Sales Operations Manager, Direct Sales

About the role

The Sales Operations Manager, Direct Sales is the operational partner responsible for helping the AE organization generate revenue with greater clarity, discipline, speed, and predictability. This is a manager-level individual contributor role with no direct reports. The role partners closely with Sales leadership, Revenue Operations, Enablement, Finance, Business Systems, SDR, and Marketing to improve how the Direct Sales motion runs from lead and opportunity management through Closed Won. This is not a reporting-only role or a tactical support desk. The right person will diagnose what is slowing sellers down, pressure-test pipeline and forecast assumptions, identify where process or data is breaking down, and lead operational changes that improve sales execution.

Performance Objectives

• Establish Clarity and Trust (First 30 Days)
• Build a deep understanding of the Direct Sales motion, including lead flow, opportunity management, pipeline creation, forecast cadence, sales stages, handoffs, and performance drivers.
• Establish strong relationships with Sales leadership, frontline managers, SDR Ops, Enablement, Finance, Marketing, Business Systems, and Analytics.
• Audit lead and opportunity management processes to identify gaps in adoption, stage integrity, forecast visibility, seller efficiency, and manager accountability.
• Assess pipeline health, CRM hygiene, forecast accuracy, close-date discipline, territory design, quota coverage, and seller tool adoption.
• Identify the highest-impact opportunities to reduce seller friction through process simplification, automation, AI-enabled workflows, or better reporting.
• Deliver a current-state assessment with prioritized recommendations, including quick wins and longer-term improvements.

Build Operational Rigor (60 Days)

• Refine lead and opportunity workflows to improve pipeline quality, accountability, and forecast reliability.
• Implement pipeline hygiene standards, including stage criteria, aging thresholds, next-step expectations, close-date discipline, and forecast category guidance.
• Establish a consistent pipeline inspection and forecasting cadence with Sales leadership and frontline managers.
• Build manager-owned operating rhythms so Sales Ops enables accountability without becoming the long-term owner of seller follow-up.
• Deliver actionable insights on funnel conversion, sales velocity, win rates, stage progression, deal quality, and rep/segment performance.
• Scope automation or AI-enabled opportunities that reduce manual work, improve data quality, or surface risk faster.
• Partner with Business Systems and Enablement to support CRM/workflow improvements, rollout readiness, seller communication, and adoption.

Scale Predictability and Impact (90+ Days)

• Own ongoing pipeline health, stage integrity, forecast inspection, and adoption standards across the Direct Sales motion.
• Improve forecast confidence by identifying risk early and surfacing root causes tied to process, coverage, deal quality, seller behavior, or market dynamics.
• Establish durable reporting and inspection views for sellers, managers, Sales leadership, Finance, and RevOps.
• Assess territory, quota, capacity, and account coverage models; provide recommendations aligned to growth plans.
• Surface repeatable insights on ICP fit, account prioritization, deal quality, source performance, and conversion drivers.
• Drive measurable improvements in tool adoption, seller efficiency, sales cycle visibility, pipeline quality, and forecast accuracy.
• Be viewed by Sales leadership as a trusted operating partner who brings clarity, urgency, and practical solutions.

Ongoing Responsibilities

• Pipeline, Forecasting & Deal Inspection
• Sales Process, Tool Adoption & Change Management
• Automation, AI & Seller Efficiency
• Territory, Quota, Capacity & Account Strategy Design
• Performance & Funnel Analytics
• Business Systems Partnership