Head of Sales - Europe (French-speaker)

Want to work with an award-winning and quickly expanding company? We’re the leading website for outdoor holidays, making it a doddle to book camping, glamping and caravan sites all over the world, with over 5,300 to choose from. Pitchup reached profitability in 2015 and so far £260m worth of holidays have been booked through us - we’ve helped 9m holidaymakers book their outdoor escape.

We are now looking for a talented leader to join our team as Head of Sales - Europe. Please note we do require fluency in English and French

You will be joining our business at a critical time as we continue the growth of our European markets. Strategically you will have a strong influence on the business planning for our international expansion; developing the roadmap to deliver this growth. 

You will manage a team of Sales Consultants and Team Leaders responsible for acquiring and adding to our extensive accommodation inventory. You will build the sales strategy from the ground up; identifying and developing key markets. Furthermore, you will personally own the acquisition of larger corporate relationships contributing to growth objectives for the region.

About the role:

• Define and implement appropriate sales strategies/business plans to achieve sales/growth targets
• Define, own and exceed annual sales targets within assigned territories and accounts
• Build and maintain strong, long-lasting customer relationships within key accounts
• Understand category-specific landscapes and trends
• Report on forces that shift tactical budgets and strategic direction of accounts
• Recruit, train and mentor remote team members to develop a sales mindset, commercial skills, assessing performance via annual reviews and one-to-ones
• Work closely with other teams to increase listings' visibility, in particular PR, content and the translation team

About you:

As a minimum you'll need:

• An extensive and successful track record within sales and commercial leadership (at least five years at a senior level) ideally within the online travel, marketplace or ecommerce sector
• Demonstrable experience of building and executing a well-defined sales and new business strategy
• Track record of opening and building new international markets, whilst moving other markets to full maturity
• Experience of leading ideally multilingual telephone-based sales teams, with insight on how to build and scale teams and create a high-performance culture
• Fluent in English and French
• An understanding of ecommerce, tourism and leisure
• Strong analytical skills to interpret data and customer insights to unearth new opportunities
• Ability to work under pressure
• Advanced Salesforce skills 
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills

You’ll need to be:

• Pragmatic and commercially astute, with strong judgement and decision-making skills
• Driven, proactive and innovative with a bias towards action
• Comfortable with and able to manage significant change
• Able to influence positively and coach colleagues
• Able to foster strong teamwork, pulling together to achieve targets

Salary: £75,000 to £90,000 per annum depending on experience with OTE

Pitchup employee benefits: 

• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays (pro-rated for part-time employees)
• Pension matched to 4%, private healthcare, life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection - for peace of mind
• Discounts including: gym memberships, sports equipment, Caffe Nero, Odeon cinema and various hotel and retail outlets
• IT equipment 
• Great staff discounts on Pitchup bookings across thousands of properties in 70 countries
• A work-from-home office equipment allowance
• Company away days
• Employee assistance helpline, in case you ever need someone to talk to, with access to get-fit programmes, nutrition advice, financial and legal advice and counselling
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Cycle to work scheme

More about Pitchup

Pitchup.com receives 33m annual visits and up to 7,500 bookings per day, with total transaction value 50% up compared to 2022 (a record-breaking year). So far £260m worth of holidays have been booked through us and we’ve helped 9m holidaymakers make their great escape. This year we launched our new mobile website, updating the look and feel and increasing conversion, with the desktop version soon to follow. The company is profitable and was founded in 2009 by former lastminute.com staff with a background in the holiday park sector.

You will join a nimble team of 70 based in 10 countries, all working from home, as we are a 100% remote business. 

Our site has been featured in leading global media titles, such as BBC News, New York Times, Le Figaro, and more, and has been translated into 17 languages. We’re members of the Financial Times' FT1000 fastest growing companies in Europe and recently were awarded the Platinum Trusted Service Award by Feefo, for achieving a customer rating of at least 4.5 out of 5 for 3 years in a row. 

Some facts about our European market

• We send around 200,000 customers each year on holiday outside their home country
• We are on course to hit £100m TTV in the next 18 months
• France has 40% of Europe's pitches
• We have integrations with over 100 booking systems around the world
• Our site is localised into 16 languages

Some of our press coverage

UK: 

• https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/travel/uk-camping-campsites-august-bank-holiday-2022-availability-pitch-prices-1804816 
• https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67423068/camping-trade-world-issue-11/43
• https://www.farminglife.com/country-and-farming/international-womens-day-women-playing-key-role-in-growth-of-agritourism-study-finds-4055326
• https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/storm-clouds-on-the-horizon-for-temporary-campsites-mg7nz5cv6

IT: 

• https://vincenzochierchia.blog.ilsole24ore.com/2022/01/18/estate-2022-pitchup-turismo-glamping-gonfie-vele/
• https://www.vanityfair.it/gallery/tende-da-campeggio-facili-da-montare-da-portare-in-vacanza   

US: 

• https://medium.com/authority-magazine/dan-yates-of-pitchup-the-future-of-travel-in-the-post-covid-world-949495433861 
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/camp-rental-utah-california-yellowstone/  
• https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/27/travel/love-or-leave-winter-on-the-cheap.html 

ES: 

• https://www.elmundo.es/viajes/hoteles/2022/06/23/62b2c84ffdddffd5758b45ef.html 
• https://www.europapress.es/turismo/nacional/noticia-sector-camping-espana-preve-2023-cifras-record-reservas-pitchup-20230215125405.html 

FR: 

• https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/ces-commercants-contraints-aux-promos-pour-rassurer-les-vacanciers-20220808 
• https://www.camping-car.com/nos-actus/27057-laissez-vous-tenter-par-une-escapade-en-van