Chief Commercial Officer

Job description

Fintua is a global leader in indirect tax compliance and tax technology. Our all-in-one platform streamlines global VAT compliance, recovery, eInvoicing and payments, helping businesses navigate the complex indirect tax landscape with ease and confidence. Fintua is part of CluneTech, a suite of companies providing cutting-edge solutions that simplify global business. We have been recognised as a Great Place to Work for 11 consecutive years, a Best Workplace for Women for the past 7 years and most recently, a Best Workplace in Tech for the past 6 years. This role requires a minimum of two days per week in our Kilkenny office. We require a Chief Commercial Officer to own and scale our sales organisation, selling our tax technology and fintech platform to corporate clients across industries. The CCO is accountable for the designated revenue number for the business and is accountable for building out the company's sales strategy market by market. The initial mandate is to win and build out further EMEA as the first market — building a repeatable, scalable sales motion — before expanding into new jurisdictions using that playbook. This is a company-defining, highly hands-on role: the successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with direct engagement in the sales process. The CCO is the voice of the customer internally, ensuring the sales organisation is aligned to its strategic objectives and revenue targets, and works closely with the CEO and Executive team to shape go-to-market strategy, targets and forecasts. Key Responsibilities Sales Strategy & Revenue • Own the full sales revenue lifecycle: new business acquisition, expansion, and renewals across mid-market, large and enterprise corporate clients. • Develop, plan and implement the sales strategy and targets together with the CEO and Executive team. • Build on and prove out a repeatable sales motion — segmentation, territory design, account planning, and deal strategy for complex, multi-stakeholder sales cycles — that can be codified and exported to new markets. • Define the criteria and playbook for expansion — what is “repeatable success” and replicate it across all regions. • Set and be accountable for sales targets, forecasting accuracy, and pipeline health across all regions that delivers to Fintua’s strategic goals. • Deliver the required pipeline generation, conversion, sales velocity, win rates, average contract value and forecasting accuracy that guarantees targets are hit or exceeded. Sales Leadership & Team • Recruit (where required), lead, mentor and develop a sales team to deliver maximised output. • Evolve the sales org structure as the company scales into new markets (comp plans, territory coverage, regional structure). • Establish a rigorous sales methodology and performance-management culture, with a strong focus on hiring and developing A-players who deliver results. • Build scalable sales systems and processes (CRM, forecasting cadence, deal desk, sales playbooks) designed from day one to extend across jurisdictions. Client & Market Engagement • Navigate complex corporate buying processes, including procurement, security review, and regulatory/compliance requirements that vary by jurisdiction and vertical. • Build relationships with CFOs, tax leaders, finance directors, procurement leaders and other senior decision-makers within target corporate clients. • Maintain a working understanding of developments in VAT/indirect tax regulation, e-invoicing mandates and digital tax reporting relevant to target markets, to inform sales conversations and positioning. • Ensure excellent client satisfaction throughout the sales relationship, working closely with Customer Enablement on handover for retention and expansion. • Identify and evaluate the next wave of verticals and target clients based on learnings and proven success. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Reporting • Partner cross-functionally with Marketing (on pipeline generation and handoff), Customer Enablement (on expansion and renewals), Product, Commercial Operations and Finance (on pricing and deal structuring). • Track, measure, analyse and manage sales performance using KPIs and commercial dashboards. • Represent sales performance and expansion strategy to the Executive and Board, including regular reporting on key sales and SaaS metrics. Key Performance Indicators • ARR / recurring revenue growth • New customer acquisition • Net revenue retention and expansion revenue • Pipeline generation and coverage • Sales conversion and velocity • Average contract value • Customer acquisition cost and sales efficiency • Forecast accuracy • Target market growth, and progress toward next-market readiness • Cross-sell and expansion across compliance, e-invoicing, recover, and payment offerings Candidate Profile Essential Experience • 12+ years in sales leadership roles, with 5+ years leading enterprise or mid-market sales teams at a fintech, tax technology or financial technology company, ideally as CCO, CRO, SVP Sales or equivalent. • Strong existing track record selling fintech, tax technology or financial technology products/platforms to corporate clients across multiple industry verticals. • Proven track record of delivering substantial revenue growth in a B2B SaaS, fintech or tax technology environment. • A strong track record of delivering and exceeding sales targets in new markets, including development of pipeline strategy and structures. • Track record of building a sales function from an early stage and scaling it (e.g. €20M → €50M+ ARR or similar), ideally with experience taking a proven model into a second market or region. • Deep fluency in sales and SaaS metrics: ARR/MRR, NRR/GRR, CAC, pipeline coverage, sales velocity, win rates, quota attainment. • Demonstrable experience building and scaling high-performing sales teams, including hiring and developing senior sales leaders. • Strong track record of running structured, complex, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales cycles, with strength in negotiating complex business deals. • Demonstrated ability to build systems and playbooks that are designed to scale and replicate, not just close deals personally. • Comfortable operating with board-level visibility and accountability for sales performance. • Excellent communicator with strong commercial acumen — able to translate strategy into execution and vice versa. Highly Desirable • Experience selling VAT, indirect tax, tax technology, e-invoicing, AP/AR automation or ERP technology solutions. • Knowledge of VAT, Indirect Tax and/or e-invoicing regulatory developments. • Experience selling to CFOs, finance teams, tax departments or large multinational organisations. • Existing network of relationships among corporate treasury, finance, tax or procurement functions. • Prior experience expanding a sales function from one region into others. • Willingness and ability to travel as required for the role. Leadership Characteristics • Commercially entrepreneurial — sees opportunities before they become obvious and turns them into measurable growth. • Strategic but hands-on — able to define the big picture while getting into the detail required to make things happen, including deal involvement. • Customer obsessed — understands the problems faced by corporate finance leaders and translates them into compelling commercial propositions. • Data driven — uses metrics, evidence and commercial discipline to make decisions and manage performance. • An exceptional communicator — credible with customers, boards, investors and internal teams. • A builder — enjoys creating teams, processes and systems that can scale across markets. • Internationally minded — comfortable navigating different markets, regulatory environments and commercial cultures. What Success Looks Like (First 12–18 Months) • Built a predictable, repeatable sales motion in one region with clear evidence it can scale. • Hit or exceeded agreed revenue targets. • Strengthened the sales leadership team and hired/developed strong sales talent. • Increased pipeline quality, conversion and sales productivity. • Established robust and proven successful sales forecasting and performance management. • Defined a clear, evidence-based playbook and criteria for expansion into the next jurisdiction(s). Recognised as a both a Great Place to Work and Deloitte Best Managed Company, we believe that recognition goes much deeper than just financial rewards. Therefore, in addition to a competitive salary, we also offer an exclusive benefits package that includes: Competitive pension Flexible Working Policy with a combination of remote and office working and a flexible approach to working hours Competitive annual leave and a number of other leaves including IVF, compassion, marriage, maternity and paternity leave Employee-led CSR Programme, CluneTech Cares, with one paid Volunteer Day per year Death in Service Benefit Milestone Recognition Programme Professional & Personal Development Rewards & Recognition Employee Wellbeing Programme, CluneTech Life Fintua is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees. We are committed to building and maintaining a culture which is free from discrimination and harassment and where all employees can bring their best selves to work.