Director, Sales

DigitalOcean • San Francisco, CA

3d • Remote

About The Position

DigitalOcean is seeking a Director of Sales for its core services to lead sales efforts serving startups and digital-native enterprises, including SaaS, FinTech, and AI companies. The director will build and lead a high-performing team of Account Executives and front-line managers, balancing hands-on involvement in strategic deals with leadership of the team. The role is responsible for driving revenue through new customer acquisition and existing-account expansion, while developing a customer-obsessed sales culture and collaborating across the organization to serve customers’ cloud needs.

The Director will lead direct sales strategy and execution, own pipeline and revenue attainment, coach the team through negotiations and deal closing, and help customers understand DigitalOcean’s platform and offerings. The position partners with Marketing, Product, Revenue Operations, Engineering, AI GTM, and other teams to develop predictable pipeline, represent customer insights, build and enable the sales organization, and improve sales operations and performance.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in technical sales or business development within cloud infrastructure, SaaS, or AI/ML.
• 5+ years leading sales teams and managers with measurable revenue impact.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, onboarding, and coaching Account Executives and working alongside solution architects and technical account managers.
• Understanding of cloud concepts and technologies, including IaaS, PaaS, containers, Kubernetes, developer tools, AI/ML frameworks, and GPU workloads, and ability to engage credibly with technical and commercial stakeholders.
• Familiarity with the needs and buying behaviors of digital-native companies, including SaaS startups, AI-first businesses, e-commerce platforms, Web3 companies, and developer-centric teams, and experience with go-to-market motions targeting them.
• Comfort operating as a player-coach, leading a team while staying close to key deals.
• Strong business acumen and operational discipline, including pipeline management, forecasting, and sales performance metrics.
• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Marketing, Legal, Finance, and Customer Success.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and executive engagement skills, with ability to influence internally and externally.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and comfort navigating ambiguity and executing quickly in a fast-scaling environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute direct sales strategy for the segment, acquiring, growing, and retaining customers across startups, SaaS, generative AI, Web3, and other digital-native verticals.
• Own the team’s pipeline and revenue attainment from lead through close.
• Coach the sales team on negotiations, deal structuring, and closing key accounts; participate in strategic deals as needed.
• Enable the team to communicate the value of DigitalOcean offerings, including Droplets, Kubernetes, App Platform, and GPU offerings, to technical and business decision-makers.
• Build relationships with key customers, prospects, and ecosystem influencers.
• Partner with Marketing, Product, and Revenue Operations on go-to-market strategy and predictable pipeline, including targeted campaigns, account-based marketing programs, and events.
• Represent customer perspectives to Product, Engineering, and AI GTM teams, sharing field insights on product-market fit and opportunities.
• Recruit, hire, and develop Account Executives and front-line managers, fostering high performance, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Partner with Enablement on onboarding, product and sales methodology training, and career development.
• Implement and reinforce a consistent sales methodology and process.
• Deliver accurate forecasts to sales leadership and own team operational KPIs.
• Manage territories, quota allocation, and performance against targets with Sales/Revenue Operations.
• Track and report pipeline generation, conversion rates, deal velocity, average contract value, and cost of sale to support data-driven decisions.
• Work with Revenue Operations to improve sales processes and CRM usage and ensure the team has appropriate tools and data.

Benefits

• Reimbursement for relevant conferences, training, and education, subject to company policy.
• Flexible time off.
• Local team meetups.
• Mental health and well-being support.
• Annual bonus plan eligibility, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
• Potential new-hire equity grant, subject to plan terms and local eligibility.
• Potential incentive compensation under the applicable sales compensation plan.
• In participating countries, opportunity to participate in the Employee Stock Purchase Program.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed