Manager, Sales UKI (Emerging Manager)

About Pleo

Messy spend management is tricky business. And tedious processes are a lose-lose situation for all involved, not just finance. At Pleo, we're changing that. We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike - with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’.

The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years.

Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success. We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high. With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out. And frankly, that’s half the fun! What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together.

About the role

We’re looking for a Manager, Sales UKI to join our Emerging Sales team at Pleo (SMB). In this role, you’ll help drive revenue expansion in the UKI B2B market and part of our Lisbon-based sales hub as we scale.

Who you’ll be working with and reporting to

You’ll report to our Senior Manager of Sales and work closely with teams in Marketing, Revenue Operations, and Customer Success. Our highly collaborative team of 7 Account Executives (AEs) is dedicated to acquiring small-and-medium business accounts in UKI. You’ll also have the chance to partner with teams across our global offices (London, Copenhagen, Berlin, etc.) to ensure success.

What you’ll be doing

As a Manager, Sales (Emerging Manager), you will:

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing outbound sales team of 7 Account Executives, setting clear career progression paths and driving their professional growth

• Set and execute the sales strategy for the UKI B2B market, leveraging your market knowledge to target the right buyers through the most effective channels

• Lead by example by picking up the phone, conducting sales calls, and actively stepping into the sales process to close deals when needed

• Analyse pipeline and performance data to uncover optimisation opportunities and steer the team toward hyper-growth targets

• Act as the face of Sales for Pleo in the UKI, building strong local community ties by hosting and participating in Meetups, conferences, and startup events.

What you bring

You’ll thrive in this role if you have:

• Sales Management excellence: Proven track record of successfully hiring, managing, coaching, and scaling sales teams

• UKI market knowledge: A deep understanding of how B2B buyers operate in Spain and a strong grasp of the regional SaaS landscape

• Outbound Strategy Mastery: Solid experience running, measuring, and scaling high-velocity outbound sales pipelines

• High EQ & Empathy – A natural ability to build trust with your team and cross-functional partners.

• An Entrepreneurial Flair – A proactive, "roll-up-your-sleeves" attitude, whether you've run a startup before or are deeply involved in startup communities.

• Language Fluency – Native or bilingual proficiency in English, any other language will be a plus

You'll stand out if you:

• Have experience working in an international setting or managing teams across different markets.

• Possess professional experience outside of sales (e.g., Customer Success or Marketing).

• Have previously built structured career-progression framework tracks for sales representatives.

Why is this role a good fit for you

This role is a good fit for you if:

• You genuinely love coaching and watching early-career sales professionals grow into star performers

• You want the best of both worlds: living in sunny Lisbon, Portugal, while retaining complete ownership of a critical, fast-growing UKI market

• You are an "entrepreneur at heart" who thrives on ownership, fast-paced environments, and leading from the front line.

This role is not a good fit for you if:

• You prefer a highly corporate, hands-off management style where you no longer interact with customers or pick up the phone.

• You do not have a strong foundation in B2B SaaS sales or deep familiarity with the UKI business landscape.

• You are looking for a fully remote position (this position requires to come to the office, on a hybrid set up)

How you’ll develop in this role

In your first 6 months at Pleo, you’ll:

• Lead your team of 7 AEs through strategic onboarding and coaching programs to maximise their outbound sales velocity

• Collaborate with Regional Marketing and Growth teams to refine our local GTM strategy. Maximising pipeline yield for the UKI market

• Grow your skills in international business leadership, managing a critical territory for a top-tier, rapidly expanding fintech leader in the European market.

The location

Please note: We can hire on a hybrid set-up in any of the locations listed on the advert but you will need to be physically based in the country of your choice with a valid right to work. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role in any of the listed locations.

Show me the benefits!

• Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!)

• Lunch is on us for your work days - enjoy catered meals or receive a lunch allowance based on your local office

• Comprehensive private healthcare - depending on your location, coverage options include Vitality, Alan or Médis

• We offer 25 days of holiday + your public holidays

• For our Team, we offer both hybrid and fully remote working options

• We use MyndUp to give our employees access to free mental health and well-being support with great success so far

• Paid parental leave - we want to make sure that we're supportive of families and help you feel that you don't have to compromise your family due to work

The interview process

We want to ensure you are set-up for success and understand what will be expected of you. If your application is successful, our interview process is as follows:

1. Intro call: A 30-minute chat with our Talent Partner to discuss the role and your background.

2. Hiring Manager Interview: A 45 mins chat to deep dive into your experience with the hiring manager

3. Pleo Challenge and Team Interview: We will send you a take home test and invite you to present during a 60 minute team interview. This is an opportunity to show us how you would handle the day to day of the role

4. Final Interview: A final interview with a senior leaderTransparency is important to us so we also wanted to share some insights about what we’re looking for in applications to ensure you can set yourself up for success!

Transparency is important to us so we also wanted to share some insights about what we’re looking for in applications to ensure you can set yourself up for success!

Last time we hired for this role, we received a vast number of applications but only a few were selected for an intro call. With this in mind, we want to help you understand what we really care about when reviewing your application:

• CV writing and content: we receive a lot of CVs, and many of them are AI-generated. We love seeing people leverage AI—it’s a big focus for us internally too—but without human intervention, these CVs can sometimes become generic and fail to show a candidate in the best light. What we're really looking for is the specific details of real impact that only you know from your previous experience. A top tip from us is to use the “Achieved X, as measured by Y, by doing Z” formula (credit: Laszlo Bock, ~2014) to give a really clear picture of what you’ve worked on. A final note: including links to your previous companies' websites is a huge help and allows us to truly understand your background!

• Application care: every single application we receive is reviewed by a human (yes, hundreds of them) because we believe that candidates' efforts should be matched by an equal level of human care. This means that we expect a similar level of attention put into your application. Read and answer the application questions carefully, they make a huge difference in our decision-making process.

• Profile to role fit: highlight most important aspects of the role, points that might get misunderstood, any specific industry requirements etc.

About your application

• English first. Since it's our company language, please submit your application in English. You’ll be using it a lot if you join us.

• A fair look for everyone. Our talent team reads every single application to ensure the process is fair. To keep things running smoothly, we only accept applications through our system—our support team can’t pass on calls or emails.

• Diversity drives us. We can only reach our goals if our team reflects the world around us. That starts with you hitting apply, even if you don't tick every single box. We encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences to join us.

• Interview at your best. We want you to feel comfortable throughout the process. If you have any accessibility requirements or need a specific format, email belonging@pleo.io. We’ll design a process that works for you.

• Your data is safe. When you apply, we process your personal data as a data processor. For more information on how Pleo processes personal data, read our Privacy Policy here.

• Applying for multiple roles? Nothing is stopping you, and we assess every role independently. However, we do look for alignment, so make sure you can explain why your interest and experience are right for each specific role.

• Reapplying. If you’re applying for the same role again, please wait six months from your last decision before hitting submit.