Senior Director, Sales – North America Verticals

Job description

Freshworks is seeking an experienced Senior Director of Sales, North America (US and Canada) Verticals to lead our go-to-market execution across three strategic vertical markets: Manufacturing, State, Local & Education (SLED), and Federal/Government as well as Canada. Reporting directly to the SVP & GM of America’s Sales, this leader will oversee three sales teams and their respective leaders, with responsibility for building and executing the strategy required to accelerate Freshworks' growth within these highly specialized markets. This is a senior, second- or third-line sales leadership position requiring someone who has successfully led leaders, scaled enterprise SaaS sales organizations, and brings deep experience navigating the unique buying environments, procurement processes, and customer needs within the public sector and other complex vertical markets. The ideal candidate combines strategic leadership with strong operating discipline. They can set the direction for the business, develop high-performing sales leaders, navigate complex enterprise opportunities, and partner across the organization to turn vertical specialization into a competitive advantage for Freshworks. What You'll Do Lead Freshworks' North America vertical sales organization, with responsibility for teams focused on Manufacturing, SLED, and Federal/Government markets. Lead, coach, and develop the sales leaders responsible for each vertical, establishing a high bar for performance, accountability, talent development, and execution. Develop and execute a comprehensive vertical sales strategy aligned with Freshworks' broader North America and enterprise growth objectives. Own revenue performance across the verticals organization, including pipeline generation, forecasting, deal execution, productivity, and attainment. Build a scalable operating model across the three vertical teams while recognizing the distinct customer, regulatory, procurement, and go-to-market requirements of each market. Drive Freshworks' continued expansion into larger, more complex enterprise SaaS opportunities and help teams navigate sophisticated, multi-stakeholder sales cycles. Serve as an executive sponsor on strategic opportunities, helping teams engage senior customer stakeholders, overcome obstacles, and successfully close transformational deals. Establish strong inspection and forecasting discipline across the organization, providing clear visibility into pipeline health, risks, opportunities, and business performance. Recruit, retain, and develop exceptional sales leadership and sales talent as the vertical organization scales. Partner closely with Marketing, Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services, Channels & Alliances, Revenue Operations, Finance, Product, and other functions to develop integrated vertical go-to-market strategies. Build strong relationships with channel, technology, and ecosystem partners that can accelerate Freshworks' presence within strategic vertical markets. Bring market intelligence back into Freshworks, helping Product and GTM leadership understand the evolving needs of Manufacturing, SLED, and Federal/Government customers. Represent the verticals organization within the North America sales leadership team and contribute to broader GTM strategy, planning, and execution. 15+ years of progressive sales experience, ideally within enterprise software or SaaS organizations. 8+ years of sales leadership experience, including 5+ years leading managers and operating at a second- or third-line leadership level. Demonstrated success building, scaling, and leading high-performing enterprise sales organizations through multiple layers of leadership. Significant experience selling into and leading sales organizations focused on SLED and/or Federal/Government markets is required, with a strong understanding of public-sector buying cycles, procurement processes, contracting requirements, and go-to-market dynamics. Experience within Manufacturing or other complex enterprise vertical markets is strongly preferred. Deep understanding of complex enterprise SaaS sales cycles, including executive engagement, multi-threaded decision processes, procurement, security, legal, implementation, and commercial negotiations. Proven track record of consistently delivering against ambitious revenue targets and driving predictable, sustainable growth. Experience developing and executing vertical-specific GTM strategies rather than relying solely on traditional geographic or territory-based sales models. Strong command of pipeline management, forecasting, territory planning, account strategy, and sales productivity. Demonstrated ability to coach and develop experienced sales leaders while creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, and high performance. Strong executive presence with the ability to engage credibly with C-suite customers, senior government and public-sector stakeholders, internal executives, partners, and other senior decision-makers. Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment and balance long-term strategic thinking with hands-on leadership and execution. Strong cross-functional leadership skills and a track record of influencing across complex organizations. Experience in a high-growth SaaS environment and/or helping an organization successfully move upmarket is highly desirable. What Success Looks Like Success in this role means building a high-performing, predictable, and scalable North America vertical sales organization that establishes Freshworks as a stronger enterprise partner across Manufacturing, SLED, and Federal/Government. You will develop leaders who can independently run strong businesses, create greater consistency in pipeline and forecasting, improve enterprise execution, and build repeatable vertical-specific sales motions that can scale with Freshworks' growth. Most importantly, you will help turn vertical expertise into a meaningful competitive advantage — ensuring our teams understand not only how to sell Freshworks, but how to solve the specific business challenges of the industries and customers we serve. We're committed to building a workplace that reflects the diverse world we serve. At Freshworks, you'll find inclusive teams, flexible thinking, and opportunities to grow your career - while making work better for millions. If this sounds like a journey you want to be part of, we'd love to meet you. Let's building something refreshing together. The annual base salary range for this position is $288,320 - $356,160 Base Salary. This role is also eligible for variable compensation + Equity Compensation is based on a variety of factors including but not limited to location, experience, job-related skills, and level. At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us. Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done. There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works. At Freshworks, we build uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional customer and employee experiences. Our enterprise-grade solutions are powerful, yet easy to use, and quick to deliver results. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, making employees more effective and organizations more productive. Over 72,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks’ customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) software to fuel customer loyalty and service efficiency. And, over 4,500 Freshworks employees make this possible, all around the world. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.