Years of digital experience
Sarah Thomas
Newport,Gwent
Summary
Accomplished senior leader with extensive expertise in growth and cross-functional team leadership. Repeated success scaling revenues to £5m leveraging different business models in both B2C and B2B ecosystems. Skilled in organisational design with proven track record of developing and efficiently scaling large, high performing teams across: Sales, Customer Success and Operations from scratch. Analytical problem solver able to lead the discovery of, interpret and transform complex data sets into actionable business insights. Talent for fostering team collaboration, resolving conflict and improving employee NPS. Demonstrates exceptional communication and influence at C-Suite level. Committed to driving positive change and cultivating productive work environments. Career goal: To leverage comprehensive people skills in a collaborative environment that drives innovation, growth and organisational success.
Overview
20
20
10
10
Senior Leadership experience
Work history
GENERAL MANAGER
CAR & CLASSIC LTD
Remote
11.2023 - 10.2024
- Senior Leader with full ownership of multi-million P&L.
- Exceeded revenue targets by 10% in cost controlled environment
- Transformed product from startup to scale-up, increasing net contribution margin by 300% YoY; increasing whole business runway from 20 to 80 months.
- Implemented rigorous financial controls reducing product COGS by 40% YOY.
- Solved operational inefficiencies impacting productivity through product initiatives, decreasing time to value by 30%.
- Maintained an "Excellent" Trustpilot rating over 2,500 reviews
- Directed day-to-day work of 50 employees across Sales, Marketing, Success and Operations; incentivising and motivating managers to commit to and exceed objectives.
- Created and led high-energy performance culture with clear accountability within teams through KPI's & OKR's.
- Served as official representative of organisation to industry groups.
- Established budgets based on historical, current and forecasted business data.
- Allocated resources to teams and projects based on need, performance and availability.
- Recruited and managed A-Players, with focus on delivering clear, measurable business outcomes.
- Developed new demand strategies by analysing customer feedback increasing purchase conversion rate by 25%
- Through strategic data analysis and new marketing strategies, increased registrations by 40% YOY
HEAD OF SALES & COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
CAR & CLASSIC LTD
02.2020 - 11.2023
- Grew annual revenues from six figures to multiple millions across 3 different business models: SAAS, E-Commerce & Advertising.
- Directed transactional product launch and integrated 3rd party payment provider; achieved market-leading status within two years and multi-million turnover.
- Doubled turnover for 3 consecutive years
- Developed organisational structure and processes from scratch to support increasing headcount from 1 to 40 across Sales, Customer Success and Operations.
- Implemented Hubspot CRM from scratch enhancing team performance through incentives and data-driven management KPI's
- Increased lead volumes and conversion rates by 300% across complex conversion funnels in B2B and B2C ecosystems
- Market analysis identifying growth opportunities and expanded company footprint in 3 new European markets
- Oversaw operational activities to ensure alignment with business objectives implementing OKR's
- Defined business strategies and championed customer service improvements to increase GMV and throughput of pipeline.
- Formulated pricing strategies, increasing take rate by 40% to maximise revenue and margins
- Fostered culture of continuous improvement in sales and success, introduced playbooks and scorecards
Growth Consultant
Free Range Digital Ltd
06.2019 - 03.2020
- Developed own growth consultancy winning 5 new customers and developed comprehensive business strategies to deliver client objectives.
- Conducted thorough market research to develop value proposition and identify potential growth opportunities
- Headhunted by current employer within 3 months of contract engagement.
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
HONESTJOHN.CO.UK LTD
03.2013 - 06.2019
- Increased revenue from 5 figures to multiple millions
- Scaled operational structure and processes from 1 to 20 FTE's
- Fostered profitable partnerships with Household names: Warranty Direct, Car Finance 247, Money Supermarket, Money Saving Expert and Confused.com
- Developed new market strategies to boost brand visibility.
- Identified growth opportunities, resulting in expanded to 4 new product verticles
Account Director & Head of Sales
HONEST JOHN
04.2010 - 03.2013
- Managed agencies and key accounts to increase revenue and support organisational growth plans.
- Developed stack of programmatic advertisers to maximise inventory monetisation
Education
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - Business
Swansea University
Swansea, City and County of SwanseaSkills
- Leadership: IC's, Managers & Cross-functional teams
- Performance management
- OKR Ownership
- P&L Ownership
- Communication and Influence (C-suite)
- Revenue growth and strategy formulation
- Conversion optimisation strategies
- Marketing strategy
- Customer success strategy
- Organisational design
- Project management (Notion)
- Data analysis, reporting, and problem solving
- CRM software (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- Managing remotely
- Budget planning and control
- Sales funnel management
Certification
- AgilePM practitioner
- Mental Health First aider - MHFA England
Accomplishments
- Financial Times Fastest 1000 Companies in Europe 2024
- Sales Team of the Year 2016 - Association of Online Publishers
Timeline
GENERAL MANAGER
CAR & CLASSIC LTD
11.2023 - 10.2024
HEAD OF SALES & COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
CAR & CLASSIC LTD
02.2020 - 11.2023
Growth Consultant
Free Range Digital Ltd
06.2019 - 03.2020
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
HONESTJOHN.CO.UK LTD
03.2013 - 06.2019
Account Director & Head of Sales
HONEST JOHN
04.2010 - 03.2013
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - Business
Swansea University
References
References available upon request.
Recommended Reading
- Who: The A Method of Hiring
- The Coaching Habit
- The Severn Skins of Esther Wilding
References
References available upon request.
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