Head of Sales & Account Management - EMEA

Smartstream Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company pension

Private medical

Life insurance

Electric car

Cycle to work

Udemy access

Job summary

Smartstream Limited is seeking a Head of Sales & Account Management for the EMEA region. You will lead a team of Sales Executives, Account Managers and PreSales to win new logos, grow existing accounts and renew contracts across Europe, Middle East, and Africa.

This hands-on leadership role requires MEDDIC discipline, accurate forecasting, and senior-level negotiations with C-suite stakeholders at tier-one banks. The hybrid model offers 3 days in office weekly.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in enterprise software sales management.
• Deep MEDDIC expertise embedded across distributed teams.
• Proven multi-million ARR target overachievement in fintech or banking software.

Responsibilities

• Own the EMEA regional number across new business, renewals, upsell and cross-sell.
• Deliver accurate forecasts weekly, monthly and quarterly to leadership.
• Lead complex multi-year commercial negotiations with tier-one banks.
• Coach and develop nine direct reports; drive CRM hygiene and deal reviews.

Skills

MEDDIC expertise

Sales leadership

C-suite negotiation

Salesforce

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Location: London (with regional travel across EMEA)

Reports to: Chief Revenue Officer

Function: Sales & Account Management

Direct reports: 9

Working arrangement: Hybrid - 3 days in office per week

Smartstream Technologies is a leading provider of Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM) solutions to the world's most demanding financial institutions. Our reconciliations, liquidity, collateral, fees, cash and payments products underpin the operational backbone of tier-one banks, asset managers, custodians and brokers globally. We are trusted by more than 70 of the world's top 100 banks.

About the role

The Head of Sales & Account Management for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) owns the commercial performance of one of Smartstream's most complex and strategically significant territories. You will lead a team of Sales Executives, Account Managers and PreSales responsible for new logo acquisition, existing account expansion, contract renewals and long-term client retention.

This is a hands-on commercial leadership role. You will drive disciplined pipeline execution using the MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion) qualification framework, own forecast accuracy at regional level, and act as the senior escalation point for strategic negotiations with C-suite stakeholders at tier-one financial institutions.

Commercial leadership

• Own the EMEA regional number across new business, renewals, upsell and cross-sell
• Deliver accurate weekly, monthly and quarterly forecasts to executive leadership
• Lead complex multi-year commercial negotiations, including renewals, restructures, acceleration clauses and multi-product commercial constructs
• Act as executive sponsor on strategic accounts and lead client escalations where required
• Champion the adoption of AI-enabled tools and workflows across the regional team to drive productivity, sharpen deal intelligence and improve commercial outcomes

Team leadership

• Directly manage a team of nine Sales Executives, Account Managers and PreSales spread across the region
• Run structured deal reviews, coaching sessions and quarterly Account Management Business Reviews (AMBRs) with rep-level accountability
• Drive CRM hygiene, pipeline discipline and stage-funnel balance across the team
• Recruit, develop and retain commercial talent capable of selling into tier-one financial institutions

MEDDIC-led execution

• Embed MEDDIC as the operating qualification standard across every opportunity in the region
• Apply MEDDIC discipline in weekly pipeline reviews and stage-gate progression
• Coach the team on qualifying out early, elevating the economic buyer, and building genuine internal champions rather than coaches
• Own the linkage between MEDDIC qualification quality and forecast accuracy

Cross-functional partnership

• Partner with Pricing, Legal, Product, Professional Services and Finance to structure winning commercial proposals
• Work with Marketing on regional demand generation, ABM strategy and event planning
• Feed structured field intelligence back into Product on competitive positioning, feature gaps and buying-centre dynamics

Governance and process

• Uphold the standardised pricing and quote initiation workflow, ensuring every formal quote is anchored to a live Salesforce Opportunity
• Ensure software and Professional Services opportunities are structured correctly for accurate revenue recognition
• Maintain the regional KYC and account planning framework to underpin strategic account coverage

What success looks like in your first 12 months

• Regional forecast accuracy within a defined tolerance band, quarter on quarter
• MEDDIC embedded as the operating qualification rhythm across all nine direct reports, evidenced in deal reviews and Salesforce hygiene
• Demonstrable progression on strategic account plans across tier-one and tier-two banks
• Attainment or overachievement against the EMEA regional ARR target
• A stable, high-performing team with clear succession depth on each key account
• AI minded for efficiencies and outcomes.

Essential experience

• 10+ years of enterprise software sales management experience, with a demonstrable record of leading and scaling regional sales teams selling complex, multi-year software subscriptions into financial institutions
• Deep MEDDIC expertise - not just familiarity, but proven experience embedding MEDDIC as the operating rhythm across a distributed sales team, including in weekly deal inspection and forecast calls
• Strong track record of overachievement against multi-million ARR targets in fintech, capital markets technology, banking software or adjacent enterprise B2B categories
• Experience negotiating complex commercial constructs: multi-year term deals, perpetual licence migrations, acceleration clauses, extended support arrangements and asymmetric renewal structures
• Confident operating at C-suite level (CFO, COO, CIO, Head of Operations) inside tier-one and tier-two banks
• Experience managing across a culturally and geographically diverse region - comfort with the operating realities of EMEA, Middle East and Africa markets
• Fluent user of Salesforce for pipeline management, forecasting and rep accountability

Desirable

• MBA or equivalent post-graduate qualification
• Prior exposure to TLM, reconciliations, payments, collateral or liquidity technology
• Second language relevant to the region (for example Arabic, French, German or a South Asian language)

Education

• Bachelor's degree, or equivalent professional experience
• Competitive base salary and performance-related variable compensation
• Company pension scheme
• Private medical cover
• Life Insurance
• Electric Car Scheme and Cycle to Work Scheme
• Access to internal and external learning through the People Leader Learning Path and our global Udemy programme
• Hybrid working, in line with our Global Hybrid Working Policy

Our commitment to inclusion

Smartstream is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace and welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.