Sales Lead (Japan)

Location: Tokyo, Japan. Reports to: Chief Revenue Officer, as part of Genspark's global GTM leadership team. As our Asia Pacific organization scales, the role will sit within regional APJ revenue leadership. About Genspark Genspark is an AI-native platform used by millions of people to get real work done: research, documents, slides, agents and automations in one horizontal system that works across every leading model. We are moving from a product people discover on their own to one that enterprises adopt as a platform, and Japan is where that shift is furthest along. It is our largest market by usage, our deepest partner ecosystem, and our clearest enterprise opportunity. About the role We are hiring a Head of Sales, Japan to lead the Japan market and be held to its number — the region's senior local leader and the face of Genspark in market. This is a country leadership seat, not a player-coach seat: the team carries the quota and you carry the number for it, leading and coaching across the full lifecycle of every Japan customer and partner, representing Genspark with C-level customers and partners, and running the local operating rhythm with HR and Finance. Marketing, customer success, solutions engineering, partnerships and operations keep their own owners — you make them work together in Japan, including the indirect and co-selling motion. What you will do Own the number and the plan Own the Japan revenue target, pipeline and forecast, and report on them to global GTM leadership with accuracy and rigor. Execute the Japan regional plan and guide it to its outcome: read the data, show where to double down and where to pull back, propose improvements, and balance regional needs against resourcing and headcount. Bring what is winning and losing in market back into the plan: pricing, packaging, deal structures, target industries and account prioritization, in partnership with global GTM leadership. Represent the plan and the company's priorities to the Japan team so everyone understands it, their part in it, and why it matters. Lead the full customer lifecycle in Japan Be accountable for the Japan customer outcome end to end — acquisition, onboarding, adoption, retention and expansion — working through sales, customer success, solutions engineering and partners rather than replacing them. Set the standard for enterprise relationships in Japan: executive sponsorship of the accounts that define the region, and the presence customers and partners call when it matters. Make the Japan book predictable: coverage, conversion, cycle length, ACV, win rate, retention and efficiency against resourcing, with a forecasting cadence the business can plan on. Lead and grow the team Lead, coach and grow the Japan team: hiring bar, onboarding, pipeline reviews, deal inspection, quota management, and fast, fair performance calls. Build the playbook, enablement and ramp plan so new hires reach productivity quickly; run pipeline reviews, deal inspection and call coaching as a discipline, not an event. Develop sellers into stronger sellers and, over time, into leaders; build the second line rather than remaining the only manager who can run a deal. Set the standard for performance, integrity and speed, and be the cultural anchor for how Genspark sells in Japan. Be the market leader for Japan Be the voice of the Japanese market inside Genspark: customer requirements, regulatory realities, competitive dynamics in AI and LLMs, and product gaps, translated into clear input for product and leadership. Hold the relationships that matter beyond individual deals — enterprise executives, partners, industry bodies — and build Genspark as a credible transformation partner for Japanese enterprises, not a tool vendor. Represent Genspark externally where a senior local voice is needed: customer events, partner forums, press and market conversations. Run the local operation with HR and Finance Partner with HR on local hiring and onboarding, comp and benefits administration, employee relations, and compliance with Japanese labor practice and statutory requirements. Partner with Finance on local budgeting and forecasting, invoicing and collections support, vendor and expense discipline, and local reporting obligations. Keep Japan running without escalating everything to headquarters: know when to decide locally, when to consult, and when to escalate. Lead cross-functionally Be the cross-functional leader for Japan: align sales, customer success, solutions engineering, marketing, partnerships and the local operations partners behind one plan and one set of priorities. Coordinate the people and resources in the region without direct authority over all of them, and resolve the friction that a distributed organization creates at the country level. Who you are A senior enterprise sales leader with 12 or more years in B2B enterprise technology in Japan, including at least 5 years leading sales teams and carrying a team number. You have managed 8 to 10 sellers directly and led indirect cross-functional teams across sales, customer success, solutions engineering and partners; second-line leadership, managing managers, is a plus. You have been held to a regional number and hit it, and you guide a plan toward its outcome rather than wait for it to arrive. You have owned a market's full customer lifecycle, not only the sale: comfortable being measured on adoption, retention and expansion delivered through other functions and partners. You have executive presence and credibility with C-level customers and partners, and you build relationships that outlast a deal cycle. Country or market leadership experience — running a Japan business or locale organization, including the operational side with HR and Finance — is strongly preferred. Experience leading Korea, or broader APJ, is a plus. You have led in a startup or high-growth environment without a large support organization and drive results through ambiguity. Early sales leader or founding team member of a foreign technology company's Japan business is a strong plus. You are analytical: you run the business from the data, define the metrics that matter, and change course when the numbers say so. You are a builder of people: you develop talent, give direct feedback with respect, and leave teams stronger than you found them. You are AI-forward: you use AI tools in your own work, can speak credibly about how AI changes how enterprises operate, and want to sell a product you would use yourself. You understand horizontal platform selling: landing a broad product on a specific use case, expanding across teams and departments, and building the account story that follows. You are fluent in both enterprise and commercial motions, and can run the bridge between product-led adoption and sales-led revenue. You are cross-functional and collaborative by instinct; you win by aligning people, not by controlling them. Winning mindset: you compete to win, hold yourself and the team to the number, and are honest about what is not working. Native-level Japanese and fluent English. English fluency is a must; you work daily with global leadership. What we offer Competitive base salary and a performance bonus tied to team results against goal and to regional efficiency against resourcing. Meaningful equity in a fast-growing AI company. Ownership of sales in our largest market and a seat on Genspark's revenue leadership team. Tokyo office and flexible work, with comprehensive benefits.