Sales Director (West)

Director of Sales - West

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Sales is a frontline sales leader responsible for the revenue performance of an assigned region. This leader manages a direct team of Account Directors, setting clear goals, coaching to execution, and holding the team accountable for pipeline, forecast, and bookings. The Director of Sales is hands-on in the field, partnering with Account Directors on strategic accounts, deal strategy, competitive positioning, and executive engagement to improve win rates and accelerate revenue. They maintain an accurate, well-inspected forecast, enforce strong CRM hygiene and sales discipline, and make sure every deal is structured to deliver strong value for customers and healthy economics for Alkira. The Director of Sales reports to the Senior Director of Sales and is accountable for the predictability, growth, and overall performance of their region.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Regional Ownership & Quota Attainment

Own regional bookings and revenue targets, consistently meeting or exceeding quota for the territory.

Translate company and Senior Director priorities into a clear regional plan with defined account coverage, targets, and milestones.

Identify market opportunities, coverage gaps, and execution risks in the region early and take decisive action.

Team Leadership & Coaching

Lead, coach, and develop a direct team of Account Directors responsible for named accounts across the region.

Set clear expectations and individual goals, and hold each Account Director accountable for pipeline, forecast, and results.

Run regular one-on-ones, account plan reviews, and deal reviews to raise the quality of execution across the team.

Recruit, onboard, and ramp top sales talent, and address performance issues promptly and fairly.

Pipeline, Forecasting & Sales Discipline

Drive consistent pipeline creation and opportunity progression across the team, with a strong focus on early-stage coverage.

Deliver an accurate, predictable weekly and quarterly forecast with clear visibility for sales leadership.

Enforce CRM hygiene and rigorous deal inspection using a consistent sales methodology and operating cadence.

Deal Execution & Customer Engagement

Partner directly with Account Directors on strategic opportunities, including deal strategy, competitive positioning, negotiation, and close plans.

Engage senior customer and partner executives to build trusted relationships and support complex, multi-stakeholder deals.

Structure deals that create strong customer value while protecting margin and long-term value for Alkira.

Cross-Functional & Partner Collaboration

Partner with Sales Engineering, Marketing, Customer Success, Sales Operations, Sales Enablement, and Finance to drive regional results.

Work with channel, cloud, and alliance partners to extend regional reach and support co-sell motions.

Provide field feedback on market, competitive, and customer trends to sales and product leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

8+ years of enterprise technology sales experience, including 3+ years managing a team of enterprise sellers.

Proven track record of meeting or exceeding quota as both a seller and a frontline manager in a B2B software, SaaS, or infrastructure company.

Experience selling complex, multi-stakeholder solutions into large enterprise accounts.

Demonstrated ability to coach sellers, run deal and pipeline reviews, and deliver an accurate forecast.

Strong skills in deal strategy, negotiation, and pricing with a focus on margin and long-term value.

Established relationships with senior technology and business executives in the region.

Proficiency with Salesforce or comparable CRM and a sales methodology such as MEDDPICC, Command of the Message, or Challenger.

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Background in networking, cloud infrastructure, network security, or SD-WAN.

Experience co-selling with hyperscalers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud) and channel or GSI partners.

Experience building and scaling a sales team in a high-growth or pre-IPO environment.

MBA or advanced degree.

WHAT WE OFFER

Competitive base salary, variable compensation

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.

401(k) retirement plan.

Flexible paid time off and company holidays.

The opportunity to shape a category-defining company and build a winning regional team.

ABOUT ALKIRA

Alkira, a Lumen company , is building the future of enterprise networking: one programmable platform to connect, secure, and operate every cloud, site, partner, data center, and AI workload.

Founded by Amir and Atif Khan, the creators of Viptela and pioneers of the SD-WAN market, Alkira was built to radically simplify how enterprises deploy and manage network infrastructure. Today, as part of Lumen, we are bringing that cloud-native operating model to a global network foundation trusted by the world’s largest enterprises.

Our platform helps customers move faster without managing hardware, stitching together providers, or operating fragmented cloud networks. Teams can build and scale connectivity on demand, apply consistent security and segmentation, and gain visibility across distributed environments from one place.

At Alkira, you’ll help shape the next chapter of networking: cloud-like consumption, private-network performance, and total control across the enterprise. We move fast, solve hard problems, and build technology that changes how global businesses connect.

Join us and help build the future of networking.

COMPENSATION

• This information reflects the anticipated base salary range for this position based on current national data. Minimums and maximums may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience and other relevant factors.
• Location Based Pay Ranges:
• $139,166 - $255,145

Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution

Life at Alkira is human and connected, even in a fast moving, AI‑focused organization. We set clear expectations and trust people to meet them. With real support and shared accountability, teams collaborate better, move faster, and deliver meaningful outcomes.

• Our Lumen 8 behaviors guide how we interact, make decisions, and work together, shaping a culture built to perform and win. To learn more about Life at Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution
• and how we live into the Lumen 8, please visit:
• https://jobs.lumen.com/global/en/life-at-lumen

Background Screening

If you are selected for a position, there will be a background screen, which may include checks for criminal records and/or motor vehicle reports and/or drug screening, depending on the position requirements. For more information on these checks, please refer to the Post Offer section of our FAQ page. Job-related concerns identified during the background screening may disqualify you from the new position or your current role. Background results will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Equal Employment Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, ancestry, citizenship, national origin, religion, veteran status, disability, genetic characteristic or information, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, pregnancy, or other legally protected status (collectively, “protected statuses”). We do not tolerate unlawful discrimination in any employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotion, benefits, discipline, termination, job assignments or training.

Privacy Notice

Alkira, a Lumen Connect Solution is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal information collected during the recruitment and hiring process. Our Applicant Pr