Director of Sales
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Director of Sales directs and is responsible for performance of sales for an entire organization. May manage sales managers. Plans and directs sale of products or services to customers. Coordinates sales distribution. Establishes sales territories, quotas and/or goals for staff, and provides training for sales representatives.
Job Outlook
There were 1489 Director of Sales job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 48889 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Business Development / Sales Manager industry, which includes the Director of Sales career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Director of Sales jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $176,223.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $173,293.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Sales postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $140,219.
Education and Experience
Posted Director of Sales jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 60.89% |
| Master's Degree | 19.37% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1.14% |
| Other | 6.74% |
Posted Director of Sales jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 9.69% |
| 3 to 5 years | 36.07% |
| 6 to 8 years | 18.89% |
| 9+ years | 35.36% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Sales positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Sales (91.88%)
- Leadership (54.37%)
- Communication (48.78%)
- Management (46.15%)
- Customer Service (30.19%)
- Presentations (28.13%)
- Operations (26.01%)
- Forecasting (22.21%)
- Negotiation (21.15%)
- Planning (19.13%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Marketing (55.86%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Sales Strategy (31.11%)
- Sales Forecasting (9.23%)
- Go-to-Market Strategy (10.24%)
- Account Management (10.12%)
- Business To Business (10.35%)
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (10.27%)
- Market Trend (11.5%)
- Sales Operations (9.84%)
- Salesforce (16.7%)
- Business Development (18.17%)
- Sales Process (19.12%)
- Direct Selling (10.52%)
- Customer Relationship Management (22.95%)
- Business Strategies (7.61%)
- Market Share (11.34%)
- Selling Techniques (38.26%)
- Finance (13.47%)
- Sales Prospecting (27.87%)
- Project Management (8.44%)
- New Product Development (8.53%)
- Sales Management (15.97%)
- Value Propositions (9.63%)
- Revenue Growth (14.99%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Catering Sales (3.42%)
- Enterprise Sales (5.4%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Enterprise Sales (9.25%)
- Marketing (95.66%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Sales skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Vice President of Sales
- Sales Director
- Director of Sales and Marketing
- Sales Executive
- Enterprise Sales Director
- Director of Sales Enablement
- Area Sales Director
- Vice President of Financial Services
- Director of Sales Operations
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Sales jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Marriott International (1458)
- Lumen Technologies (1034)
- Hilton (588)
- Wolters Kluwer (565)
- Aimbridge Hospitality (462)
- Fisher Investments (428)
- Realty Connect USA (386)
- Accenture (353)
- Sunrise Senior Living (328)
- Concentrix (318)
North Carolina
- Realty Connect USA (32)
- Marriott International (30)
- Windstream (30)
- Hilton (23)
- Lumen Technologies (22)
- Lenovo (20)
- Consulate Health Care (17)
- Compass Group (14)
- Carstar Franchise Systems (13)
- Aimbridge Hospitality (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Business Administration Master's Degrees
- Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Sport Management Master's Degrees
- Professional Communication and Managerial Skills Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.