Deal Desk Lead

Perplexity; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Perplexity is seeking a Deal Desk Lead to structure and close deals that drive durable revenue growth. You will partner with field teams, Revenue Operations, Finance and Legal to balance customer needs with company priorities and own the end-to-end deal process.

You will build a high-performing Deal Desk function, set pricing frameworks, and ensure accurate quotes, orders, and CRM records. This role is hands-on and requires urgency, strategic thinking, and people leadership as the team scales.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in Deal Desk, commercial operations, or related function in SaaS or high-growth environments.
• Proven ability to partner with field, RevOps, Finance and Legal to close deals.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the field to engage on complex opportunities and remove obstacles to close.
• Structure pricing, discounts, commitments, and payment terms with risk and profitability in mind.
• Own review and approvals for nonstandard deals and exceptions with clear options and recommendations.
• Ensure quotes, order forms, approvals, and CRM reflect agreed terms and enable clean handoffs to billing/post-sale teams.
• Define requirements for quote-to-order workflows and hold Systems accountable for delivery and testing.
• Scale the function by building playbooks, approval frameworks, and field enablement; hire and coach the Deal Desk team.

Skills

Deal Desk

Commercial ops

Autonomy

Communication

People management

CRM CPQ

Pricing strategy

Analytics

Stakeholder mgmt

Tools

CRM systems

CPQ tools

Job description

We're looking for a Deal Desk Lead to help our GTM teams structure and close deals that support durable revenue growth. You'll partner with the field, the Head of Revenue Operations, and Finance and Legal leadership to balance customer needs with company priorities.
You'll own Deal Desk end to end and build the team as we grow. This is a hands-on role for someone who moves with urgency and finds workable solutions, not simply obstacles or approval paths.

What you'll do

• Partner with the field: Engage early on complex opportunities, understand customer needs, and remove obstacles to close. Bring Sales, Finance, and Legal together to resolve issues quickly.

• Structure deals and balance trade-offs: Shape pricing, discounts, commitments, and payment terms. Weigh customer value, revenue, profitability, and risk, offering practical alternatives rather than a simple yes or no.

• Own review and approvals: Run a responsive process for nonstandard deals and exceptions. Apply policies consistently and elevate decisions beyond your authority with clear options and a recommendation.

• Ensure accurate execution: Ensure quotes, order forms, approvals, and CRM records reflect agreed terms. Resolve discrepancies before signature and enable clean handoffs to billing and post-sale teams.

• Own quote-to-order requirements and delivery: Define business requirements, priorities, and acceptance criteria for quote-to-order workflows. Hold Systems accountable for building and delivering against them, owning business acceptance testing and sign-off.

• Scale the function: Build playbooks, approval frameworks, and field enablement that reduce recurring friction. Use deal and exception patterns to recommend improvements to pricing and commercial policy. Hire, coach, and develop the Deal Desk team as the business grows.

What you bring

• Relevant experience: 4+ years in Deal Desk, commercial operations, or a related function in SaaS or another high-growth industry, including complex deal structuring and approvals.

• Exceptional business partnership: A track record of earning Sales' trust through responsiveness, practical solutions, and sound commercial judgment that protects the business.

• Autonomy and extreme ownership: The ability to prioritize independently, surface risks early, and drive issues to resolution without close supervision.

• Commercial judgment and precision: Strong analytical skills and exceptional attention to detail across deal economics, terms, and documentation, even under tight deadlines. You distinguish material risks from issues that should not hold up a deal.

• Tact and communication: The ability to handle Sales exception and clarification requests tactfully, influence stakeholders, and esc

• Hands-on systems expertise: Experience with CRM, quoting or CPQ tools, and approval workflows, plus the ability to translate field needs into actionable business requirements.

• AI perspective and drive: A strong perspective on how AI is changing traditional quote-to-order workflows, and a passion for putting that perspective into practice across the business.

• People management: Experience managing and developing direct reports, with the ability to build a team while remaining hands-on.

Nice to have

• Evolving business models: Experience with consumption-based, usage-based, or hybrid subscription models.

• Enterprise complexity: Experience with enterprise procurement and multiyear agreements.