Sales Director – Financial Services

Version 1 has celebrated over 26 years in Technology Services and continues to be trusted by global brands to deliver solutions that drive customer success. Version 1 has several strategic technology partners including Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Red Hat, OutSystems and Snowflake. We’re also an award-winning employer reflecting how employees are at the heart of Version 1.

We’ve been awarded: Innovation Partner of the Year Winner 2023 Oracle EMEA Partner Awards, Global Microsoft Modernising Applications Partner of the Year Award 2023, AWS Collaboration Partner of the Year - EMEA 2023 and Best Workplaces for Women by Great Place To Work in UK and Ireland 2023.

As a consultancy and service provider, Version 1 is a digital-first environment, and we do things differently. We’re focused on our core values; using these we’ve seen significant growth across our practices and our Digital, Data and Cloud team is preparing for the next phase of expansion. This creates new opportunities for driven and skilled individuals to join one of the fastest-growing consultancies globally.

Purpose of role:

As we continue to deliver significant growth, we have an opportunity for a seasoned IT sales leader to take on a strategic leadership role – Sales Director for Financial Services.

This is an exciting opportunity for a proven, ambitious sales leader to build and manage a high-performing commercial team - growing Version 1’s reputation, relationships, and revenue across key target industries within the financial services (FSI) sector, including – Banking, Insurance & Capital Markets.

The role is best suited to a well established sales leader with the drive to lead the challenge of doubling the size of Version 1’s existing financial services business in the coming years, in line with Group growth ambitions.

The sales operation is rapidly growing and the Sales Director for Financial Services will ensure the organisational structure, sales processes and cadence are executed to high standards of excellence to ensure respective teams meet and exceed commercial targets and objectives against pipeline generation, contract closings and revenue growth.

The Sales Director for Financial Services will be part of the commercial leadership team, accountable for delivering the Revenue number for the financial services sector business, driving business growth and scaling the commercial organisation. The successful candidate will possess a proven ability to build relationships with senior customer stakeholders, understand their needs and to close large, complex deals encompassing digital, data, cloud and managed services. Based on this experience through your own career, you will be able to lead and coach a team of sales professionals to drive commercial success and deliver on the Group business growth plans.

Job Responsibilities:

• Delivering the commercial outcomes for an 8-figure revenue stream the FSI business and driving double digit % growth Year on Year.
• Leading and coaching the financial services sales teams, focused on growing and protecting existing accounts and winning new business in target sub-sectors across UK & Ireland, and the US.
• Shaping the global sales strategy for financial services and driving its execution on a multi-year horizon working with other Leaders in the business – tracking performance against targets, pivoting where necessary to capitalise on market opportunity, segmenting and expanding the customer base and embedding ways of working that focus on delivery excellence.
• Enabling the financial services sales team to develop competitive pricing/contracting strategies and shaping and signing off the commercial approach for qualified deals.
• Acting as executive sponsor for key deals and customer contracts to drive growth and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction across all financial services accounts.
• Challenging the team to introduce prospects and customers to new capabilities and innovation, shaped by our Office of the CTO (OCTO).
  • This will include driving the team to collaborate with Marketing, Pre-Sales and OCTO to pitch “proactive proposals” to customers to cross/up sell the breadth and depth of the Version 1 propositions portfolio to solve customer problems and secure long-term growth in strategic accounts.
• Championing a best practice approach to opportunity management – equipping the team to explore routes to market via Version 1 partners and driving excellence in sales execution and deal planning.
• Collaborating with business leaders across the Group to ensure Version 1 always presents “one voice” to the customer and that the team continuously identifies opportunities to cross/up sell the breadth and depth of our portfolio capabilities.
• Crucially, as a senior leader in Version 1, ensure the company’s Core Values and Leadership Principles are upheld and enhanced where possible.
• Ensuring all financial services contracts meet Version 1 standards and risk requirements, and awarded contracts are successfully executed in line with contractual commitments.
• Ensuring financial services sales team operate to an exemplary standard at all times – driving and presenting consistently accurate forecast sales data, maintaining high levels of data quality in CRM and bringing to bear sales process best practice.

• Experience of managing and successfully delivering against a minimum of 8-figure revenue targets within the financial services sector across serving customers on a global basis. Experience of successfully operating within a Private Equity ownership environment is an advantage.
• At least 15+ years experience in sales roles as both an individual contributor and leader, selling technology services such as Software Engineering, Application Modernisation, Cloud Transformation, Data & Digital Services to customers in the financial services sector.
  • A detailed understanding of outsourced managed services is also required.
• Adept at managing, motivating, and scaling sales teams to drive commercial success, instilling a high-growth, high-performance mindset to consistently deliver against sales targets.
• Exceptional commercial acumen and written and verbal communication skills.
• Advanced domain knowledge of the three financial services sub-sectors of Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets.
• The drive to bring world class sales processes, accuracy and transparency in forecasting, while managing a multi-stream sales organisation.
• Detailed understanding of off-shore and near-shore delivery and commercial models to support onshore capability offerings.
• Strong working knowledge of technology trends & CIO agendas across digital, data and cloud solutions, particularly within financial services customers.
• Demonstrable experience delivering sales strategies via partner channels.
• Ability to set priorities and drive results in a fast-paced sales environment.

Why join Version 1?  

• Share in our Success: Excellent base salary plus bonus & an opportunity to join our new V1 Equity success scheme

• Inclusive Culture: We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.  

• Professional Growth: We offer peer mentorship programs and career development opportunities to help you reach your full potential. 

• Work-Life Balance: We understand the importance of work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements. 

• Supportive Community: Join a team that values collaboration, respect, and mutual support. 

At Version 1, we believe in providing our employees with a comprehensive benefits package that prioritises their well-being, professional growth, and financial stability.

We also offer a range of tech-related benefits, including an innovative Tech Scheme to help keep our team members up-to-date with the latest technology.

We prioritise the health and safety of our employees, providing private medical and life insurance coverage, as well as free eye tests and contributions towards glasses. Our team members can also stay ahead of the curve with incentivised certifications and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat.

Our employee-designed Profit Share scheme divides a portion of our company's profits each quarter amongst employees. We are dedicated to helping our employees reach their full potential, offering Pathways Career Development Quarterly, a programme designed to support professional growth.

PLUS, many more exciting benefits… drop us a note to find out more.  

Paul.Steed@version1.com #LI-PS1