Sales Director, SMB

We are seeking an experienced, entrepreneurial SaaS sales leader to build, scale, and lead our Braze For Startups (SMB) sales organization. This highly visible leadership role is for someone who has successfully built and scaled an SMB or velocity-sales business within a high-growth or enterprise-scale SaaS company. The ideal candidate combines hands-on sales leadership with the strategic and operational depth to build a repeatable growth engine. They will lead a team of SMB Account Executives and outbound prospecting professionals while defining the sales motion, coaching methodology, performance standards, hiring plan, and operating cadence necessary to scale efficiently.

Responsibilities

Own the strategy, execution, and performance of the SMB sales segment, including revenue attainment, pipeline generation, conversion, sales productivity, and forecast accuracy; Build and lead a high-performing team of Account Executives; Create a clear and repeatable SMB sales motion across inbound, outbound, partner-led, and sales-assisted acquisition channels; Establish the business operating cadence, including pipeline reviews, forecast calls, deal inspection, performance management, quarterly planning, and executive business reviews; Recruit, onboard, coach, develop, and retain exceptional sales talent; build the management bench and career paths required to scale the organization; Develop sales playbooks, enablement programs, prospecting standards, qualification methodologies, discovery frameworks, and objection-handling tools; Partner with Sales Operations to design territory and account-assignment models, lead routing, pipeline definitions, capacity plans, compensation structures, dashboards, and forecasting processes; Work closely with Marketing to improve demand generation, campaign conversion, account targeting, lead quality, lifecycle programs, and attribution across the SMB funnel; Collaborate with Customer Success and Account Management to ensure smooth handoffs, strong customer activation, retention, adoption, and expansion opportunities; Build and operationalize relationships with venture capital firms, startup ecosystems, accelerators, agencies, consultants, system integrators, and technology partners; Develop partner-led and ecosystem-led growth motions, including referral, co-sell, implementation, marketplace, and portfolio-company programs; Represent the company with customers, partners, industry communities, and senior stakeholders; bring market, customer, and competitive insights back to the broader go-to-market organization; Identify opportunities to improve SMB packaging, pricing, onboarding, product adoption, and go-to-market efficiency through direct customer insight and data-driven analysis; Operate as a strategic business leader with the autonomy to prioritize investments, improve execution, and build the programs necessary to make SMB a durable growth engine

Requirements

7+ years of progressive SaaS sales and go-to-market experience, ideally including SMB, commercial, velocity, growth, or emerging-business segments; At least 3+ years of direct people-management experience leading SMB sales teams, including Account Executives and preferably SDR, BDR, or outbound prospecting organizations; Demonstrated success building or materially scaling an SMB sales team, sales motion, or revenue segment within a high-growth or large-scale SaaS environment; A strong record of hiring, coaching, developing, and retaining quota-carrying sales talent and frontline sales managers; Experience owning meaningful revenue targets and consistently delivering against new-business, pipeline, productivity, and forecast goals; Deep knowledge of SaaS sales metrics and levers, including ARR, ACV, pipeline coverage, conversion rates, sales-cycle length, quota attainment, productivity, CAC efficiency, retention, and expansion; Experience creating and improving sales processes, performance-management systems, forecasting cadences, qualification standards, and sales enablement programs; Proven ability to lead both an outbound prospecting function and a full-cycle SMB Account Executive team; Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with experience partnering closely with Marketing, Customer Success, Account Management, Product, Sales Operations, Finance, and Partnerships; Experience building relationships with venture capital firms, accelerators, startup communities, agencies, system integrators, consultants, and/or technology partners; Demonstrated ability to develop partner-sourced or partner-influenced pipeline through co-sell, referrals, agency relationships, technology integrations, and ecosystem programs; Executive-level communication skills, including the ability to lead compelling customer conversations, executive presentations, QBRs, internal business reviews, and partner discussions; Strong business acumen and the ability to navigate complex organizations, identify economic buyers and decision-makers, and guide stakeholders through the SaaS buying process; A data-driven operating style, sound judgment, high accountability, and comfort making decisions in an evolving, ambiguous environment; Strong external presence and a natural ability to build trusted relationships through professional communities, social channels, events, and industry networks; Familiarity with current digital, mobile, AI, customer-engagement, and application-market trends

Nice to have

Experience selling marketing technology, customer engagement, marketing automation, CRM, email, mobile, analytics, or related SaaS solutions is strongly preferred; Prior experience in a startup, scale-up, or high-growth technology company is strongly preferred

Benefits

Competitive compensation that may include equity; Restricted stock (RSUs) equity grants; Retirement and Employee Stock Purchase Plans; Flexible paid time off; Comprehensive benefit plans covering medical, dental, vision, life, and disability; Family services that include fertility benefits and equal paid parental leave; Professional development supported by formal career pathing, learning platforms, and a yearly learning stipend; A curated in-office employee experience, designed to foster community, team connections, and innovation; Opportunities to give back to your community, including an annual company-wide Volunteer Week and donation matching; Employee Resource Groups that provide supportive communities within Braze; Collaborative, transparent, and fun culture recognized as a Great Place to Work®