Services Sales Director, Professional Services, EMEA

Okta Professional Services focuses on delivering first class implementations into small businesses right through to delivering strategic engagements. A critical element of Okta’s strategy is helping all of our customers accelerate their time to value and support in nurturing the relationship with the customers, partners and business stakeholders. At Okta we believe that all customers deserve an exceptional experience. When we do this well, our customers succeed and Okta succeeds by increasing our renewal and growth rates.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Professional Services EMEA you will be responsible for leading our Services Sales for EMEA. The role will require close partnership with the Delivery Director and the EMEA Sales leads as well as our renewals team, CSM team, TAM team and Support team. You will set the team up for success and work with the Senior Director and Delivery Director to set the strategic vision.

The Sales Services Director is a proven, passionate, strategic sales leader who understands how to build and scale a team of Services Sales Executives that will reach and exceed their targets. The Sales Services Director acts as a mentor,coach and doesn’t mind getting hands-on to assist a SAE on a complex deal, to ensure the best result is achieved.

 

The Sales Services Director is expected to create and execute sales strategies that align with the license sales team and Partner First strategy of Okta. They build cross-functional relationships internally as well as with our vast partner network. They manage the overall pipeline and forecast for the business and understand the alignment to the delivery team and billings metrics. 

 

You will be a strong advocate who helps to influence priorities for other groups and the overall PS team and be vigilant in keeping close to the team to monitor quotas, workload, career aspirations and opportunities, provide constructive feedback, appreciation and promote a strong culture of continuous learning; personally invest in developing and mentoring others. 

 

The primary measurement of success for this role will be YOY growth in overall services bookings.

 

What you’ll be doing 

• Focusing on the Customer: It is imperative that in the sales process our thoughts and actions are centered around how we can help the customer be successful. Lead strategic conversations and present the right package that will lead to effective delivery and fast platform adoption.
• Scale and Growth: Create a compelling vision that resonates with SAEs and other cross-functional teams. You will mentor, build, train and lead a team of Services Sales Executives that the AEs want to pull into deals. The team drives value conversations with AEs, Customers and Partners leading to a great customer experience. 
• Forecasting: Understand how to measure and forecast the pipeline to provide insights into the quarterly performance. Understand the data and make informed decisions on where we spend our time to get the highest value. Leverage data to make decisions on territory plans. 
• Performance: You will be responsible for meeting and exceeding targets around all Professional Services bookings and Education bookings. You understand how to build multiple streams of pipeline and leverage teams around you.  A portion of your compensation will be based on billings to ensure what is being sold can be delivered. 
• Demonstrate outstanding influencing, negotiation and commercial skills alongside proven large deal experience and sophisticated C Suite negotiation skills.
• Utilise industry expertise: Understand a customer's motivation, business drivers, strategic goals and objectives, and desired business outcomes.
• Engage Customers: This will include C-Level executives, using a consultative selling approach that positions Okta as a strategic partner to the customer 
• Collaboration: You won’t only focus on your team’s development, you will collaborate with global peers sharing information and ideas to accelerate the growth of our sales skills. Strategically understand and further develop the interface of Services Sales function towards other company units.
• Present, speak and engage: Present and engage at all customer-facing industry events to demonstrate the value of Professional Services in Okta’s ecosystem and support pipeline development.
• Partners: Work harmoniously with Okta channel partners on joint proposals and scoping to ensure customer success
• Be able to work at a fast pace to keep up with Okta's rapid pace of growth, both in technology, team sizes and several concurrent running deals.
• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organisation’s goals.
• Demonstrates Self-Awareness (EQ): Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies. Developing new initiatives, assessing new markets, and analysing net-new business opportunities.

 

What you’ll bring to the role

• 10+ years of Professional Services experience operating within a large globally-recognised software vendor or large Consulting provider.
• Proven Professional Sales Services leader, with experience managing a team responsible for $20M+ bookings targets.
• Experience selling professional services related to digital transformation.
• Relentless focus on excellence, growth, innovation and high delivery and operational excellence.
• Well established track record of producing high quality results while establishing/maintaining customer relationships at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain positive relationships with key partners throughout a delivery process.
• Strong verbal and presentation skills: Showing the value, capabilities, and differentiators of complex service solutions using methodologies and service offerings.
• Experience with SOW/Proposal processes by scoping, producing, and delivering to the customer SOWs that meet customers' documented requirements or the eagerness to learn.
• Quickly understands our systems and processes to ensure the team is less focused on operational tasks and more focused on selling. 
• Some knowledge and experience in Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Security space preferred.
• Ability to learn Okta solutions to be able to confidently scope engagements and leverage our technical sales team members for more in-depth deals.
• The ability to manage high performers, solid performers and lower performers effectively. Understanding of Situational leadership and Grow models.
• Applicants must be located within London or a reasonable commutable distance.
• Be able to travel to the office 2 to 3 times a week.
• Travel may be up to 50%.

Okta’s Top 5 Core Leadership Competencies are part of the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our company’s actions. They also align strongly to our cultural cornerstones, our Okta values: love our customers, empower our people, never stop innovating, act with integrity, and maintain transparency. It’s our expectation that our managers and leaders embody these core competencies:

• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.          
• Demonstrates Self-Awareness (EQ): Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.

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Last updated on Aug 20, 2024