Head of Sales - (Call Centre)

Role Overview

An established direct marketing and insurance sales business is seeking a commercially driven Head of Sales to lead the performance of a large, high-volume outbound sales operation.

The Head of Sales will take full accountability for the commercial and operational performance of the Sales Floor, including revenue growth, profitability, productivity, sales quality, compliance, leadership capability, headcount planning and campaign delivery.

This is not a traditional call centre operations role. The successful candidate must demonstrate a strong track record of owning and growing revenue, managing budgets and forecasts, translating commercial targets into practical sales plans, and leading a large sales operation as though it were their own business.

The operation currently has approximately 500 sales seats and 650 employees , with the ability to scale rapidly when new clients or campaigns are secured.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Matric or an equivalent qualification.
  
• FAIS compliant.
  
• Must meet the regulatory requirements to act as a Key Individual for the organisation.
  
• At least five years’ experience managing large sales teams.
  
• Experience leading a sales operation of comparable scale.
  
• Proven experience in a call centre, contact centre, telesales or outbound sales environment.
  
• Demonstrated track record of owning and growing revenue, profitability or commercial performance.
  
• Experience managing sales budgets, forecasts and commercial targets.
  
• Strong understanding of call centre processes, procedures, productivity measures and reporting methods.
  
• Strong leadership experience, including managing and developing senior sales leaders.
  
• Highly numerate, analytical and commercially driven.
  
• Experience using sales data and management information to improve performance.
  

Benefits

Key Responsibilities

• Own the commercial and operational performance of the Sales Floor, with accountability for revenue, profitability and year-on-year growth.
  

• Manage the annual sales budget and forecast, translating business growth targets into practical sales plans.
  

• Shape sales strategy with the CEO and lead its execution across all campaigns.
  

• Monitor daily productivity, conversion, sales quality and campaign performance, setting clear monthly performance targets.
  

• Ensure sales calls, scripts and processes meet regulatory, client and quality standards, while reducing incomplete, cancelled and written-off sales.
  

• Lead the Senior Sales Leadership team, including campaign allocation, team structure, performance management and regular one-on-one coaching.
  

• Build leadership capability through succession planning, stretch opportunities and deliberate exposure for high-potential employees.
  

• Maintain the right headcount and operational capacity to meet lead volumes and scale rapidly when new campaigns are secured.
  

• Reduce staff turnover and absenteeism, while identifying recruitment and training requirements.
  

• Report regularly to the CEO on revenue, PBT, productivity and other key performance indicators.
  

• Model the organisation’s values of trust, integrity, honesty, humility and excellence.
  

Advantageous Experience

• Experience in insurance, financial services, banking, telesales or another regulated sales environment.
  

• Leadership of a large-scale outbound sales or call centre operation across multiple teams or campaigns.
  

• Experience managing an operation of approximately 500 seats or more.
  

• Proven success improving revenue, profitability, conversion, sales quality and customer retention.
  

• Experience scaling a sales operation in response to new clients, campaigns or increased lead volumes.
  

• Experience developing senior sales leaders and implementing formal succession plans.
  

• Exposure to sales quality assurance, scripting, compliance and performance reporting.
  

• A relevant business, commercial or sales qualification.