Head of Inside Sales

You've carried a number and you've run a sales team, and you still want to be on calls yourself. You know how to get an interested person all the way to a signed deal when their manager and their HR team have a say in it.

You'd run our apprenticeship sales team from Cape Town, selling apprenticeships to the people who apply for them, and carry your own pipeline while you do it.

What you'd do

We're a UK training provider in data and AI. Most of what we sell is UK apprenticeships, government-backed training for people already in a job, and every lead is inbound. Someone sees one of our ads, applies and books a call with us.

Every deal starts as one person's conversation about their career and ends with their employer signing a contract, with their manager, HR and sometimes procurement in between, and a funding conversation about who pays what. You'd need to be good at both halves yourself, and you'd need your team to be good at them too.

You'd own that pipeline from new lead to start date. You'd coach the reps, get the forecast for each intake right, and work out where deals are stalling and fix it. You'd also close deals yourself, so the team sees you doing what you're asking of them.

Your week

• Listening to recorded calls and sitting down with each rep on what to do differently next week.
• Running the weekly pipeline review, deal by deal, and calling what each intake will really land at.
• Working your own pipeline, from first call to signed contract.
• Joining reps on the bigger or harder deals, including calls with managers, HR and L&D teams.
• Watching how fast new leads get called and which ones are worth a rep's time, and feeding back what's working.
• Making sure what the team says about funding and eligibility is right, because we're a regulated training provider.
• Improving how the team works. We use AI across the business, and if you can see a better way to run this, we'll actually do it.

We're a startup, so there'll be other things to pick up as we grow, and we'd expect you to help where it's needed.

Why you'd want it

You'd run the team and own the number. The leads come to you, so your time goes on selling and coaching rather than finding people to talk to. Commission has no cap, and it pays on your own deals and on what your team signs.

And it's a product worth selling. Someone changes what they do for a living without leaving their job, and their employer gets someone who can use data and AI. We're a startup at an inflection point, and 2027 is when we scale. How well this team sells is a big part of how we get there.

Who you are

You've managed a sales team that had a target, and you've coached people on their actual calls. You've sold on the phone or on video yourself and hit your number, and you still want to. You've worked a busy inbound pipeline in a CRM, you read the numbers without being asked, and you can tell the team what you think the month will land at and be close.

You've sold deals where more than one person had to say yes. That might be B2B, or something a person buys but someone else has to approve or pay for. It helps a lot if you've sold into the UK, or sold education or training. You don't need to know UK apprenticeships or how they're funded yet, because you'd pick that up quickly with us, but you do need to care about getting it right.

You'll need excellent spoken English, because you'd be on calls with UK managers and HR teams most days. The office is in Riverlands and you'd be in it some days, so you need to be in or near Cape Town. If that's you, we want to hear from you.

The details

Full-time, UK business hours, on a contractor agreement, with 20 days' paid leave plus South African public holidays. R60,000 to R80,000 a month cost to company, depending on experience, plus commission with no cap. About R88,000 to R108,000 a month on target. Mainly remote, with office days in Riverlands, so you need to live in or near Cape Town. Start as soon as you can. The right to work in South Africa (we can't offer visa sponsorship).

About iO-Sphere

Over 1,000 people have trained with us, and companies including PwC, BAE Systems, Dunelm, Motorway and CBRE send their teams to us. We're one of the UK's fastest-growing data and AI training companies, and a startup at an inflection point. 2027 is when we scale.

Apply on our website through the Apply button. You'll see the full job description, how we hire, and the form.

Safeguarding: iO-Sphere is committed to safeguarding and operates within regulated Further Education environments. This role requires a SAPS police clearance certificate, which we arrange and pay for, and safeguarding and Prevent training. All applicants must complete their application honestly and in full, and consent to the pre-employment checks required for the role. Failure to disclose relevant information, or providing false information, will result in the application being withdrawn or employment being terminated.

iO-Sphere is an equal-opportunities employer. We hire on merit and welcome applications from every background. If you need any adjustment to the process, just tell us.