Free Sales Manager Job Description Templates
Free sales manager job description templates: standard, inside, outside, regional, and first sales hire. Download as DOCX and customize.
Sales Manager Job Description Templates
5 free templates by type. Download as DOCX or copy-paste.
A sales manager leads your sales team to hit revenue targets: setting goals, coaching reps, building the process, and owning the numbers. For a small business, it is one of the highest-leverage hires you make, and often a player-coach who sells as much as they manage. The job description you write sets the scope, the compensation expectations, and the bar for experience, and it is your first filter for a hire that directly drives revenue.
At FirstHR, we build for small and growing businesses where the owner makes the key hires directly. The five templates below cover the most common versions of the role: standard, inside sales, outside or field sales, regional, and the small-business first sales hire. Each is ready to use. Fill in the bracketed fields, adjust to match your team, and post. For the fundamentals behind any posting, the guide to writing a job description covers the basics.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template that matches how your team sells and the level you are hiring. The core structure is the same across all five, but each one emphasizes the responsibilities, metrics, and requirements that fit a specific kind of sales management role. Use this guide to choose.
5 Free Sales Manager Job Description Templates
Download all five as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each one follows the same structure: company overview, job summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, KPIs, compensation, and how to apply. Fill in the brackets before you post.
Template 1: Standard Sales Manager
The all-purpose version for any business hiring a sales manager. Leads the team, owns targets, builds process, recruits reps, and reports on results, with balanced requirements. Start here if the role fits a general sales management position.
Template 2: Inside Sales Manager
For teams selling by phone, email, and video. Adds pipeline velocity, activity metrics, CRM-driven process, and remote team management. Use this for a high-velocity inside sales motion common in SaaS and B2B.
Template 3: Outside / Field Sales Manager
For field sales teams. Adds territory management, travel, in-person closing, major-account relationships, and a driver's license requirement. Use this when your reps sell face to face.
Template 4: Regional Sales Manager
For multi-location businesses. Adds managing several teams or territories, regional strategy and budget, forecasting, and standardizing process across locations. Use this for a senior role spanning multiple markets.
Template 5: Small Business Sales Manager (First Sales Hire)
For a small business hiring its first sales leader. A hands-on player-coach who sells directly and builds the sales function from scratch, with realistic requirements and no MBA needed. Use this when there is no sales team to inherit.
What Is a Sales Manager?
A sales manager is the person responsible for a sales team's performance and revenue results. The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the role as recruiting, hiring, and training sales staff and planning, directing, or coordinating the delivery of a product or service to customers. In practice, a sales manager sets targets, coaches reps, owns the sales process and pipeline, forecasts, and reports on results.
The role looks different depending on the team. An inside sales manager runs a remote, metrics-driven motion; a field sales manager works territories in person; a regional manager oversees multiple teams; and at a small business, the sales manager is often a player-coach who sells alongside the team. That is why the job description should describe your specific setup rather than copy a generic one. For the reps the manager will lead, the sales representative job description templates pair naturally with this role.
Sales Manager Duties and Responsibilities
Sales manager duties fall into four broad areas. A strong job description selects the specific responsibilities from each area that apply to your team rather than listing every possible task. These are the responsibilities most often expected of the role.
For an inside or field role, the duties tilt toward the relevant selling motion and its metrics. For a first sales hire, they include carrying a personal quota alongside building the function. For help scoping the role before you write the posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through a simple process.
What to Include in a Sales Manager Job Description
Every strong sales manager job description includes the same core sections, with concrete duties and metrics rather than generic ones. The templates above are built around them, but it helps to see the difference between vague and specific wording.
| Weak bullet | Strong bullet |
|---|---|
| Manage the team | Coach a team of [X] reps to hit individual and team quotas |
| Drive sales | Own a team revenue target of $[X] per quarter |
| Use a CRM | Manage the pipeline and forecasting in the CRM |
| Hire reps | Recruit, hire, and onboard new sales representatives |
| Report results | Forecast monthly and report on quota attainment and pipeline |
Specific, metric-driven duties attract candidates who can deliver results and signal a serious employer. Keep the language neutral and inclusive too, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on protected characteristics. For a fuller framework, the SHRM guide to writing a job description covers the standard sections.
Required vs Preferred Qualifications
The most common mistake in sales manager postings is over-requiring. Generic templates demand an MBA and a decade of enterprise experience, which is not the norm and shrinks your pool. Separating must-haves from nice-to-haves widens your reach without lowering the bar on what matters.
Put proven results and coaching ability in your required section, and reserve a degree, specific industry experience, or advanced tools for preferred. Most sales manager roles are salaried and exempt, so review the Department of Labor FLSA classification rules when you structure base pay and commission.
Inside vs Outside vs Regional Sales Manager
These variations are not just different titles; they require different skills, metrics, and job descriptions. Choosing the right one keeps your posting accurate and helps the right candidates self-select.
| Type | Sells | Key focus |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Sales Manager | Remotely, by phone and email | Pipeline velocity and activity metrics |
| Outside / Field Sales Manager | In person, across a territory | Travel, relationships, in-person closing |
| Regional Sales Manager | Across multiple teams or areas | Regional strategy, budget, multiple teams |
A small business often starts with a single player-coach sales manager who blends elements of all three, then specializes as the team grows. Match the template to how you actually sell today, not to a structure you do not yet have.
Sales Manager Salary
Sales managers are well-compensated, usually through a base salary plus commission or bonus tied to results. Set your range using government data as a baseline, then adjust for industry, company size, location, and how much of the package is variable.
Always publish the compensation structure, at least at a high level. Sales candidates evaluate the comp plan closely before applying, so a clear base-plus-commission framework attracts serious talent and filters out mismatches. Pay transparency in postings is also required in a growing number of states.
How to Write a Sales Manager Job Description
A strong sales manager job description takes about 20 minutes to write if you follow a clear structure. Here is the process the templates are built around. If this is a key early hire, the small business hiring guide covers the steps around the posting itself.
Hiring a Sales Manager for a Small Business
A large company hires a sales manager into an established sales org with a team, a comp plan, and a process. A small business does not. The owner makes the hire, and the new manager often sells, builds the process, and leads a tiny team all at once. As you grow, other team leads follow the same pattern, which is why bringing on an assistant manager shares the same scoping challenge. Here is how to write the posting for that reality.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one. Once a candidate accepts, the same document becomes the basis for the offer and onboarding. A sales leader's first weeks set the tone for the whole team, so a structured start has an outsized payoff for a revenue-generating role.
A structured onboarding turns a new sales manager into a productive leader quickly, which matters most for a role measured directly in revenue. Once your offer is ready, the offer letter template handles the next step, and an onboarding template gives the new manager a structured start. FirstHR connects the offer, paperwork, and onboarding workflow in one place so a small business can manage the full process from one system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a sales manager do?
A sales manager leads a sales team to hit revenue targets. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales managers recruit, hire, and train sales staff and plan, direct, or coordinate the delivery of a product or service to customers. Day to day, that means setting quotas, coaching reps, building and improving the sales process, managing the pipeline, forecasting, and reporting on results. In a small business, the sales manager is often a player-coach who also sells directly and carries a personal quota. The exact scope depends on whether the team sells inside, in the field, or across regions, which is why the job description should describe your specific situation.
What are the duties and responsibilities of a sales manager?
A sales manager's responsibilities fall into four areas. Team leadership: coaching reps, recruiting and hiring, and managing performance. Process and pipeline: building the sales process, managing the pipeline in the CRM, and supporting key deals. Targets and reporting: setting quotas, forecasting revenue, and analyzing metrics. Strategy: aligning sales with company goals and collaborating with marketing. The balance shifts by role. An inside sales manager focuses on pipeline velocity and activity metrics, a field sales manager on territories and in-person selling, and a first sales hire at a small business does much of it hands-on while also carrying their own quota.
What qualifications does a sales manager need?
Most sales managers have several years of sales experience and a track record of hitting targets, plus some leadership or team-lead experience. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales managers typically need a bachelor's degree and work experience as a sales representative, though some jobs are filled by candidates with a high school diploma. A degree is usually preferred rather than strictly required. Beyond credentials, look for strong coaching ability, comfort with a CRM and sales metrics, and proven results. For a small-business first sales hire, results and a hands-on, build-from-scratch mindset matter far more than formal education.
What is the difference between an inside and an outside sales manager?
An inside sales manager leads a team that sells remotely, by phone, email, and video, and focuses on pipeline velocity, activity metrics, and CRM-driven process. This model is common in SaaS and B2B. An outside or field sales manager leads reps who sell in person, manages territories, joins key calls, and builds relationships with major accounts, which requires travel and usually a driver's license. A regional sales manager sits above both, owning results across multiple teams or territories and managing a regional budget. Use the template that matches how your team actually sells, since the metrics and requirements differ meaningfully.
How much does a sales manager make?
Sales managers are well-compensated, typically through a base salary plus commission or bonus tied to team performance. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $138,060 for sales managers in May 2024, with the lowest 10 percent earning under $66,910 and the highest 10 percent over $239,200. Actual pay varies widely by industry, company size, location, and how much of the package is variable. At a small business, total compensation is often lower base with meaningful commission upside. Always include the compensation structure in the posting, since sales candidates evaluate the comp plan closely before applying.
Does a sales manager need an MBA?
No. An MBA is not a standard requirement for a sales manager. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales managers typically need a bachelor's degree and experience as a sales representative, and some qualify with a high school diploma. Requiring an MBA or advanced degree, as some generic templates do, will shrink your applicant pool without improving the quality of hire, especially at a small business. What matters most is a proven sales track record, leadership ability, and coaching skill. List a degree as preferred rather than required, and focus your requirements on experience and results.
What happens after I hire a sales manager?
Once a sales manager accepts, the job description becomes the basis for the offer and onboarding. A sales leader's first weeks set the tone for the whole team: they need to learn your product, pipeline, CRM, comp plan, and customers, and align on targets fast. Plan a structured onboarding with clear first-90-day goals, ideally a sales-focused 30-60-90 day plan, so the new manager starts driving results quickly. Collect signed paperwork, set up CRM and system access, and document the role and targets. A strong onboarding pays off fast for a revenue-generating role. FirstHR handles the offer, paperwork, and onboarding workflow in one place.