Grant Thornton (US)

Managing Director, Sales Operations & Market Activation

Grant Thornton (US)  •  $225k - $405k/yr  •  Chicago, IL (Onsite)  •  2 hours ago
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Job Description

Grant Thornton is seeking a Sales Operations & Market Activation Managing Director to join the team. Approved office locations can be found below.

The Managing Director, Sales Operations & Market Activation drives execution across the global commercial organization. This is a hands-on operating role focused on improving pipeline quality, increasing conversion, and ensuring priority accounts translate into revenue.

Partnering closely with market leaders, Client Relationship Executives (CREs), and functional leaders across demand generation, solution development and proposal delivery, this role ensures consistent execution, accountability, and growth across regions and service lines.

What you will do:

Drive Sales Performance & Pipeline Health

  • Manage performance against sales quota across CREs
  • Establish and enforce standards for pipeline quality, accuracy, coverage, and conversion
  • Identify performance and pipeline gaps early and drive corrective action
  • Improve consistency and predictability of results across markets

Activate Priority Accounts & Accelerate Deals

  • Ensure priority accounts have clear growth plans and active pursuit strategies
  • Track pipeline and revenue progression; refocus effort where momentum stalls
  • Step into critical pursuits to remove blockers and increase deal velocity
  • Align the right teams and solutions to opportunities and prevent internal misalignment

Enable Market Leadership & Accountability

  • Provide regional market leaders with performance visibility and actionable insights
  • Translate strategy into repeatable market‑level execution
  • Reinforce accountability across teams and markets

Drive Cross‑Solution Growth

  • Increase multi‑solution penetration within priority accounts
  • Ensure firm capabilities consistently appear in live pursuits
  • Align sales activity to strategic offerings

Oversee Demand Generation, Solutions & Proposals (Governance & Alignment)

  • Provide oversight across demand generation, solution development (Audit, Tax, Advisory), and proposal delivery
  • Ensure alignment to priority accounts, active pipeline, and revenue outcomes
  • Pressure‑test campaign effectiveness, solution relevance, and proposal quality, speed, and win rates
  • Redirect focus when activity is not translating into pipeline or revenue
  • Drive coordination across teams without adding unnecessary process

Remove Barriers to Growth

  • Identify and address behaviors limiting client access or account expansion
  • Promote multi‑threaded client engagement
  • Ensure cross‑firm collaboration and reduce siloed execution

Lead the Commercial Operating Rhythm

  • Own the commercial operating cadence
  • Lead weekly pipeline and performance reviews
  • Drive monthly market performance assessments
  • Ensure every review results in clear decisions, actions, and accountability

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree, MBA preferred
  • 12+ years of experience in sales, commercial operations, or growth leadership
  • Proven ability to improve pipeline quality and revenue performance
  • Experience operating across sales, marketing, and solution teams
  • Strong understanding of complex, multi-solution environments (Audit, Tax, Advisory preferred)
  • Experience working across regions or global teams
  • Ability to influence senior stakeholders without direct authority

What Success Looks Like

  • Accurate, actionable, and improving pipeline
  • Measurable growth in priority accounts
  • More predictable sales performance across markets
  • Demand generation directly tied to pipeline creation
  • Faster, higher-quality proposals with improved win rates

The base salary range for this position is between $225,000 and $405,000. Placement within the pay range is at Grant Thornton’s discretion, and it is based on multiple factors, including but not limited to, job -related knowledge/skills, experience, business needs, progression within the role, geographic location, and internal equity. At Grant Thornton, compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.


At Grant Thornton, we believe in making business more personal and building trust into every result – for our clients and you. Here, we go beyond your expectations of a career in professional services by offering a career path with more: more opportunity, more flexibility, and more support. It’s what makes us different, and we think being different makes us better.

In the U.S., Grant Thornton delivers professional services through two specialized entities: Grant Thornton LLP, a licensed, certified public accounting (CPA) firm that provides audit and assurance services ― and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC (not a licensed CPA firm), which exclusively provides non-attest offerings, including tax and advisory services.

In 2025, Grant Thornton formed a multinational, multidisciplinary platform with Grant Thornton Ireland. The platform offers a premier Trans-Atlantic advisory and tax practice, as well as independent American and Irish audit practices. With $2.7 billion in revenues and more than 50 offices spanning the U.S., Ireland and other territories, the platform delivers a singular client experience that includes enhanced solutions and capabilities, backed by powerful technologies and a roster of 12,000 quality-driven professionals enjoying exceptional career-growth opportunities and a distinctive cross-border culture.

Grant Thornton is part of the Grant Thornton International Limited network, which provides access to its member firms in more than 150 global markets.

Grant Thornton (US)

About Grant Thornton (US)

Forget what you think you know about professional services. We go beyond what’s expected and help others do the same.

Grant Thornton is the brand name for Grant Thornton LLP and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC the U.S. member firms of Grant Thornton International Ltd, one of the world’s leading independent audit & assurance, tax and advisory firms. That means our network has more than 73,000 professionals in more than 146 countries who are ready to help public and private organizations of all sizes take on today’s challenges. But what sets us apart isn’t just what we do – it’s how we do it. Here, we believe in making business more personal and building trust into every result. We’re collaborators – obsessed with quality and ready for anything – who understand the value of strong relationships. It’s how we challenge the expectations of business and empower our people and clients to do it, too.

One thing we won’t do? Grant Thornton will never request money or any form of payment for services via social media. Please report any concerns at 1-800-810-3503.

Grant Thornton International Limited (GTIL) and the member firms, including Grant Thornton LLP and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC, are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another’s acts or omissions. Please see www.grantthornton.com for further details.​

Industry
Accounting & Tax
Company Size
10,000+ employees
Headquarters
Chicago, IL
Year Founded
1924
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