement

As a member of the Senior Management Team, you'll also contribute to company-wide business planning, budgeting and resource planning, and act as a role model for UGP's values and leadership standards.

The Individual

We’re looking for individuals with strong commercial judgement, inspirational leadership, high accountability, excellent influencing skills, strategic thinking paired with operational rigour, a data-driven approach, resilience and adaptability, and a genuine passion for developing people.

• 3+ years leading high-performing B2B sales teams, including experience at senior sales leadership / head of department level.
• Experience leading sales managers or team leaders (not just individual contributors).
• Strong commercial awareness, strategic thinking and financial/forecasting capability.
• Demonstrable track record in recruitment, talent development and succession planning.
• Experience managing CRM systems and sales reporting.
• Excellent leadership, coaching and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience within the UK business energy sector.
• Experience managing or scaling SDR/BDR teams.
• Experience using HubSpot CRM.
• Experience leading commercial transformation or business improvement initiatives.

Join the Team

• Excellent salary based on your experience
• Excellent Pension scheme with 8% employer contribution
• 25 days annual leave (plus Bank Holidays)
• Long-Term Service Benefit – Receive an additional day of annual leave every 5 years
• Holiday Purchase Scheme – Buy up to 5 additional days of leave per year
• Ongoing training & guidance provided
• A great working environment with a real team spirit
• Company social events
• Health & Wellbeing program with GP consultations, mental health support and discounted gym memberships.