This is a builder's role for a rigorous, detail-oriented operator who brings consistency and reliable measurement to how AFS runs its sales engine. Success means the CRO and the sales organization operate with real-time, trustworthy visibility into pipeline health, bookings forecast accuracy, quota performance, compensation integrity, and deal compliance, with compensation and quota governance administered with precision and integrity.
The VP of Sales Operations is responsible for the core operating pillars of the sales organization:
Pipeline: sales process design and governance, including definitions, targeting, tracking, win/loss definitions, stage gates, and account planning templates
Forecasting: bookings tracking, reporting, and forecasting discipline in direct collaboration with Finance on definitions, types, and treatments
Quota: quota design, allocation, tracking, forecasting, reporting, and governance
Compensation: commission structure design, payment accuracy, dispute management, and strategic alignment of incentives with desired business outcomes, in partnership with Finance
Compliance and Deal Desk: sales discount policy, approval authority, non-financial deal terms, and deal desk implementation, management, and execution
Sales Process and Account Planning Framework
Maintain and evolve these frame works as segments, products, and the sales organization scale, ensuring consistent adoption.
Pipeline and Bookings Forecasting Discipline
Own the pipeline management process, including pipeline definitions, targeting inputs, stage definitions, deal inspection cadence, win/loss definitions, and hygiene standards.
Provide the CRO with a reliable, real-time view of pipeline health, coverage, bookings risk, and forecast movement.
Quota Design and Governance
Ensure quotas are set with rigor, tied to territory and capacity realities, and tracked, forecasted, and reported consistently throughout the year.
Manage quota adjustments, disputes, and exceptions with a clear, defensible process aligned to Finance, Revenue, and Accounting definitions.
Compensation Strategy, Governance, and Payment Accuracy
Ensure commission calculations and payments are accurate, timely, transparent to the sales organization, and enforceable under documented terms and definitions.
Maintain documentation, dispute-resolution discipline, and audit trail sufficient to withstand scrutiny from Finance and, where relevant, external audit.
CRM/SFDC and Sales Systems Operation
Serve as the operational owner of CRM/SFDC discipline for the sales and revenue funnel, including data quality, field standards, workflow, reporting, and adoption.
Compliance, Deal Desk, and Pricing Execution
Implement, manage, and execute the deal desk process, including coordination of non-financial deal terms across Legal, Product, Support, Hosting, Finance, and other stakeholders.
Partner with Product Management on pricing strategy inputs while owning pricing execution, systematization, approvals, and field enablement through CRM/SFDC and related tools.
Sales Performance Measurement and Reporting
Translate raw pipeline, bookings, quota, and activity data into clear insight on what is driving or constraining sales performance.
Sales Capacity and Productivity Analytics
Partnership with the CRO, CFO, and Cross-Functional Leaders
Ensure the CRO, CFO, and CEO have confidence in the integrity of pipeline, bookings, quota, compensation, and sales performance reporting at all times.
Key Working Relationships
CRO — Primary partner. This role exists to give the CRO a trusted, rigorous operator over pipeline, bookings forecasting, quota, compensation, CRM/SFDC, deal desk, and pricing execution, so the CRO can focus on strategy, market leadership, and team performance.
Sales Representatives — The primary end users of the sales process, CRM discipline, and forecasting cadence this role owns; relies on their frontline input to keep pipeline data and stage definitions accurate and useful.
Channel Partner Manager — Aligns on tracking and measuring partner-sourced pipeline within the broader revenue funnel, ensuring consistent forecasting and reporting standards across direct and partner-sourced business.
Head of Marketing — Partners on lead-to-pipeline conversion metrics and funnel reporting, ensuring marketing-sourced pipeline is measured with the same rigor as the rest of the forecast.
Sr Director, Customer Success — Partners with CSMs driving expansion within existing accounts, ensuring expansion pipeline is captured, forecasted, and measured with the same discipline as new business.
CFO — Partners closely on compensation structure, payment accuracy, bookings forecasting alignment with the financial plan, capacity investment decisions, and shared definitions for quota, bookings, revenue, and accounting treatment.
Product Management, Legal, Support, and Hosting — Partners on pricing execution, discount governance, non-financial deal terms, and deal desk approvals to ensure commercial flexibility is balanced with disciplined risk management.
Win rates and new logo bookings increase, driven by tighter pipeline discipline, faster visibility into what is working and what isn't, and quicker fixes to underperforming reps, segments, and stages.
Bookings forecast accuracy improves measurably and consistently across the sales organization, with Finance aligned on definitions, types, and treatment.
Quota governance is disciplined, transparent, tracked throughout the year, and tied directly to capacity and plan.
Compensation plans are strategically aligned to business outcomes, and commission payments are accurate, timely, and trusted by the sales organization, with no material disputes or errors.
Sales process adoption is consistent across the organization, with stage definitions, gates, and account planning discipline embedded in how deals are managed, inspected, and forecasted.
The reporting cadence and KPI infrastructure are consistent, trusted, and used by the CRO, CEO, and ELT to assess revenue performance, identify risks early, and drive action.
A consolidated Sales Discount Policy, approval authority model, and deal desk operating process are implemented and consistently followed across pricing, legal, product, support, hosting, and finance-related deal terms.
Pricing execution is systematized in CRM/SFDC and related tools, enabling consistent field adoption, accurate approvals, and reliable reporting.
The right leader is a builder, energized by standing up a function from the ground up. They see themselves as part of the sales team, invested in its wins, and they treat operating discipline as a lever they can pull to help the CRO and sales organization perform.
They bring visibility to what is working and what isn't across the sales engine, and move quickly to drive fixes. Their value goes beyond identifying opportunities: they bring ideas for capitalizing on them and stay engaged through execution.
They are a high-capacity strategic thinker who is equally energized by the details and by driving execution. They handle sensitive quota, commission, and performance data with integrity, bringing independent judgment to what the numbers say.
