Sales Team Lead - SME Spain

Barcelona, Spain | On-site, with some teleworking flexibility

Are you interested in combining team management, B2B SaaS sales and building a new sales activity from scratch?

At Pennylane, you will have the opportunity to help small businesses and their accounting firms manage their finances better, while taking part in the launch and development of our Spanish market.

We are looking for someone with solid sales experience and a first management experience, able to support a team of Account Executives, raise their execution standards and contribute directly to Pennylane's growth in Spain.

Our ambition is to become the reference financial and accounting operating system for small and medium-sized businesses in Europe and their accounting firms.

We help business owners regain control of their finances, automate administrative tasks and make better decisions thanks to reliable and accessible financial data.

At the same time, we help accounting firms work more efficiently, reduce repetitive tasks and offer a higher level of advice to their clients.

The Spanish market represents a strategic opportunity for Pennylane. The local launch requires adapting the product, positioning and sales processes to the needs of Spanish SMEs and self-employed professionals, especially in the context of VeriFactu and the evolution of electronic invoicing.

Pennylane was founded in 2020 and is building a financial and accounting platform for European SMEs and accounting firms.

To date:

• More than 1,000 Pennylaners.

• More than 350 million euros raised since the company was created.

• More than 50 nationalities represented.

• More than 1.3 million SMEs working with Pennylane.

• More than 7,000 accounting firms use Pennylane.

All Pennylane employees take part in the company's success through an equity participation scheme.

As Team Lead, Account Executive Small Business, you will be responsible for supporting, developing and growing a sales team dedicated to small businesses.

The Small Business scope focuses mainly on companies with between 0 and 5 employees, with a direct sales and conversion approach during the online subscription process. The team also plays an important role in recovering opportunities that abandon or interrupt the sign-up process.

Your mission will be twofold:

1. Ensure the team achieves its sales targets in a sustainable way.

2. Build the methods, processes and standards that will allow the Small Business activity to scale in Spain.

Leading and developing the team

• Support, motivate and develop the Account Executives in their day-to-day work.

• Organise 1:1 sessions, call reviews, coaching sessions and individual development plans.

• Give clear, frequent and actionable feedback.

• Help each team member improve their discovery, argumentation, objection handling, negotiation and closing skills.

• Create a demanding, collaborative and learning-oriented working environment.

• Quickly identify individual difficulties and put in place concrete action plans.

• Lead by example, maintaining a high level of energy, activity and collective responsibility.

Steering commercial performance

• Be responsible for the overall performance of the team.

• Monitor and improve the main activity and conversion indicators:

  • Lead response time.

  • Number and quality of sales conversations.

  • Conversion rate.

  • Number of closed deals.

  • New MRR generated.

  • Time needed to close an opportunity.

  • Drop-out rate during subscription.

  • Quality and speed of follow-up.

• Analyse results through dashboards and Salesforce.

• Identify the main factors that explain the team's performance.

• Prepare reliable forecasts and share them with the Sales managers.

• Turn data into weekly action plans and operational priorities.

Ensuring sales excellence

• Ensure the correct application of the Pennylane sales methodology.

• Ensure the team quickly understands customer needs, their current tools, their problems and their decision criteria.

• Raise the level of knowledge of the product, accounting and the competitive ecosystem.

• Help Account Executives explain complex concepts in a simple way.

• Develop a consultative sales culture, based on listening and understanding the customer's business.

• Ensure that every sales conversation leads to a clear next step.

• Continuously improve the closing process and objection handling.

These expectations are based on the competency framework identified for Small Business Specialists: responsiveness, rigour, listening, expertise and mastery of the sales process through to closing.

Building the Spanish sales machine

• Adapt and improve the Small Business sales playbook for the Spanish market.

• Identify priority customer profiles, especially among self-employed professionals, micro-businesses and digital services companies.

• Take part in defining the sales pitch, use cases and value messages specific to Spain.

• Create simple, repeatable and scalable processes.

• Contribute to defining team rituals, follow-up standards and quality criteria.

• Document learnings and share them with Sales Ops, Marketing, Product and other stakeholders.

• Propose improvements to the acquisition funnel and the online subscription experience.

• Help turn regulatory changes related to electronic invoicing into a customer acquisition opportunity.

The Spanish market requires, among other things, a good understanding of local invoicing, VAT, IRPF, NIF, bank connections, the needs of self-employed professionals and flows related to VeriFactu.

Ensuring operational excellence

• Ensure rigorous and consistent use of Salesforce.

• Ensure the quality of notes, opportunity information and forecasts.

• Maintain a clear view of the pipeline and sales priorities.

• Structure the team's working days between calls, follow-up, administration, meetings and training.

• Work closely with Sales Ops to improve dashboards, processes and data quality.

• Avoid loss of information between the different teams and stages of the funnel.

• Create a culture based on individual responsibility and continuous improvement.

Working with the rest of the organisation

• Work cross-functionally with Marketing, Sales Ops, Product, Customer Success and Finance.

• Pass on customer feedback in a structured and prioritised way.

• Take part in the continuous improvement of the product and the sales experience.

• Ensure good coordination with the teams involved before and after the sale.

• Represent the voice of the Spanish customer within Pennylane.

• Proven experience in B2B sales, ideally in SaaS, fintech, management software or technology services.

• A first experience of managing, coordinating or supporting a sales team.

• Experience in coaching, call reviews and monitoring sales indicators.

• Ability to work with targets for New MRR, conversion, volume and sales efficiency.

• Knowledge of the fundamentals of consultative selling: discovery, qualification, demo, objection handling, negotiation and closing.

• Ability to combine a strategic vision with a strong focus on execution.

• Excellent organisational skills and rigour in following up opportunities.

• Good command of Salesforce or another CRM.

• Ability to analyse data and turn it into operational decisions.

• Very good communication and listening skills.

• Native or bilingual Spanish.

• Professional English, both spoken and written.

• Interest in technology, SaaS products and the financial issues of small businesses.

• A builder mindset and enjoyment of building processes in an environment still under development.

• Ability to work in an international and constantly evolving context.

• Humility, curiosity, energy and the ability to receive and give feedback.

We do not expect you to meet all the criteria from day one. If the role interests you and you believe you can contribute to the project, we encourage you to apply.

During the first months, we expect you to be able to:

• Quickly understand the Spanish market, the product and the acquisition funnel.

• Build a relationship of trust with the team and set clear standards.

• Implement a routine of coaching and performance follow-up.

• Improve the quality of sales execution and the reliability of data.

• Identify the main friction points in the sales process.

• Help define the Small Business sales playbook for Spain.

• Generate measurable and sustainable sales results.

• Build a team culture based on collaboration, demanding standards and responsibility.

• Be very present in the office during the launch phase to build the team's dynamic and get the sales activity under way.

• The opportunity to take part in the launch of Pennylane in Spain.

• A role with direct impact on building a new sales organisation.

• The chance to work with an innovative SaaS product in the fields of accounting and financial management.

• An international environment with more than 50 nationalities.

• A working model based mainly on the Barcelona office, especially during the launch phase.

• Some teleworking flexibility, depending on team needs and company policy.

• A local contract subject to Spanish employment law and the applicable collective agreement.

• Private medical insurance.

• Possibility to use a coworking budget, subject to company policy.

• Participation in the capital of Pennylane.

• Development and internal mobility opportunities.

• A working environment based on autonomy, trust and collaboration.

Local employment conditions are documented in the Pennylane Spain employee guide.

1. Screening

A first interview with Laurence Penven, Talent Acquisition.

The aim will be to understand your career path, your motivations, your sales experience and your first management experience.

2. Who interview

An interview with Edouard Mascré, co-founder and Sales Director of Pennylane.

This interview will assess your career path, your leadership capacity, your sales vision and your alignment with the Spanish launch project.

3. Case study

A case study with Jacob Sulim and, if available, Cécile Farriaux.

The case will focus on managing a Small Business team, steering commercial performance and building a playbook suited to the Spanish market.

4. Last Round

A final interview with Arthur Waller, co-founder of Pennylane.

🎁 What we can offer you:

🌴 You will have 25 paid holiday days from Pennylane, plus 5 additional Rest & Relax days offered by the company.

💰 Flexible benefits: you will be able to access benefits with tax advantages for meals, transport, childcare and professional training through Alan Flex.

🩺 Medical insurance: you will have Alan's health insurance, whose standard plan is fully funded by Pennylane.

📈 You will receive Pennylane stock options, so you can take part in the success of the company you are helping to build.

🏡 You will have a budget to make your home a more comfortable workspace, plus a monthly allowance to work from a coworking space whenever you wish.

💻 You will receive state-of-the-art Apple equipment.

🏢 Depending on the team and the requirements of the role, you may be able to work remotely from your country of residence, provided it is located in Europe and within a maximum time difference of two hours from the CET time zone.

🎉 We commit to meeting regularly at company events, such as the Tech Days, which allow Pennylaners who work remotely to get together every three months, or our annual seminar. These gatherings create important moments of cohesion for the whole team.

To thrive at Pennylane, you will need:

• To speak English (the level is assessed and valued depending on the department you apply to)

• To enjoy working in a constantly changing environment

• To make collaboration a priority within your team or with other stakeholders

• To have enough perspective to prioritise the actions with the greatest business impact in your daily activity

We know that some people are less likely to apply if they feel they do not meet all the criteria.

If you have doubts, we encourage you to apply anyway: who knows, it could be the start of a meaningful and lasting collaboration!

Important information for candidates

Recruitment fraud attempts are on the rise. We invite you to stay vigilant during your exchanges.

Applications only through our official channels: apply exclusively through our offers published on our official media (careers site, official partner pages).

Systematically check the sender's email address: our communications are sent from professional addresses with the domains @pennylane.com or @pennylane-partners.com.

We will never ask you for any payment or financial information (bank details, payment for an interview, purchase of equipment, etc.) as part of the recruitment process.

If you receive such a request, it is fraud. We invite you to not respond and to inform us immediately.

Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in all its forms, Pennylane offers an inclusive, supportive work environment conducive to personal development, both in our offices and remotely. We are committed to providing equal opportunities to all our candidates, regardless of social and ethnic origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability.

🇫🇷 Personal data

Pennylane processes your data to manage your application and assess your suitability for the position. If your application is unsuccessful, your data may be kept for 2 years from our last exchange or the closing of the recruitment process in order to build and manage a candidate pool. You may object at any time and request the deletion of your data by writing to: [contact details removed].
Our data policy

🇬🇧 Personal Data

Pennylane processes your data to manage your application and assess your suitability for the position. If your application is unsuccessful, your data may be retained for 2 years from our last exchange or the closing of the recruitment process, in order to build and manage a candidate pool. You may object at any time and request the deletion of your data by writing to [contact details removed]. Learn more

🇩🇪 Personal data

Pennylane processes your data to manage your application and assess your suitability for the position. If your application is unsuccessful, your data may be stored for up to 2 years from our last exchange or the conclusion of the recruitment process, in order to build and manage a candidate pool. You may object at any time and request the deletion of your data by writing to [contact details removed]. Learn more

🇪🇸 Personal data

Pennylane processes your data to manage your application and assess your suitability for the position. If your application is not selected, your data may be kept for up to 2 years from our last contact or the end of the selection process, in order to build and manage a candidate pool. You may object at any time and request the deletion of your data by writing to [contact details removed]. More information