Sales Director Job Description Templates
Free sales director job description templates: general, director of sales, VP/head of sales, startup first hire, regional, and SaaS. Download as DOCX.
Sales Director Job Description Templates
6 free templates: general, director of sales, VP/head of sales, startup first hire, regional, and SaaS, with the sales-leader ladder and comp fields built in. Download as DOCX.
The sales director job description is one most owners copy from a generic template written for a large company, full of managing managers and reporting to the board, then wonder why the candidates do not fit. For a small team, the real question is not how to describe a big-company director; it is whether you even need a formal Sales Director, or a hands-on first sales leader who will actually sell. The title sits on a ladder, Sales Manager, Director, VP, Chief Sales Officer, and picking the wrong rung is the most common and expensive mistake in this hire.
At FirstHR, we build templates for businesses making this hire at every stage. The six templates below cover the real situations: general sales director, director of sales, VP or head of sales, the startup first sales leader, regional, and SaaS, each with the ladder, comp structure, and classification fields built in. Fill in the brackets and post, and the guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What a Sales Director Does
A sales director leads a company's sales team and owns the revenue target, combining people leadership with strategy and process. The work spans owning the number and the strategy, leading and coaching the team, setting quotas and territories, building the playbook, forecasting, managing the pipeline, and hiring reps.
What changes between companies is the scale and how hands-on the role is. At a large company, a sales director may manage managers within a built-out structure; at a small one, the role is a player-coach who sells directly while building the team. A Director of Sales is the same role under a different title, while a VP or Head of Sales sits a level above. That is why the templates below split by version. For scoping the role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Sales Manager vs Director vs VP vs CSO
Sales leadership titles form a ladder, and naming the right rung gets you the right candidates at the right cost. Here is how the levels compare.
| Title | Owns | Reports to |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Manager | A team of reps, day to day | Sales Director |
| Sales Director | A revenue target and strategy | VP of Sales / CEO |
| VP / Head of Sales | The whole sales function | CEO / CRO |
| Chief Sales Officer | The revenue organization | CEO |
For a small company, the honest question is which rung you actually need. Many businesses with a small team are better served by a strong sales manager or a hands-on first sales leader than by a formal director or VP, whose title implies an org structure of multiple teams and managers you may not have yet. Pick the level that matches your team size and stage, then use the matching template, rather than reaching for the most senior-sounding title.
Sales Director Duties and Responsibilities
Sales director duties center on four areas: revenue and strategy, team leadership, process and pipeline, and deals and partners. Every version shares these, with the scale and scope setting the weights. These are the duties grouped the way the templates use them.
A strong posting grounds these in your business: the revenue number the role owns, the size of the team, your CRM and sales stack, and your market. It also makes clear whether this is a hands-on player-coach or a pure manager, since that single distinction shapes who applies and who succeeds. Candidates read a sales-leader posting for the scope, the team, the comp structure, and the reporting line before applying.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by the level and setting. The sales-leadership core, own the number, lead the team, build the process, runs through all six, but the scope, reporting line, and comp differ enough that the matched version reads more credibly. Use this guide to choose.
6 Free Sales Director Job Description Templates
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, classification, compensation, and how to apply. Fill in the brackets, set your revenue target and comp structure, and post.
Template 1: General Sales Director (W-2)
The universal version for any business: own the revenue target, lead the team, and build the process. The right base to adapt for most sales-leader hires.
Template 2: Director of Sales (Alt-Title)
The same senior role under the Director of Sales title, common in hospitality and B2B. Adds industry-specific duties and relationship-driven selling.
Template 3: VP of Sales / Head of Sales
A level above a director: owns company-wide sales strategy, the full revenue number, the budget, and manages sales leaders. Reports to the CEO or CRO.
Template 4: First Sales Leader / Startup
The version no competitor offers: a hands-on player-coach who takes sales from founder-led to a real process, sells directly, and builds the playbook from scratch.
Template 5: Regional Sales Director
For multi-market companies: owns a regional revenue target, builds the territory plan, manages multi-market accounts, and travels to support the team.
Template 6: SaaS / Tech Sales Director
For software companies: owns ARR growth, manages the inbound, outbound, or partner motion, and optimizes the funnel in Salesforce or HubSpot.
Hiring Your First Sales Leader
For a small company moving from founder-led sales, the first dedicated sales hire is a milestone, and getting the level right is the whole game. The most common mistake is overshooting seniority.
This is why the First Sales Leader template is written differently from the others: it leads with hands-on selling, building the playbook, and growing the team as revenue justifies it, rather than a big-company org chart. If you have a founder doing sales and want a repeatable process, that template fits the moment. If you already have a few reps to manage, a salesperson hire plus a manager may be the better path. Match the hire to your stage, not the title that sounds most senior.
Exempt Classification and Comp
A genuine sales director role is almost always exempt, a salaried position not owed overtime, but the classification depends on the actual duties and salary, not the title. Get this right before you post.
A true Sales Director who directs the team, sets strategy, and has real authority over hiring typically qualifies as exempt under the executive or administrative exemption, since the role centers on managing people and a function. But exempt status requires both a salary above the federal threshold and a genuine duties test, so a leader who mostly sells with little real management authority may not qualify. Separately, sales compensation, base plus commission, draws, and bonuses, interacts with overtime rules for any non-exempt salespeople on the team, a commonly mishandled issue covered in the exempt vs non-exempt guide. For the director role, exempt is usually correct; confirm the salary level and duties. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with a professional, since rules vary by state.
How to Write a Sales Director Job Description
A strong sales-leader posting takes about 20 minutes once you settle the level, the scope, and the comp. Here is the process the templates are built around. If this is among your first hires, the guide to hiring your first employee covers the steps around the posting.
Sales Director Pay
Sales director pay is high and heavily weighted toward variable compensation, so total pay including commission matters more than base alone when you set the number.
That figure includes commissions and bonuses but reflects the broad sales-manager category. For senior sales-director roles specifically, market data shows total compensation often runs higher once a full commission and bonus structure is included, with significant variation by industry and by the revenue the role owns. The practical point for your posting is to lead with a total-compensation structure, base plus commission or bonus, often expressed as on-target earnings, rather than base alone, since experienced sales leaders evaluate the OTE and the plan. Benchmark to your industry and target, and include a good-faith range where your state requires it. National compensation surveys can help you set a competitive number.
Hiring for a Small Team
For a small company, hiring a sales leader comes down to a few things generic templates skip: picking the right level, classifying correctly, knowing the ladder, and onboarding around clear comp terms and a fast ramp. Here is what actually matters.
After You Hire: Onboarding
The job description is step one, and hiring a sales leader adds a couple of role-specific steps to the standard paperwork. Send the offer letter with the base, commission or bonus structure, and any equity, collect the signed offer, complete Form I-9 within the first days along with the rest of the new hire paperwork, and gather tax forms.
Beyond that, two things matter most for a sales leader: the compensation terms must be unambiguous, since base, quota, commission rate, and draw are the heart of the deal, and the ramp must be fast, since a sales leader who does not quickly understand your product, pipeline, and numbers costs you real revenue. A structured first ninety days works well here, which is why a 30-60-90 day plan fits a sales hire, alongside the usual onboarding documents and the kind of structured start the employee onboarding guide describes. Once terms are agreed, the offer letter template handles the core terms, and the contract template covers the formal agreement. FirstHR handles this for an owner-led company: send the offer letter with the comp terms for e-signature, store the signed offer and contract, and run a 30-60-90 onboarding workflow built for a sales hire. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with your payroll provider. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a sales director do?
A sales director leads a company's sales team and owns the revenue target, combining people leadership with strategy and process. The core work is consistent: owning the revenue number and the sales strategy, leading and coaching the sales team, setting quotas and territories, building and refining the sales process and playbook, forecasting accurately, managing the pipeline and key accounts, and hiring and onboarding new reps. The emphasis shifts by company size and type. At a large company, a sales director may manage other managers and a sizable team within a built-out structure. At a small company, the role is far more hands-on, often a player-coach who sells directly while building the team. A Director of Sales is the same senior role under a different title, common in hospitality and B2B. A VP or Head of Sales sits a level above, owning the entire function. This page offers a template for each version, from a general director to a startup first sales leader, with the comp and classification fields built in.
What is the difference between a sales director and a VP of sales?
A VP of Sales sits a level above a Sales Director, owning the entire sales function rather than a piece of it. A Sales Director owns a major revenue target and the sales strategy, typically managing a team or a group of managers and building the sales process, and usually reports up to a VP of Sales or directly to the CEO in a smaller company. A VP of Sales, or the equivalent Head of Sales, owns the full company revenue number, the sales budget, the go-to-market model, and the overall sales structure, manages sales directors and managers rather than reps directly, and reports to the CEO or CRO. In a large organization these are distinct roles with distinct scopes. In a small company, the lines blur, and one person may carry the responsibilities of both, which is why the title you choose should reflect your actual team size and structure rather than the most impressive-sounding option. Above the VP sits the Chief Sales Officer, an executive over the entire revenue organization. For your posting, match the title to the scope you genuinely need.
Is a sales director higher than a sales manager?
Yes, a sales director is more senior than a sales manager, sitting one rung up the sales leadership ladder. A Sales Manager runs a team of sales reps day to day, coaching them, managing their quotas, and handling the frontline work of keeping the team productive. A Sales Director owns a larger revenue target and the sales strategy, often managing several managers or a sizable team, and is responsible for building the process and playbook, not just running it. The ladder typically runs Sales Manager, then Sales Director or Director of Sales, then VP of Sales or Head of Sales, then Chief Sales Officer at the executive level. For a small company, this distinction matters practically: many businesses with five to fifty people actually need a strong Sales Manager or a hands-on first sales leader rather than a formal Sales Director, since the director title implies an org structure, managing managers, owning a strategy across multiple teams, that a small company may not have yet. Choose the level that matches your team size and stage, and use the matching template, rather than reaching for the most senior title.
Should a small business hire a sales director or a sales manager?
It depends on your stage, but many small businesses are better served by a sales manager or a hands-on first sales leader than by a formal sales director. The most common hiring mistake small companies make is overshooting seniority: hiring a polished director or VP who is used to managing managers and running a built-out team, when the business actually needs someone who will roll up their sleeves and sell. At five to fifty people, the right first sales hire is usually a player-coach who carries their own quota and closes deals directly while building the process and coaching the first reps, not an executive who expects support staff and an existing structure. If you have a founder doing sales and want to move to a real, repeatable process, the First Sales Leader template on this page is built for exactly that scenario. If you already have a few reps and need someone to manage and grow them, a sales manager may be the right level. Reserve the formal Sales Director or VP title for when you genuinely have multiple teams or managers to lead. Match the hire to your actual stage, not the title that sounds most senior.
Is a sales director exempt or non-exempt from overtime?
A genuine sales director role is almost always exempt, meaning a salaried position not owed overtime, but the classification depends on the actual duties and salary, not the title. A true Sales Director who directs the sales team, sets strategy, and has real authority over hiring and the sales process typically qualifies as exempt under the executive or administrative exemption, since the role centers on managing people and a function rather than non-exempt hourly work. Two cautions apply. First, exempt status requires both a salary above the federal threshold and a duties test that the role genuinely meets, so a sales leader who mostly sells with little real management authority, or is paid below the threshold, may not qualify. Second, sales compensation itself, base plus commission, draws, and bonuses, interacts with overtime rules in ways that matter most for any non-exempt salespeople on the team, a separate and commonly mishandled issue. For the director-level role, exempt is usually correct, but confirm the salary level and that the duties truly involve leading the team and the function. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with an employment professional, since exemption and sales-comp rules vary by state.
How much does a sales director make?
Sales director pay is high and heavily weighted toward variable compensation, so total pay including commission matters more than base alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics groups sales directors under sales managers, whose median annual wage was about $138,060 in May 2024, with the lowest ten percent under about $66,910 and the highest ten percent above $239,200; employment is projected to grow 5 percent through 2034. That figure includes commissions and bonuses but reflects the broad sales-manager category. For senior sales-director roles specifically, market data shows total compensation often runs higher once a full commission and bonus structure is included, with significant variation by industry, technology, pharmaceutical, and telecommunications tend to pay at the top, and by company size and the revenue the role owns. The practical point for your posting is to lead with a total-compensation structure, base plus commission or bonus, often expressed as on-target earnings, rather than base alone, since experienced sales leaders evaluate the OTE and the plan. Benchmark to your industry and the revenue target the role carries, and include a good-faith pay range where your state requires it.
What qualifications does a sales director need?
A sales director needs a proven record of hitting revenue targets plus demonstrated leadership experience, with the specific bar set by your company size and industry. The core qualifications are consistent: several years of sales experience with a track record of meeting and exceeding quota, experience leading and coaching a sales team, strong forecasting and pipeline-management skills, and proficiency with a CRM such as Salesforce or HubSpot. A bachelor's degree is commonly listed but increasingly treated as optional in favor of a demonstrated results record. Beyond the basics, calibrate to the role: a startup first sales leader needs hands-on selling ability and ideally has built a sales process before, while a VP-level hire needs experience managing other sales leaders and owning a full revenue number and budget. A regional director needs territory-planning experience and willingness to travel, and a SaaS director needs deep funnel metrics and CRM discipline. For your posting, lead with the results and leadership requirements that matter for your stage, keep degree requirements optional unless genuinely necessary, and name the CRM and any industry experience you actually need.
What happens after I hire a sales director?
Hiring a sales leader adds a couple of role-specific steps to standard onboarding, and getting them right protects both the relationship and your revenue. The base sequence matches any W-2 hire: send the offer letter with the base, commission or bonus structure, and any equity; collect the signed offer; complete Form I-9 within the first days; and gather tax forms like the W-4. Beyond that, two things matter more for a sales leader: the compensation terms must be unambiguous, since base, quota, commission rate, and draw are the heart of the deal and a frequent source of later dispute, and the ramp must be fast, because a sales leader who does not quickly understand your product, pipeline, and numbers costs you real revenue. A structured first ninety days, learning the product and pipeline, then taking ownership of the team and the number, gets them productive faster, which is why a 30-60-90 plan works well for this role. FirstHR handles this for an owner-led company: send the offer letter with the comp terms for e-signature, store the signed offer and contract, and run a 30-60-90 onboarding workflow built for a sales hire. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with your payroll provider. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.