Sales Manager Software, Data & AI engineering

The Dutch market for AI-powered software engineering is wide open and our client needs someone who knows how to walk through it. Someone who picks up the phone before waiting for it to ring. Who builds pipeline, works their network, and doesn't confuse activity with progress.

This is a sales role at a fast-growing nearshore software and AI engineering firm with offices in Iberia and the Netherlands. The company has been building a strong reputation on the quality of its delivery and the depth of its AI expertise, working for major clients in tech, financial services, energy and telecom, among others. The Dutch operation is young, and the opportunity is in building it into something significant.

You will be the commercial driving force in the Netherlands: responsible for identifying, approaching and winning new clients across the corporate and enterprise segments. You are backed by the CEO, an extremely capable pre-sales and delivery team and a marketing and business development function to support your outreach.

What the role looks like in practice:
• Prospecting and generating meetings
• Translating technology capabilities into clear business outcomes — connecting what the company does with what the client actually needs
• Running the full sales cycle from first conversation to signed contract
• Working with pre-sales, delivery and the business development team to build strong, relevant proposals
• Managing your pipeline with discipline and participating in weekly sales and monthly management meetings
• Travelling to Iberia regionquarterly to embed with the broader team

The Amsterdam office is your base, with flexibility to work from home. You will work with real autonomy. This is not a role where someone is looking over your shoulder but with genuine support from a management team that is actively involved in the Dutch market.

This is a role with real upward potential. The company intends to grow its Dutch operation substantially over the coming years, building both a local sales team and a local delivery capability. The person who lays that foundation and demonstrates the ambition and leadership to do more will be well positioned to grow with it.

The company is looking for a Dutch-native commercial professional with a proven track record in IT services sales, someone who generates opportunities rather than waiting for them, and who has the resilience and drive to build a market.

• Dutch native speaker
• Professional proficiency in English
• At least 5 years of sales experience in IT services; 10+ years is strongly preferred
• Background in selling software development services, data engineering, AI or a combination thereof
• A network of IT decision-makers (CIOs, senior IT managers) in the Dutch market
• Experience selling nearshore-delivered IT services is a strong differentiator
• Capable of articulating a value proposition that connects technology with business outcomes, not just selling capacity, but relevance
• Good understanding of the Dutch IT market: clients, rates, competitors and market segmentation
• Autonomous and responsible: able to stay focused and productive without constant supervision
• Highly dynamic and resilient, with a strong focus on securing meetings and creating opportunities
• Ambitious and realistic, sets aggressive goals and takes a structured approach to achieving them
• Experience leading other salespeople is a plus, as long as the candidate understands that team growth follows individual results
• Bachelor's degree minimum; master's preferred

Founded just three years ago this company has grown rapidly into a recognised software, data and AI engineering partner for clients. With 100+ people, it combines the agility of a scale-up with the delivery quality of a larger organisation.

The core proposition is high-quality software, data and AI engineering delivered from Iberia, nearshore and increasingly in hybrid teams. The delivery models range from team augmentation and fixed-price projects to agile managed teams and captive centre builds.

AI is where the company is investing most seriously. Capabilities include agentic AI, applied AI, advanced analytics, data governance, cloud-native architecture and AI-based software engineering.The company has clients in tech, financial services, energy, telecom, retail and logistics, amongst others.

The ambition is substantial: in the coming years the company plans to grow significantly, building strong sales teams and creating local delivery capability. The Sales Manager joining now will play a central role in writing it.

InSearch is the leading Executive Search agency in the Benelux. We have been active in the Technology sector since 1998 and we are commissioned by prominent organisations to fill positions by means of headhunting. Our focus is on commercial positions ranging from mid career to senior management within the IT industry. InSearch stands for a professional approach that leads to the desired results. Our focus, experience, passion and commitment make us a unique and authoritative Executive Search agency in the Technology sector.