General Manager Sales

Company Overview

Our client is a substantial privately-owned New Zealand business group operating a comprehensive commercial model that manages the entire sales lifecycle nationwide. Despite significant scale, the organization operates with agility and a lean structure. This role is a pivotal leadership position reporting directly to the divisional CEO.

Role Purpose

The General Manager Sales will take ownership of the entire sales function, bearing full accountability for conversion outcomes. Leading a team of approximately 30 personnel through three direct functional leaders, this role focuses on achieving sales excellence by transforming business-generated leads into confirmed contracts, satisfied clients, and ongoing referrals by enforcing disciplined processes and robust systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and be accountable for national sales conversion and forecasting spanning from initial enquiries to completed transactions.
• Maintain an accurate and credible sales pipeline forecast; communicate and justify it to the Board of Directors.
• Establish and ensure adherence to the national sales process and uphold the commercial mandates supporting it.
• Collaborate closely with the Marketing team to improve lead quality, provide feedback on conversions, and manage lead allocation.
• Develop demand generation channels beyond Marketing, including relationships with external partners, referrals, and proactive outbound and database activities.
• Lead, mentor, and develop three functional leaders, fostering capability and building bench strength across the wider sales team.
• Oversee management of the Hubspot CRM system and associated sales reporting tools as the definitive sales data source.
• Provide commercial insights and customer feedback to influence product development and pricing strategies.

Experience and Qualifications

• Established senior sales leadership experience in positions such as General Manager Sales, Head of Sales, or equivalent.
• Strong executive presence coupled with credibility in reporting to board-level audiences.
• A strategic, commercially focused, and fast-moving operator who thrives in dynamic environments rather than caretaker roles.
• Aptitude for working within informal and less structured settings, with preference for experience in SMEs or scale-ups; candidates exclusively from large corporate backgrounds may experience challenges adapting.
• High-performing, resilient, and assertive with confidence to uphold and defend perspectives.
• Proven capacity to inspire and guide a large, geographically dispersed team via clear leadership and well-defined expectations.
• Experience in selling products pre-completion or pre-delivery is advantageous though not mandatory.

Benefits and Opportunity

This rare General Manager-level role provides direct access to the divisional CEO, offering significant strategic influence over a sizeable national sales operation. The role offers autonomy within a lean organizational structure, allowing significant scope for leadership and growth. While domain experience in property or building construction is beneficial, the primary criteria are proven sales leadership ability and cultural fit.