Sales Director

Company Description

Work smart, have fun and make an impact!

Our purpose is to guide all companies toward a sustainable world. EcoVadis is the leading provider of business sustainability ratings. Our solutions are backed by an international team of experts and powerful technology. We analyze data and build sustainability scorecards that give companies actionable insights into their environmental, social and ethical risks. 

Why apply to EcoVadis? Be a part of the global sustainability change in business. Grow your career. Work with extraordinary people. Feel valued for your contribution.

Learn more about our team and culture on EcoVadis careers page.

Job Description

As the Sales Director for Japan, you will be the driving force behind our regional growth, overall sales strategy, and market success. Leading a dedicated team of 5 Account Executives, you will inspire them to achieve and exceed sales targets and company KPIs.

At EcoVadis, leadership is a compass for growth. You will not just manage processes; you will Lead with Vision and Coach to Impact. This means you will empower your team through insightful questioning, constructive feedback, and the psychological safety needed for them to own their development, navigate challenges, and take true accountability.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Visionary Leadership:

• Define and execute the overall sales strategy for Japan in alignment with EcoVadis’ global goals.
• Lead, manage, and mentor the Japan Regional Sales team, adapting your leadership style to meet the moment and drive maximum impact for our customers.
• Collaborate with global sales leadership to ensure global consistency while respecting local market nuances.

Sales Oversight & Operational Excellence:

• Oversee the achievement of regional targets, ensuring alignment with broader company objectives.
• Maintain rigorous pipeline discipline, CRM hygiene (Salesforce), and high quarterly forecast accuracy.
• Collaborate closely with Marketing, Sales Development, Customer Success, and Sales Strategy to streamline the local buyer's journey and maximize opportunities.
• Review and analyze sales data to identify market trends and make data-driven strategic decisions.

Team Coaching & Development:

• Drive recruitment, onboarding, training, and continuous development strategies for new and existing Account Executives.
• Act as a coach rather than a director by asking insightful questions and creating space for Account Executives to own their pipelines and navigate complex enterprise deals.
• Design training programs in tandem with Sales Enablement to foster a culture of excellence, continuous improvement, and shared best practices.
• Proactively address underperformance with constructive feedback and supportive coaching to maintain a high-performing, highly motivated team.

Relationship Management & Cultural Acumen:

• Cultivate and maintain high-level relationships with key enterprise clients, partners, and senior stakeholders in Japan.
• Act as the primary bridge between the Japan sales ecosystem and senior global leadership.

Qualifications

• Experience: 7+ years in a senior sales leadership role, ideally within SaaS, sustainability or the procurement sector.
• Language Fluency: Full professional fluency (written and oral) in both English and Japanese. You must be comfortable navigating complex sustainability and procurement discussions with C-suite stakeholders in both languages.
• Cultural Mastery: Native-level Japanese expertise or a JLPT N1 certification, with a proven track record of managing Japanese corporate etiquette, long sales cycles, and regional stakeholder relationships.
• Skills: Exceptional interpersonal, analytical, and organizational skills. A data-driven mindset for identifying market patterns.
• Tech Stack: Proficiency in Salesforce, Salesloft, and AI collaboration tools (e.g., Claude and Gemini).
• Mission-Driven: A genuine passion for sustainability, ESG, and corporate social responsibility.

Additional Information

• Office location: Kojimachi
• Hybrid in Tokyo (8 days per month in the office)

In return for your expertise, we offer:

• Support with all the necessary office and IT equipment
• Flexi time working system
• Wellness allowance for mental and physical wellbeing
• Access to professional mental health support
• Referral bonus policy
• Learning and development 
• Sustainability events and community involvement
• Peer recognition program
• Employee-led resource groups
• Social Insurance
• Commuting Allowance
• Work Model: Hybrid Work Model
• Remote work from abroad policy
• Life Insurance
• Paid employee volunteer day

Our hiring team looks forward to reviewing your CV, in English, with a guaranteed response to every application. A new job with purpose awaits you!

Don’t meet all criteria? Please apply anyway. We welcome diverse candidates and want to assess your skills and potential contribution to EcoVadis, regardless of your background.

Can the hiring process be adjusted to suit my needs? Yes. We want all candidates, including people with disabilities, people with long-term health conditions, and neurodiverse applicants, to feel confident demonstrating their potential. If you require adjustments, such as interview questions in advance, please inform the hiring team.

Our team’s strength comes from everyone’s uniqueness and is founded upon mutual respect. EcoVadis commits to equity, inclusion and reducing bias in our hiring processes. EcoVadis does not accept any form of discrimination based on characteristics such as color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, citizenship, religion, beliefs, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodiversity, disability, parental status, or any other protected characteristic that makes you unique. To reduce bias in hiring, applicants are encouraged to remove personal details such as photos, marital/parental status, religion, gender, postal code, university name/graduation date, past leave details, and nationality (instead, confirm eligibility to work in the job location).

Our recruitment processes do not include AI systems that make autonomous decisions impacting individuals’ rights without human oversight. Inputs and outputs of the system have been validated by humans and answers are based on algorithms that analyze previous data with which the system has been trained. We use SmartRecruiters as our applicant tracking system and to schedule interviews. Gemini is used to summarize notes from interviews and to refine job descriptions and social media messaging. AssessFirst is used to support talent assessment decisions.