Regional VP Sales, Southern Europe

Ready for a new challenge? Join Guidewire as RVP of Sales! Supported by a highly effective Sales Operations and Marketing team, this sales leadership role will focus upon understanding the strategic objectives of clients and building meaningful relationships with business leaders within the target market. Guidewire exists to deliver the industry platform that P&C insurers rely upon to adapt and succeed in a time of accelerating change—and to ensure that every customer succeeds in the journey. We provide the software, services, and partner ecosystem to enable our customers to run, differentiate, and grow their business.

We invest heavily in R&D to build a technology platform that combines three elements—core processing, data and analytics, and digital engagement—to improve insurers’ ability to engage and empower their customers and employees. Our sales and marketing teams are critical to Guidewire's success. For one, the revenue from new sales ensures that we have the funding required to continuously invest in our products and in scaling our growing company. Secondly, our industry is undergoing a technology-led transformation: our sales and marketing teams have the experience and knowledge to partner with insurers to help them plan for success.

Of course, our sales and marketing teams are our key ambassadors in the marketplace and play a key role in how the Guidewire brand is perceived. Recently, you may have heard of the drive for corporate enterprises to deploy applications in the cloud. This trend will impact our customers and industry in the same way it is requiring other industries to evolve. We deliver SaaS solutions via Guidewire Cloud, which enables insurers to focus on business agility while transferring related IT responsibilities to Guidewire. We’re responsible for implementation, ongoing management, and upgrades.

Key Activities

• Recruit, onboard, coach and manage the performance of a group of enterprise software sales executives.
• Manage the financial forecasting of revenue on a weekly basis maintaining >85% accuracy of opportunities above 40%.
• Build strategic sales campaigns mapped to delivering the optimum business value to customer while ensuring a healthy margin for Guidewire.
• Proactive development of existing and new business customers in assigned territory.
• Build and maintain relationships with key decision makers both technical and business focused within prospects and existing clients.
• Develop territory planning, pipeline management, and account development.
• Run post-sale client relationships to maximize product extension sales to existing customers.
• Lead and undertake Sales activities from initial contact until sale closure.
• Arrange and lead technical and functional presentations to clients, in conjunction with product specialists and professional services.
• Maintain a proven knowledge of the Company’s underlying technology, the range of existing products and consulting services.
• Prepare detailed quotations and proposals that fully meet client expectations, as well as minimizing risk to the company. Follow Company procedures for quotation review.
• Present regular detailed reports to Management regarding Sales and Marketing activities and success rates.
• Represent the Company at trade shows, conferences, industry meetings and other avenues to initiate sales of the Company’s products.
• Analyze competitor activities and provide feedback into marketing strategies and product development.
• Ability to hire and lead a Sales Team and empower them.

Responsibilities

• Consistent track record (15+ years) of leading and selling complex core enterprise applications into an industry vertical (ideally General Insurance). Industry Verticals include Insurance, Banking, Telecom, Industrial, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, Finance/Accounting, and manufacturing.
• A high level of energy, dedication, and ownership with proven ability to recruit, onboard, coach and manage the performance of top ranked enterprise software sales teams.
• Mastery of the complex end-to-end enterprise software sales cycle which encompasses selling multiple applications to a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Ability to clearly articulate corporate goals and manage the performance of each team member against corporate revenue and customer satisfaction targets.
• Interest and desire to learn about new business areas – the business of general insurers, such that they can engage in cogent face to face discussions with business leaders.
• Track record biased towards winning new name business, the role is 70% new business, 30% add-on sales.
• Validated ability to tie client business needs/plans to the solution proposed in a compelling manner.
• Be able to demonstrate a proactive nature, somebody who makes things happen – reluctant to take no for an answer.
• Somebody who thinks through the situation draws up a series of potential actions and then executes the best option.
• Understands the impact, benefit, and cost structure to the customer of large core solution projects.
• High Emotional Intelligence with proven ability to unmask buyer (or team member) intent or dissentient while empathizing, educating, inspiring and leading customer (or team member) towards a mutually beneficial partnership.
• Ability to inspire and lead others to achieve unprecedented results internally and externally.
• Understanding of enterprise technology and the key challenges facing CIOs / CTOs at client firms.
• Be able to strike the right level of persistence at differing levels throughout a prospective client organization.
• Fit in comfortably into a team environment, the multi-faceted nature of the opportunities requires strong collaboration.
• Experience of working with strategic partners and system integrators.

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 500 insurers in 38 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record with 1000+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our Marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on Twitter: @Guidewire_PandC.