How to hire a director of international sales

How to hire a director of international sales, step by step

Here's a step-by-step director of international sales hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a director of international sales job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new director of international sales
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a director of international sales do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The director of international sales hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a director of international sales to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a director of international sales that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of directors of international sales.

   Type of Director Of International Sales	Description	Hourly rate
   Director Of International Sales	Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations’ sales representatives.	$35-100
   Sales Vice President	Sales vice presidents are top-level executives at a sales, retail, or marketing corporation. Primarily these executives are tasked to direct and lead a sales department or team within the organization... Show more	$43-108
   Client Services Director	A client services director is responsible for maintaining healthy business relationships with clients, ensuring that operational teams provide the highest quality services for the clients, following their deliverables and business requirements. Client services directors oversee project management procedures, identifying inconsistencies, and revising business plans to improve outputs and achieve client satisfaction... Show more	$40-77

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Product Development
   • Sales Growth
   • International Sales
   • Account Management
   • Sales Strategies
   • R
   • Distribution Network
   • Logistics
   • Direct Reports
   • International Markets
   • International Programs
   • UK
   • Sales Channels
   • Sales Process

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Restructure and develop sales for the Caribbean with business transactions conduct in French, English and Spanish.
   • Drive adoption of NetSuite CRM and other tools within the go-to-market team (sales, marketing and product management).

   More director of international sales duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your director of international sales job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A director of international sales salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, directors of international sales' average salary in oklahoma is 39% less than in connecticut.
   • Seniority. Entry-level directors of international sales earn 65% less than senior-level directors of international sales.
   • Certifications. A director of international sales with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a director of international sales's salary.

   Average director of international sales salary

   $125,054yearly

   $60.12 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director of international sales salary

   $74,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average director of international sales salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$141,976	$68
   2	Connecticut	$139,369	$67
   3	Massachusetts	$138,255	$66
   4	New York	$133,484	$64
   5	Wisconsin	$133,467	$64
   6	Illinois	$126,578	$61
   7	West Virginia	$111,981	$54
   8	District of Columbia	$110,108	$53
   9	Texas	$108,977	$52
   10	Oregon	$106,488	$51
   11	Missouri	$104,023	$50
   12	Georgia	$98,882	$48
   13	Colorado	$98,682	$47
   14	Hawaii	$97,260	$47
   15	South Carolina	$95,736	$46
   16	Utah	$91,983	$44
   17	Florida	$90,172	$43
   18	Alabama	$85,258	$41
   19	Kansas	$84,478	$41

   Average director of international sales salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$188,769	$90.75	30
   2	alice + olivia	$186,322	$89.58
   3	Estée Lauder	$180,763	$86.91	9
   4	Google	$179,876	$86.48	34
   5	Starz	$171,933	$82.66
   6	Sysco Food Services of Hampton Roads	$168,025	$80.78
   7	Pacific Cycle	$158,947	$76.42
   8	Eurofins	$157,594	$75.77	24
   9	Paramount	$157,317	$75.63	8
   10	Pwc	$156,746	$75.36	87
   11	Compass Minerals	$154,426	$74.24
   12	International Wellness resorts	$153,947	$74.01
   13	*n/a*	$153,744	$73.92	3
   14	BioHorizons	$152,859	$73.49
   15	Hernon Manufacturing	$152,402	$73.27
   16	Molson Coors	$151,842	$73.00	6
   17	Vevo	$151,560	$72.87	2
   18	Abbott	$149,779	$72.01	63
   19	Applied Tech	$149,591	$71.92
   20	Kiss Products	$141,676	$68.11	2

4. Writing a director of international sales job description

   A job description for a director of international sales role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a director of international sales job description:

   Director of international sales job description example

   TransUnion's Job Applicant Privacy Notice
   
   What We'll Bring:
   The Director of the International Credentialing & Onboarding organization must have demonstrable leadership skills working with both internal and external business customers in a multi-regional landscape. This individual must possess a strong operational process background with a relentless focus on customer-service including excellent communication skills. The individual will work with the VP, Customer Credentialing & Onboarding to identify and track metrics used to communicate the health of overall operations and drive improvements in the area of people, tools, and process. The Director is expected to have a strong understanding of the day-to-day operations of the various international departments in accordance with legal requirements, company policies and procedures coordinating the activities and results of a department/team(s) of associates.
   
   What You'll Bring:
   Develop and implement operational policies, processes, and procedures for the management and support of internal customers Manages the on-going operations of the department in compliance to all applicable regional laws and regulations. Ensures that company policies and procedures are followed.Establish and meet defined delivery timelines for response time, issue resolution and request fulfillment while upholding TransUnion's Risk posture Develop procedures that outline how requests are received, tracked, documented, assigned, and managed Provide daily, weekly, and monthly reports on key performance metrics related to incidents, problems, turn times and service requests Analyze performance of team activities and documented outcomes, identify areas for improvement, and devise/deliver solutions to enhance quality of service and to prevent future quality issues Identify, recommend, develop, and implement programs to advance the knowledge of customers and team members, including communication, training, user experience, and knowledge management Ensure the customer onboarding team delivers high levels of support by providing trends, reports, and analysis of customer satisfaction, performance against agreed to internal operational agreements and plans for service improvement and report to senior leaders in a monthly executive status presentation Create strategies to manage change and enhance stronger collaboration across internal teams including working with internal business partners to understand market trends that will require process and procedural changes to support continuous evolution Maintain departmental schedules, calendars, and training activities to ensure adequate staffing and education to meet customer needs Monitor and track direct reports and team performance and rate that performance against previously established baselines and provide regular updates to direct reports and leadership Collaborate with other departmental leaders to innovate workplace processes and procedures to ensure stakeholder's needs are met and support “shift left” opportunities Train, develop and mentor Managers, Team Leaders and/or individual contributors on various tools, processes, and skill sets to further/accomplish team goals; provide guidance and feedback to other individual contributors as needed Establish and maintain positive and collaborative relationships with internal staff and clients Develop and implement annual department goals and strategies, addressing department needs and comparing operations to industry best practices.
   
   Impact You'll Make:
   Fifteen (15+) plus years' experience managing multiple teams and direct reports with a demonstrated record of accomplishment in leading operational teams where adherence to corporate compliance is a priority. Demonstrate advanced interpersonal skills to engage with peers, customers, and senior leadership Experience with using metrics to run teams including establishing KPI's and managing to those KPI's; including forecasting work load and capacity Strategic perspective and thought leadership combined with excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present complex information in a clear and concise manner to a variety of audiences, both technical and non-technical and all levels of management Understanding of regional regulatory laws and requirements in key TU markets including but limited to US, UK, LATAM, South Africa and India.Experience in a fast paced, high transaction volume environment preferred Ability to multi-task while maintaining a detail oriented focus Bachelor's Degree required Experience in offshore team management required Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or above a plus
   
   TransUnion Job Title
   
   Director, Customer Support Operations

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find directors of international sales for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any directors of international sales they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level directors of international sales with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your director of international sales job on Zippia to find and recruit director of international sales candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with director of international sales candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new director of international sales

   Once you've selected the best director of international sales candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new director of international sales. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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