- Salary
- $10 – $20
- Workplace
- Remote
- Type
- Full-time
- Department
- Sales
- Seniority
- Director
- Source
- RecruiterFlow
Description
Sparrow — Director of Sales (East)
Company Snapshot
Sparrow is a high-tech, high-touch employee leave management platform. Its mission is to make it simple for companies to provide employees with all kinds of leave (family, medical, and more). Leave management today is painful for everyone involved: company leaders struggle to keep pace with frequently changing regulations, and employees going on leave face heavy bureaucracy at a pivotal moment in their careers. Sparrow turns this tedious, error-prone, compliance-heavy process into a roughly 30-minute end-to-end experience — saving teams an estimated 20–40 hours and up to $30K per leave.
Sparrow is headquartered in San Francisco with a fully remote, distributed team across the US. The culture is described as hardworking, collaborative, smart, and humble.
Role Overview & Org Context
Sparrow's new business sales organization sits under Justin Suh (VP Sales), who reports into Paul, the leader of the overall GTM function. Justin currently has 14 AEs and two Directors in seat, with planned growth to 21 AEs by end of year — creating the need for a third Director.
• The two current Directors are West Coast-based and cover Pacific and Mountain time zones.
• The new hire will be the East Coast Director, managing the five East Coast AEs and growing the region as headcount scales.
• AE coverage is split geographically East vs. West only (no Central AEs). There is no verticalization today — Directors manage all segments. Segmentation by employer size / deal size is planned for 2027.
• Justin framed the mandate as operating like an "East Coast GM": self-sufficient, driving both brand and revenue for the region while remote, with deliberate in-person investment to build team camaraderie.
Sales Motion & Market Context
Sales Cycle ~90 days
Average Deal Size ~$80K ARR, increasing $10–20K year-over-year
Upmarket Target Deals in the $200K–$500K ARR range — the Director must be able to co-sell here
Pipeline Mix ~10–15% true outbound; remainder from channel referrals and inbound. ~50% of total revenue is influenced by insurance brokers (channel partners).
Channel Motion Brokers refer opportunities and stay involved, but Sparrow's internal team owns pitching and the sales process. The Director coaches AEs on nurturing broker relationships and assists when needed.
Deal Complexity Upmarket deals involve ~4–5 internal stakeholders plus external broker partners simultaneously; ongoing regulatory complexity around evolving leave-of-absence laws.
AE Quotas AE1: $750K (typically internal promotions) · AE2: $1M (typical external hire) · AE3: $1.25M (mostly promotions). Average AE quota: $1M.
AE Profile No junior AEs hired externally; target hires generally 5+ years in SaaS (2–3 years closing experience may suffice with HR tech background).
What You'll Own
• Manage, coach, and scale the East Coast AE team through the growth to 21 AEs company-wide.
• Co-sell on deals at or above average deal size, with particular focus on upmarket opportunities in the $200K–$500K ARR range.
• Drive forecast rigor: pipeline management, activity and funnel metrics, quarterly forecasts, and quota attainment reporting for the team and individuals.
• Coach AEs on channel partner (insurance broker) relationships — understanding each AE's broker network, assisting on partner-influenced deals when needed.
• Operate as the de facto East Coast GM: self-sufficient regional leadership driving brand and revenue on the East Coast.
• Own recruiting, onboarding, and ongoing training and development for the East team as headcount grows.
• Partner cross-functionally with GTM leadership (Paul), Channel Partnerships (Ellen), and other functions to support Sparrow's move upmarket.
• Identify and recommend improvements in process, efficiency, and productivity; plan at both strategic and operational levels.
Candidate Profile
Must-Haves
• Proven track record as a sales leader — per the JD, 2–5 years of sales leadership experience on top of 5+ years in software/application sales.
• Experience with upmarket deals in the $200K–$500K ARR range, and comfort co-selling alongside AEs on deals at or above the ~$80K current average.
• Strong forecasting discipline and rigor — accurate team forecasting is a repeatedly emphasized requirement.
• Familiarity with channel / partner-influenced sales motions
• High emotional intelligence and empathy — Sparrow sells into HR and people teams, and the leadership style must match.
• Effective remote leader who proactively invests in in-person time to build team camaraderie.
• Consistent overachievement of quota and revenue goals; solid record of recruiting, developing, and retaining high-performing sales teams.
Nice-to-Haves
• HR tech or HR-adjacent background, and experience selling into the HR persona — a heavy preference, though not a strict requirement.
• Earlier-stage company experience — better adapted to Sparrow's pace than candidates from large, mature organizations.
Screening Signals
• Compensation fit is a real screen: Sparrow's comp is not top-of-market, so candidates from large-brand companies with materially higher OTEs are likely to disqualify. (One recent candidate chose an offer ~$75K higher in OTE, though seriously considered Sparrow.)
• Geography: prioritize sourcing outside major metros like New York and Boston — markets such as Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta may offer the right motion and experience at aligned comp expectations.
• Look for evidence of navigating multi-stakeholder deals (4–5 internal stakeholders) with simultaneous external partner involvement, and comfort with regulatory nuance (leave-of-absence laws evolve over time).
Reporting Structure
Reports To Justin Suh, VP Sales (owns new business revenue)
Skip-Level Paul — leads the entire GTM function
Peers Two West Coast Directors covering Pacific/Mountain time zones.
Direct Reports 5 East Coast AEs at start; team expected to grow with the path to 21 AEs by end of year
Key Partners Ellen (Head of Channel Partnerships); cross-functional GTM and company leadership
Compensation
OTE $275,000–$350,000
Structure 60/40 base/commission split
Equity Not discussed — confirm equity range with Justin.
Positioning Note Comp is intentionally not top-of-market; candidates familiar with Sparrow have been open to the range. Screen for comp alignment early.
Interview Process
Stage Format Participants Focus
1. Initial Screen 45-minute call Justin Suh (VP Sales) Leadership track record, motion fit, comp alignment
2. Panel Interview Panel Justin, Paul (GTM lead), Ellen (Head of Channel Partnerships) GTM depth, channel/partner fluency, cross-functional fit
3. Presentation 30/60/90-day plan Paul and Justin Strategic and operational planning, executive presence
4. Behavioral Interview outside GTM Interviewer TBD — someone outside the GTM org Cultural fit cross-check
5. Final Decision — Justin / Paul Offer decision if all stages are positive
Justin and David agreed to iterative feedback on early candidate batches to refine sourcing and screening. Timeline/SLAs per stage not defined — confirm if needed.
Logistics
Work Model Fully remote (Sparrow is remote across the US); East Coast / Eastern Time alignment required
Travel Expected in-person investment with the East team to build camaraderie (cadence not specified)
Timing Note Summer travel may affect candidate availability during the initial sourcing window.
Submissions Workflow
• Email is the preferred submission channel — Sparrow does not maintain an internal Slack instance for vendors by default.
Skills
Compliance
