Archetype recruits Sales Operations Managers for B2B companies in Belgium whose sales leadership lacks reliable numbers: a forecast that changes every week, a half-filled CRM, variable pay calculated by hand. Sales Ops is the person who makes the sales engine measurable and gets the sales team to follow the rules. We have specialised in Sales, Marketing and Management roles since 1993. Every search runs on a retainer, with fees agreed before the start in a written proposal. Allow 12 weeks on average, with a six-month replacement guarantee. Tell us where your sales reporting breaks down and you will receive our proposal within 48 to 72 hours.
What a Sales Operations Manager does
A Sales Operations Manager does not sell. They build and maintain the framework the team sells within: CRM rules and compliance, forecasting and reporting, territory and quota design, commission calculations, choice and configuration of tools, and the stages of the sales process. They work between three audiences with different expectations: leadership, who want a number they can trust; sales managers, who want to steer their pipeline; and salespeople, who want to spend less time on admin. Our Sales Operations Manager job description covers the responsibilities in detail.
The role at a glance
1. What comes in
- Data entered in the CRM
- Targets set by leadership
- The variable pay plan
- Feedback from the field
2. What they produce
- Forecast and dashboards
- Territories and quotas
- Commission calculations
- CRM rules and configuration
- A written sales process
3. Who uses it
- Leadership and finance: a number to decide on
- Sales managers: a readable pipeline
- Salespeople: clear rules and less data entry
The middle column is easy to check at interview. The right-hand column, much less so. A Sales Ops manager the sales team works around produces polished reports on wrong data.
Sales Ops, Sales Enablement and RevOps are three different jobs
Job ads often mix these titles up. A Sales Operations Manager looks after the data, processes and tools of selling. A Sales Enablement Manager looks after the capability of the sellers: training, content and sales messaging; our article Sales Manager vs Sales Enablement Manager sets out the day-to-day difference. Revenue Operations, or RevOps, extends the Sales Ops scope to marketing and customer success, and often reports to a Chief Revenue Officer.
When to hire a Sales Operations Manager
- The forecast presented to leadership swings from week to week and nobody can explain why.
- Each salesperson uses the CRM their own way, and reports only come out after reworking in Excel.
- The Sales Director calculates commissions personally every month.
- Territories or accounts are disputed between salespeople.
- You are changing CRM, or the team has grown to the point where nobody has the overall picture any more.
If the problem is the leadership of the team itself, a Sales Ops hire will not fix it. You need a Head of Sales or a Sales Director first.
Our first call isn’t about validating your brief. It’s about challenging it. Most agencies take the order, go sourcing, and come back with ten CVs. We put the requirement back on the table first: is the role properly defined, does the scorecard hold up, is the market aligned with your range? If the brief drifts, so does the sourcing. This discipline isn’t comfortable for everyone, but it’s what’s kept us in business for 33 years.
How we assess Sales Operations candidates
The role needs two skills that rarely sit together: analytical rigour, and the ability to get rules adopted by salespeople who do not want them. The in-depth interview checks the first. For the second, the interview goes back over real cases: a rule to enforce, reluctant salespeople, what finally worked. Where the stakes justify it, an assessment with a case study and a role-play can be added, such as building a forecast from a pipeline extract or persuading a senior salesperson to keep the CRM up to date.
The KOAN personality test, which we have used for thirty years, completes the file. Its Sales competency model includes methods, responsiveness and influencing strategies. For Sales Ops, method without influence is not enough.
Our method, fees and timeline
The first call is used to take the brief and challenge the role. Within 48 to 72 hours you receive our proposal. Between the two calls we prepare a needs summary, a scorecard for the role and a sourcing strategy. On average the assignment is signed 12 days after first contact. The search then follows five steps:
- In-depth briefing: tools in place, reporting line, priorities for the first six months.
- A written sourcing strategy for the assignment.
- Structured screening: in-depth interview and KOAN.
- Detailed presentation of finalists with scorecard, interview transcripts and a validated job description.
- Follow-up before, during and after the hire.
Our fees are agreed before the start, in the written proposal you sign, and depend on the level of the role, the languages required, the technical complexity and the difficulty of the assignment. We only work on retainer, never on success fee. Allow 12 weeks on average between signing the assignment and the candidate signing. We follow onboarding through the first three months and a six-month replacement guarantee applies. More than 75 to 80% of our assignments are completed through to placement.
We recruit in French, Dutch and English, across Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia and the Netherlands. Archetype is a member of Federgon and won Talent Business Innovation of the Year 2025 for its ethical use of AI.
About Archetype
Archetype is a Belgian family business founded in 1993 by Marc Diamant and now co-managed with Davy Diamant and Steve Diamant. A member of Federgon, it won Talent Business Innovation of the Year 2025 for its ethical and structured use of AI.
Frequently asked questions about Sales Operations Manager recruitment
What are the responsibilities of a Sales Operations Manager?
They run the CRM and its rules, produce the forecast and sales reporting, design territories and targets, calculate variable pay and choose or configure the sales tools. The aim is for leadership to decide on reliable numbers.
What is the difference between Sales Ops and Sales Enablement?
Sales Ops looks after data, processes and tools. Sales Enablement looks after the capability of the sellers: training, content and sales messaging.
Who does a Sales Operations Manager report to?
Usually to the Sales Director or Head of Sales, and to the CRO where the company has one. The link with finance stays close, because the forecast and variable pay calculations go through them.
How much does it cost to recruit a Sales Operations Manager?
The fee is agreed before the start, in a written proposal sent within 48 to 72 hours of the first call. It depends on the level of the role, the languages, the technical complexity and the assignment. We work on retainer, without success fee, with a six-month replacement guarantee.
How long does the search take?
12 weeks on average between signing the assignment and the candidate signing. The candidate’s notice period comes after that.
Sales Operations Manager searches are part of our recruitment services in Belgium.
Hire a Sales Operations Manager
Main page: Sales Manager Recruitment in Belgium
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- Sales Manager Responsibilities: What an Operational Sales Manager Really Does
- Sales Manager vs Sales Enablement Manager: What’s the Difference in Daily Practice?
