Director, Commercial Strategy

Reporting to the Vice President of Revenue Operations, you will lead, define, and oversee the execution of all aspects of the Global Commercial Strategy organization. This includes setting global policy and governance for deal review, ensuring accuracy, business, operational, and SLA compliance, and driving optimal global deal structure and pricing response. You are a recognized thought leader and subject matter expert in enterprise infrastructure software deals, including both subscription and consumption models. You will be a key strategic business partner to the entire Global Field Organization and Executive Leadership team.

In this role, you will be the final escalation point for complex, high-value global deal exceptions and strategic structuring issues. This role will define the financial governance for global deals and the linkage to the overall financial targets and KPI’s of Couchbase. Strong negotiation experience and executive presence will be critical to manage global field teams, internal stakeholders, and the largest customer negotiations. Cross-functional leadership will be important as this role is at the intersection of numerous global functions. Your ability to communicate across all levels, from sales reps up to our Board of Directors, will be an essential skill required for this role. You must be an initiative-taking self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced global environment.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement global deal strategy, governance, and practices to ensure consistency and maximize revenue and margin.
• Deep understanding of cloud-based software & services delivery (i.e., Software-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service SaaS) including pricing, consumption models, and the impact of usage patterns on total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Lead the articulation of the financial outcome of deals and how this aligns with the company’s strategic goals at an executive level.
• Lead the development of global pricing models, commercial offerings, and deal structuring methodologies, providing executive-level guidance to all regional teams.
• Direct Global deal reviews with Sales/Sales Leadership to drive high-value, Account-Level strategy on pricing/deal structuring.
• Lead and mentor a global team of IC’s and Managers, fostering a high-performance culture and ensuring succession planning.
• Act as the primary executive liaison working with Sales, Field Operations, Finance, and Legal throughout the global contract process, providing strategic assistance to ensure proper processing, including contract red line review and negotiations.
• Effectively resolve and champion complex questions arising between internal processes and global customer needs.
• Define the strategy for improving and enhancing cross-functional processes to ensure a smoother, easier, and frictionless global selling experience.

Qualifications

• Proven track record of leading and managing global teams and organizations.
• Extensive experience defining commercial strategy and governance for complex global deal structuring, including large Enterprise License Agreements, specifically in subscription and consumption models.
• 12+ years of progressive experience working in Enterprise software / SaaS industry with a significant portion in a Deal Desk or Finance leadership role.
• Extensive experience with Salesforce and CPQ is a must.
• Experience leading the review of customer contracts and setting standards for contract language drafting.
• Master’s Degree or MBA preferred, with deep financial acumen.