Sales Director, Expansion (mid - market) Growth

Lead the expansion strategy for mid-market accounts to drive upsell, cross-sell, and renewals.

About The Role

Darktrace is a global leader in AI for cybersecurity that keeps organizations ahead of the changing threat landscape every day. Founded in 2013, Darktrace provides the essential cybersecurity platform protecting nearly 10,000 organizations from unknown threats using its proprietary AI. The Darktrace Active AI Security Platform™ delivers a proactive approach to cyber resilience to secure the business across the entire digital estate – from network to cloud to email.

As the Sales Director for Expansion, you will lead, develop, and scale a team of Expansion Account Executives responsible for driving growth, adoption, and long-term value within our existing mid-market customer base (organisations typically under $1B in revenue). Your team will own upsell, cross-sell, and renewal motions, ensuring customers expand successfully while maintaining strong retention and account health. This role is hybrid with a minimum of 3 days a week in our London office.

What will I be doing:

• This role requires a leader who can build a high performing expansion engine—one that is insight driven, customer centric, and commercially disciplined.
• You will guide your team in identifying whitespace, deepening relationships, and aligning stakeholders around why to expand and why now.
• You will also ensure operational rigor across account planning, forecasting, and portfolio management.

The ideal candidate is a strategic, consultative sales leader who thrives in multi-threaded environments, understands how to drive value realisation, and can coach teams to uncover and convert expansion opportunities while protecting long-term customer trust.

Team Leadership & Performance Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Expansion Account Executives focused on driving growth within existing accounts.
• Set clear expectations around account planning, expansion pipeline creation, renewal execution, and quota attainment.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, account reviews, and forecast inspections to ensure disciplined execution.
• Build a culture of customer value, commercial rigor, and proactive growth.

Expansion Strategy & Portfolio Ownership

• Own the expansion strategy for the mid-market segment, ensuring alignment to company growth goals.
• Ensure AEs build and execute robust account plans including whitespace, adoption, stakeholder mapping, and risk mitigation.
• Monitor portfolio performance and intervene early to remove blockers or accelerate growth opportunities.
• Drive a balanced approach across upsell, cross-sell, and renewals.

Sales Process Excellence

• Ensure AEs execute a full cycle expansion motion—from opportunity identification through close and renewal.
• Coach the team on consultative discovery, value articulation, and multi-threading across stakeholders.
• Reinforce strong pricing integrity, negotiation discipline, and commercial judgment.
• Improve expansion win rates by refining messaging, business case development, and competitive positioning.

Pipeline, Forecasting & Operational Rigor

• Hold the team accountable for maintaining a healthy pipeline of expansion and renewal opportunities.
• Drive accurate, data-driven forecasting across the portfolio.
• Ensure strong CRM hygiene, account documentation, and activity management.
• Prioritise accounts and opportunities based on impact, risk, and strategic value.

Customer Engagement & Value Selling

• Support AEs in building trusted relationships with existing stakeholders and expanding influence across the buying group.
• Guide the team in translating adoption, usage data, and customer outcomes into compelling expansion narratives.
• Participate in strategic customer meetings, QBRs, and executive conversations to advance key opportunities.
• Ensure expansion is positioned as a natural step in the customer's maturity and risk reduction journey.

Proof of Value (POV) & Expansion Momentum

• Oversee POV strategy and ensure success criteria are tied to measurable customer outcomes.
• Help AEs maintain momentum through complex or multi-threaded expansion cycles.
• Ensure POVs and use case expansions drive urgency, confidence, and commitment.
• Remove internal and external obstacles to accelerate deal progression.

Cross Functional Leadership

• Partner closely with Customer Success, Sales Engineering, Renewals, and Product to deliver a seamless customer experience.
• Participate in QBRs and internal account reviews to identify risks, adoption gaps, and expansion opportunities.
• Ensure alignment across teams to support value realization, adoption, and long-term account success.
• Provide market and customer insights to Product, Marketing, and CS leadership.

What experience do I need:

• Proven success leading B2B expansion, account management, or customer growth teams, with a track record of driving upsell, cross-sell, and renewals.
• Experience managing and growing mid-market customer portfolios (≤ $1B revenue) with complex stakeholder dynamics.
• Deep expertise in consultative selling, value articulation, and uncovering new opportunities within existing accounts.
• Demonstrated ability to coach teams to multi-thread, build alignment, and maintain momentum in complex environments.
• Strong commercial acumen with strength in negotiation, pricing integrity, and business case development.
• Highly disciplined in account planning, pipeline management, and forecasting.
• Ability to use data, adoption insights, and customer outcomes to guide strategy and identify expansion opportunities.
• Strong communication and executive level presentation skills.
• Working knowledge of cybersecurity, SaaS, or technical solutions, with the ability to guide AEs in positioning offerings within a customer's broader environment.
• Proven success operating cross-functionally with Customer Success, Product, and technical teams.
• Resilient, adaptable, and able to balance growth, retention, and customer trust in fast-moving environments.

Benefits:

• 23 days' holiday + all public holidays, rising to 25 days after 2 years of service.
• Additional day off for your birthday.
• Private medical insurance which covers you, your cohabiting partner, and children.
• Life insurance of 4 times your base salary.
• Salary sacrifice pension scheme.
• Enhanced family leave.
• Confidential Employee Assistance Program.
• Cycle to work scheme.