Head of Sales

You've carried a number and you've run a sales team, and you still want to be on calls yourself. You know how to get an interested person all the way to a signed deal when their manager and their HR team have a say in it.

You'd run our apprenticeship sales team from Cape Town, selling apprenticeships to the people who apply for them, and carry your own pipeline while you do it.

What you'd do

We're a UK training provider in data and AI. Most of what we sell is UK apprenticeships, government-backed training for people already in a job, and every lead is inbound. Someone sees one of our ads, applies and books a call with us.

Every deal starts as one person's conversation about their career and ends with their employer signing a contract, with their manager, HR and sometimes procurement in between, and a funding conversation about who pays what. We call it B2C2B. You'd need to be good at both halves yourself, and you'd need your team to be good at them too. Selling commercial training direct to companies is a separate job here, and this role doesn't cover it.

You'd own that pipeline from new lead to start date. You'd coach the reps, in Cape Town and the UK, get the forecast for each intake right, and work out where deals are stalling and fix it. You'd also close deals yourself, so the team sees you doing what you're asking of them.

Your week

• Listening to recorded calls and sitting down with each rep on what to do differently next week.
• Running the weekly pipeline review, deal by deal, and calling what each intake will really land at.
• Working your own pipeline, from first call to signed contract.
• Joining reps on the bigger or harder deals, including calls with managers, HR and L&D teams.
• Watching how fast new leads get called and which ones are worth a rep's time, and telling marketing what's working.
• Making sure what the team says about funding and eligibility is right, because we're a regulated training provider.
• Improving how the team works. We use AI across the business, and if you can see a better way to run this, we'll actually do it.

You'd work UK business hours. We're a startup, so there'll be other things to pick up as we grow, and we'd expect you to help where it's needed.

Why you'd want it

You'd run the team and own the number. The leads come to you, so your time goes on selling and coaching rather than finding people to talk to. Commission has no cap, and it pays on your own deals and on what your team signs.

And it's a product worth selling. Someone changes what they do for a living without leaving their job, and their employer gets someone who can use data and AI. We're a startup at an inflection point, and 2027 is when we scale. How well this team sells is a big part of how we get there.

Who you are

You've managed a sales team that had a target, and you've coached people on their actual calls. You've sold on the phone or on video yourself and hit your number, and you still want to. You've worked a busy inbound pipeline in a CRM, you read the numbers without being asked, and you can tell the team what you think the month will land at and be close.

You've sold deals where more than one person had to say yes. That might be B2B, or something a person buys but someone else has to approve or pay for. It helps a lot if you've sold into the UK, or sold education or training. You don't need to know UK apprenticeships or how they're funded yet, because you'd pick that up quickly with us, but you do need to care about getting it right.

You'll need excellent spoken English, because you'd be on calls with UK managers and HR teams most days. The office is in Riverlands and you'd be in it some days, so you need to be in or near Cape Town. If that's you, we want to hear from you.

About iO-Sphere

We train people in data and AI by having them do the work. Over 1,000 people have trained with us, and companies including PwC, BAE Systems, Dunelm, Motorway and CBRE send their teams to us. We're one of the UK's fastest-growing data and AI training companies, and a small, tight-knit team that takes ownership, sets a high bar and has a lot of fun.

What the role must achieve

1. 1We hit the apprenticeship starts target for each intake, and the forecast for each intake is close to what lands.
2. 2Every rep gets regular coaching on their calls, and their conversion improves.
3. 3New leads are called quickly, and rep time goes on the leads most likely to start.
4. 4Fewer deals stall between the first call and the employer signing.
5. 5What the team says about funding and eligibility is accurate, and learners start on the right programme.

What you'll need

We shortlist against these, scored the same way for everyone:

• Managing a sales team with a target, including coaching reps on their calls
• Selling on the phone or video against your own target, with results
• Deals needing more than one person's agreement, such as B2B or a purchase someone else approves or pays for
• Running a high-volume inbound pipeline in a CRM, including forecasting
• The right to work in South Africa
• Lives in or near Cape Town and can come into the Riverlands office

Good to have, but not needed:

• Selling into the UK
• Selling education or training
• UK apprenticeships or levy funding
• Using AI at work