Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
What is a director of international sales and how to become one
The primary duty of a director of international sales is to oversee and manage the international sales activities of their organization. Needless to say, this is an extremely critical role, often involving critical business decisions and negotiations with large clients.
Moreover, the duties of a director of international sales include leading foreign market research, identifying international business opportunities, developing high-value sales initiatives, and coordinating with international distributors, among many others. The job may also require them to travel frequently or even perhaps stay in foreign countries for varying lengths of time.
The common educational background for this position is a degree in business, particularly a master's in business administration or MBA. More than that, the experience that most employers require is immense, often asking ten or more years of industry experience for applicants to qualify.
Furthermore, a director of international sales must have outstanding leadership, communication, and organizational skills. As you would expect, a director of international sales makes six figures a year -- more specifically, around $118,000 annually, on average.
What general advice would you give to a director of international sales?
Bill Thorne
Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation
Avg. Salary $125,054
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 5%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%
Asian 4.07%
Black or African American 3.24%
Hispanic or Latino 9.82%
Unknown 4.41%
White 78.23%
Genderfemale 22.74%
male 77.26%
Age - 46American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 46Stress level is manageable
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is poor
6.4 - fair
Director of international sales career paths
Key steps to become a director of international sales
Explore director of international sales education requirements
Start to develop specific director of international sales skills
Skills Percentages Product Development 11.48% Sales Growth 5.80% International Sales 4.65% Account Management 4.61% Sales Strategies 4.55% Complete relevant director of international sales training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors of international sales learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a director of international sales based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director of international sales resumes.Research director of international sales duties and responsibilities
- Manage daily office operations include purchasing, logistics, technical service/customer service and warehousing.
- Develop repository in Salesforce for managing client meeting reports; create transparency across sales and management.
- Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
- Implement global SaaS roll-out to all partners.
Get director of international sales experience
Generally, it takes 6-8 years to become a director of international sales. The most common roles before becoming a director of international sales include sales manager, director of sales team lead and international sales manager.Prepare your director of international sales resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director of international sales resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director of international sales resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable director of international sales resume templates
Build a professional director of international sales resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director of international sales resume.
Apply for director of international sales jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a director of international sales job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first director of international sales job
Are you a director of international sales?
Share your story for a free salary report.
Average director of international sales salary
The average director of international sales salary in the United States is $125,054 per year or $60 per hour. Director of international sales salaries range between $74,000 and $209,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do directors of international sales rate their job?
Director of international sales reviews
Motivating people and helping to create success in each person's day. Honor God serve people in rich people's lives, pursue excellence in service.
Not enough time in each day to get everything accomplished.
Coming in contact with people, motivating staff, making the numbers, profitability for everyone
I like everything
I worked professionally in 7 countries. I speak fluently 4 languages and speak well another 4. Moreover, I love Sales.
Politics, toxic work environment, having to work with real sob.
Updated January 8, 2025
