About this role.
This is a founding Strategic Sales Director role for Cresta's Iberia market, responsible for owning 8-12 strategic accounts in Spain and Portugal. The role involves running complex 6-18 month sales cycles, generating your own pipeline, and building long-term land-and-expand strategies. The ideal candidate brings 8+ years of enterprise SaaS sales experience, a track record of closing €500K+ ARR deals at IBEX35-caliber companies, and a strong C-level network. Based in Madrid, you will collaborate with a 10-person local team and help shape the region's go-to-market strategy from scratch. This is a high-ownership, high-impact position within a hyper-growth AI startup.
Role DNA
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Job Complexity
5/5Pace & Pressure
4/5Autonomy Level
5/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
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Cover letter sample
I am writing to express my strong interest in the Strategic Sales Director, Iberia position at Cresta. With over 10 years of enterprise SaaS sales experience and a proven record of closing multi-million dollar deals at IBEX35-caliber accounts, I am excited about the opportunity to help build Cresta's presence in Spain and Portugal.
My background includes leading complex 6-18 month sales cycles, cultivating C-level relationships, and consistently exceeding new-logo acquisition goals. I have deep expertise in conversational AI and contact center solutions, which aligns directly with Cresta's innovative platform.
I am particularly drawn to the founding-team nature of this role, where I can contribute to shaping the go-to-market strategy while managing strategic accounts. I look forward to discussing how I can drive revenue growth for Cresta.
Sample interview questions
I would start by leveraging my existing C-level and VP network in IBEX35 companies to arrange initial discovery meetings. I would also target relevant events and partnerships with system integrators like Accenture or Telefónica Tech. My approach would be to create tailored value propositions for each industry—banking, telco, utilities—and use insights from market trends and regulatory drivers like Ley SAC to position Cresta as a strategic solution. I would consistently refine our outreach based on feedback and quickly move qualified opportunities into business case development.
In a previous role, I managed a 14-month deal with a major bank. My strategy involved mapping the executive and technical buying committee early, aligning our solution with the bank's digital transformation roadmap, and engaging operations, security, and procurement in parallel. I provided value through workshops and pilots, maintaining engagement across all stakeholders. I created a joint business case that quantified expected ROI and drove urgency by benchmarking against competitors. Regular communication and transparency helped navigate objections, and I eventually closed a €1.2M TCV deal.
I prioritize understanding regulatory requirements upfront, such as data privacy and security standards. I engage with the customer's security and legal teams early in the process to identify potential obstacles and address them proactively. I work closely with my Solutions Consultant to provide technical documentation and compliance certifications. I also maintain relationships with procurement to understand the contracting process and ensure we meet all requirements. By facilitating a structured review process with clear milestones, I've successfully closed deals in heavily regulated environments.
I would start by understanding the customer's key business drivers—whether it's reducing customer service costs, improving customer satisfaction, or increasing revenue through better upselling. I would then conduct a discovery workshop with both business and IT stakeholders to map pain points and identify high-impact use cases. Together with data from existing operations, I'd build an ROI model that quantifies potential savings and revenue gains. I would also share relevant success stories from similar companies and industry benchmarks to build credibility and create a sense of urgency.
I would balance both by being very disciplined with my time. In the early phase, I would spend time with the marketing team to define the ideal customer profile and build a localized message. I would also provide feedback from my sales meetings to refine our positioning. I would actively mentor the SDR and Solutions Consultants to build a strong pipeline engine. While maintaining my own quota, I would also help establish best practices for a scalable sales process, and collaborate with Madrid-based leadership to set priorities for market penetration.
Cresta unlocks the true potential of the customer experience, turning every conversation into a competitive advantage. Cresta’s unified AI platform combines conversational AI agents, real-time human agent augmentation, and comprehensive conversation intelligence to drive revenue and efficiency gains across every channel. The world’s leading companies, including United Airlines, Cox Communications, and Marriott, use Cresta to power world-class customer experiences every day.
Born from the Stanford AI Lab, Cresta has raised more than $270 million from the world’s leading investors, including a16z, Greylock, and Sequoia. Cresta’s leadership includes some of the leading minds in AI today. Our CEO, Ping Wu, founded and led Google’s Contact Center AI and Vertex AI platforms before joining Cresta to build the future of AI-driven customer experiences.
Over the next few years, AI is going to redefine how people all over the world interact with businesses every day. Come build that future at Cresta.
About the role:
As a founding Strategic Sales Director for Iberia, you will own 8-12 of the largest strategic accounts across Spain and/or Portugal — IBEX35-caliber banking, telco, insurance, utilities, and travel enterprises. You’ll run complex, multi-level sales cycles from 6 to 18 months, build both the business case and the technical win alongside your Solutions Consultant, and drive long-term land-and-expand strategy while continuing to bring in new logos.
As part of the founding Iberia team, you’ll work alongside a 10-person Madrid-based org (SDR, SC, and Customer Success) and help shape the region’s go-to-market strategy from the ground up.
Responsibilities:
- Manage a portfolio of 8-12 top strategic accounts in Spain and/or Portugal
- Generate your own pipeline — Cresta drives strong inbound, but Strategic AEs are expected to self-source roughly 50% of pipeline
- Orchestrate complex, multi-level sales cycles (6-18 months) across buying committees, procurement, legal, and security
- Build the business case and the technical win in partnership with your Solutions Consultant and extended team
- Drive land-and-expand strategy with a long-term vision for each account, while continuing to prioritize new-logo acquisition
- Partner closely with Product, Marketing, Customer Success, and Engineering to deliver an exceptional customer experience
Qualifications We Value:
- 8+ years of enterprise SaaS sales experience, including at least 4 years as a quota-carrying individual contributor selling into large Spanish enterprises (IBEX35 or equivalent: banking, telco, insurance, utilities, travel)
- Verified track record closing deals of €500K+ ARR / €1M+ TCV, including at least one deal exceeding €1M TCV at an IBEX35-caliber account
- New-logo hunting as your primary motion — majority of attainment historically from net-new logos rather than installed-base expansion
- Experience navigating complex 6-18 month cycles, including RFPs, buying committees, and procurement/legal/security review in regulated industries
- Existing C-level/VP network within Spanish enterprise accounts
Nice-to-Have:
- CX / contact center / conversational AI domain exposure (CCaaS, WEM, analytics, virtual agents)
- Experience opening a market or territory from zero for a hyper-growth vendor
- Experience co-selling with SIs and channel partners (e.g. Accenture, Telefónica Tech, Sabio-type ecosystem)
- Familiarity with Ley SAC and Spanish regulatory drivers in customer service
- MEDDPICC (or equivalent) formally trained
Language & Travel:
- Native or negotiation-grade Spanish, fluent English; Portuguese is a strong plus
- Madrid-based, with travel across the Iberian Peninsula expected
Perks & Benefits:
We offer a comprehensive and people-first benefits package to support you at work and in life:
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with plans to fit you and your family
- Flexible PTO to take the time you need, when you need it
- Paid parental leave for all new parents welcoming a new child
- Remote work setup budget to help you create a productive home office
- Monthly wellness and communication stipend to keep you connected and balanced
Compensation at Cresta
Cresta’s approach to compensation is simple: recognize impact, reward excellence, and invest in our people. We offer competitive, location-based pay that reflects the market and what each individual brings to the table.
The posted base salary range represents what we expect to pay for this role in a given location. Final offers are shaped by factors like experience, skills, education, and geography. In addition to base pay, total compensation includes equity and a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family.
This role is variable target compensation eligible. There is potential to exceed target earnings when goals are surpassed.
OTE Range: TBD (comp benchmarking in progress) + Offers Equity
We have noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where scammers attempt to access candidates’ personal and financial information through fake interviews and offers. All Cresta recruiting email communications will always come from the @cresta.ai domain. Any outreach claiming to be from Cresta via other sources should be ignored. If you are uncertain whether you have been contacted by an official Cresta employee, reach out to recruiting@cresta.ai
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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