Sales Director ASEAN

Sales Director ASEAN (Home Base: Singapore)

About the Company

Robert Half Executive has been exclusively retained to identify an accomplished Sales Leader to join a scaling platform-as-a-service (PaaS) business to lead a geographically dispersed sales team, driving sales in both new business and existing customers across the ASEAN.

Combining digital, research, analytics, and AI frameworks and methodologies to deliver a multi-modal tech platform, our client is a mid-sized, scaling and high-growth business in the Southeast Asian market, yet operates as part of a wider network within a market-leading organisation that serves more than 60 countries and partners with organisations of all sizes, from fastgrowing startups to the world's largest enterprises. This unique model allows the local SEA business to build and own the SEA strategy but with the benefit of a globally recognised brand.

The team is passionate, purposedriven, and deeply committed to helping organisations create better experiences for their people.The company offers a generous, broad and progressive suite of wellbeing and leave policies.

This role will best suit an ambitious Singapore-based Sales Leader with proven end-to-end B2B sales management expertise from small and mid-sized, high-growth scaling businesses. Their sales success will likely have been shaped earlier in their career, however with defining foundational sales training gained within large corporate tech-enabled firms, known for their focus on structured sales methodology, close pipeline management and forecasting accuracy.

About the Role

This Senior Leadership role will be responsible for developing and executing comprehensive sales strategies for predictable growth, instilling rigour and cadence around close pipeline management and accurate forecasting. The Sales Director will lead the firm's regional sales organisation and drive substantial revenue growth across the Southeast Asian markets, currently Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and The Philippines.

The Sales Director will work closely with Market Leads to align regional strategies with corporate objectives while adapting to local market needs and opportunities. The Sales Director will assess and uplift, where required, the sales capability in the team, coaching and developing staff to ensure they are equipped with the sales skills and objection handling techniques required to close multiple deals at pace.

The Sales Director will lead a multi-cultural and geographically dispersed team of 8 Account Executives to achieve YoY growth targets (note this Sales Director is not an individual contributor quota-carrying role).

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive sales strategy for SEA region, including market entry plans for emerging markets and expansion strategies for established territories
• Lead business development initiatives to secure enterprise-level partnerships and multi-year contracts with organisations of 500+ employees
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with C-level executives, government officials, and industry leaders across SEA countries
• Establish and manage channel partner relationships, including consulting firms, HR service providers, and technology platforms
• Build, lead, and scale a distributed sales team across multiple SEA countries
• Recruit, hire, onboard, and develop top-tier sales talent with deep understanding of local markets and cultural nuances
• Establish performance management systems, quota structures, and incentive programs that drive results while maintaining team motivation
• Oversee entire sales cycle from lead generation through contract execution
• Manage complex, multi-stakeholder sales processes involving executives, C-suite decision makers, and procurement teams
• Optimise sales processes, tools, and methodologies to improve efficiency, conversion rates, and deal velocity across the region
• Maintain detailed sales forecasting, pipeline management, and performance analytics using HubSpot CRM and advanced reporting toolsIdeal Candidate Profile
• This role requires exceptional leadership capabilities to manage and grow sales teams across multiple countries, a deep understanding of SEA business cultures and regulatory environments, and the ability to drive both direct sales and channel partner relationships.

Experience Requirements

• Sales Experience: 8+ years of B2B sales experience with minimum 3 years in sales leadership roles managing teams of 5+ people
• Industry Experience: SaaS, PaaS, HR technology, HR products and services, consulting, recruitment or professional services experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated success in multiple SEA markets Proven ability to consistently achieve and exceed team revenue targets
• Experience selling to SMBs and Fortune 500 companies and managing multi-stakeholder sales cycles with varying timelines (though usually < 6 months)
• Fluency in English essential; additional SEA languages (Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.) highly advantageous

Skills and Abilities Required for Success

• Leadership Excellence: Exceptional ability to inspire, motivate, and develop high-performing sales teams across diverse cultural backgrounds
• Strategic Thinking: Strong business acumen with ability to develop and execute long-term strategies while adapting to dynamic market conditions
• Relationship Building: Outstanding interpersonal skills with proven ability to build trust and credibility with C-level executives and decision makers
• Analytical Capabilities: Strong data analysis and reporting skills with proficiency in CRM systems, sales analytics tools, and performance dashboards

Ways of Working

This is a hybrid role, with the expectation of regular presence in the Singapore office.

There will be a need for travel in the SEA region to spend time with teams on the ground, expectation is broadly 30-40% travel.