Sales Director EMEA

Sales Director, EMEA

Location: United Kingdom or Netherlands (preferred proximity to Amsterdam for NL-based candidates)
Travel: Approximately 25% across EMEA
Office Requirement: Netherlands: 3 days per week | United Kingdom: 4 days per fortnight

About the Opportunity

We are partnering with an innovative life sciences technology organisation seeking an experienced Sales Director, EMEA to lead and transform its commercial organisation across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

This is a strategically important leadership position with a mandate to build a disciplined, scalable, and high-performing commercial organisation serving both biopharma and academic customers. The successful candidate will combine strong commercial leadership with operational excellence, helping drive immediate results while creating the foundation for sustainable long-term growth.

The Role

As Sales Director, EMEA, you will lead a team of sales professionals across the region, driving commercial performance while introducing the structure, accountability, and processes required for continued scale.

You will be responsible for implementing a robust regional operating model, strengthening forecasting and pipeline management, developing team capability, and leading organisational change as the business evolves its go-to-market strategy.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Leadership

• Lead and develop the EMEA sales organisation across both academic and industry customer segments.
• Drive regional revenue performance and deliver against commercial objectives.
• Build a culture of accountability, customer focus, and execution excellence.
• Coach and mentor sales managers and individual contributors to maximise performance.

Operational Excellence

• Establish a disciplined EMEA commercial operating system.
• Implement clear metrics, reporting cadences, forecasting processes, and pipeline management practices.
• Improve forecast accuracy, pipeline quality, and deal progression across the region.
• Introduce effective escalation and business review processes.

Organisational Transformation

• Lead the transition to a customer-segment-focused operating model.
• Ensure continuity of customer relationships and commercial momentum throughout organisational change.
• Create clear ownership, territory alignment, and accountability structures.
• Successfully guide teams through new ways of working and evolving commercial strategies.

Team Development

• Raise the overall capability of the commercial organisation through coaching, development, and performance management.
• Establish clear expectations and performance standards.
• Foster a high-performance environment focused on outcomes rather than activity.
• Champion collaboration and best-practice sharing across the region.

Growth & Strategic Execution

• Strengthen strategic account planning across key academic and biopharma customers.
• Improve pipeline coverage, opportunity qualification, and deal execution.
• Support the continued expansion of the company's commercial presence within both established and emerging markets.
• Build a scalable commercial engine capable of supporting future growth initiatives.

What Success Looks Like

Within the first 3-6 months, you will have:

• Implemented a structured EMEA commercial operating system.
• Improved forecasting discipline and pipeline visibility.
• Successfully led the organisation through a key operating model transition.
• Increased team accountability and commercial effectiveness.
• Strengthened customer engagement and strategic account execution.
• Built a more predictable and scalable platform for regional growth.

Candidate Profile

Required Experience

• 10+ years of commercial experience within the life sciences sector.
• Proven sales leadership experience managing regional teams.
• Track record of driving revenue growth and leading commercial transformation initiatives.
• Experience implementing sales processes, forecasting methodologies, and operational improvements.
• Strong background in both strategic and hands-on sales leadership.

Industry Background

• Life sciences, biotechnology, analytical instrumentation, or related scientific markets.
• Experience selling a combination of capital equipment/instrumentation and recurring consumables.
• Exposure to both biopharma/industry and academic/research customer groups.
• Understanding of complex scientific sales cycles and consultative selling environments.

Desired Attributes

• Inspirational people leader with strong coaching and mentoring skills.
• Change agent capable of leading teams through organisational transformation.
• Data-driven with a strong operational mindset.
• Commercially astute with excellent strategic planning capabilities.
• Comfortable operating within a fast-paced, growth-oriented organisation.

Why Join?

This is an opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of a growing life sciences organisation. You will lead a talented international team, drive meaningful commercial impact across EMEA, and help build a scalable platform for long-term growth across both academic and biopharma markets.