Scaling the EMEA sales team
Built the EMEA sales function from 4 to 18 AEs across the UK, DACH, Benelux and the Nordics.
€48M ARR book; net new ARR up 3.2× over his tenure
VP Sales EMEA · B2B SaaS · Dublin
Ryan O'Brien
Ten-plus years in B2B SaaS, building and scaling EMEA revenue teams — 134% of quota in FY2024 on a €48M ARR book.
- €48MARR managed, FY2024
- 134%quota attainment, FY2024
- €12Mnet new ARR, FY2024
- 18AEs managed across EMEA
Selected wins
Teams built, territories grown, logos closed
Highlights from Workpath Technologies and Personio, in HR-tech SaaS.
Six enterprise logos
Six new enterprise customers above €500K ACV, including a FTSE 100 financial services firm and a DAX-listed manufacturer.
6 logos at >€500K ACV
Growing UK & Ireland
Took UK&I ARR from £1.8M to £9.4M in 33 months with a team of 8 AEs and 2 SDRs.
Board plan beaten by 22% in each full year
Personio's first UK enterprise deal
A 3,500-seat HR deployment for a professional services firm.
Over £400K ACV
UK demand-gen programme
Partnered with marketing to launch a UK-specific demand-generation programme.
Pipeline generated up 58% year on year
Forecast accuracy
Introduced Clari revenue intelligence to the sales organisation.
Forecast accurate to ±4% for 8 consecutive quarters
Playbook in focus
MEDDIC at Workpath
A shorter sales cycle, within a year
Context
An EMEA sales team growing from 4 to 18 AEs across the UK, DACH, Benelux and the Nordics.
Approach
Implemented the MEDDIC qualification framework across the whole team.
Outcome
Average sales cycle reduced by 23% within 12 months.
Quota record
Over quota, year after year
Attainment as a sales leader and as an individual AE.
- 134% quota attainment — up from 108% at hireWorkpath · FY2024
- 117% team average attainment, 8 AEsPersonio · FY2021
- 122%, 118% and 109% of a £1.2M annual quota, three consecutive yearsSalesforce
- President's Club FY2018; ranked 4th of 46 AEs in EMEA mid-marketSalesforce
- 141% of quota in first full year; top-10 SMB AE globallyHubSpot
A sales leader who builds EMEA revenue organisations, with a consultative approach to complex, multi-stakeholder deals.
Ryan has spent more than ten years in B2B SaaS, with deep experience in HR-tech and sales productivity platforms. He started closing SMB deals at HubSpot — 140+ new logos across CRM and Marketing Hub — and moved to a 120-account mid-market patch at Salesforce before leading teams at Personio and Workpath. At Workpath he recruited and onboarded the Head of Sales UK&I and the Regional Managers for DACH and the Nordics, who both exceeded their ramp targets.
- Based inDublin, Ireland
- Current roleVP Sales, EMEA
- TerritoriesUK, DACH, Benelux, Nordics
- SectorB2B SaaS, HR-tech
- EducationBA Business (Hons), UCD
Skills & tools
Methods and stack
Experience
Career
- Jan 2022 — Present
VP Sales, EMEA
Workpath Technologies, Dublin — Series C SaaS, HR-tech
Owns a €48M ARR book and 18 AEs; 134% of quota in FY2024.
- Mar 2019 — Dec 2021
Head of Sales, UK & Ireland
Personio, London / Dublin
UK&I ARR from £1.8M to £9.4M in 33 months; first UK enterprise deal.
- Jul 2016 — Feb 2019
Account Executive, Mid-Market EMEA
Salesforce, London
£1.2M annual quota across CRM and Service Cloud; President's Club FY2018.
- Jun 2014 — Jun 2016
Account Executive, SMB
HubSpot, Dublin
140+ new logos; promoted to a mid-market role after 18 months.
- Sep 2010 — May 2014
BA Business (Hons)
University College Dublin
2:1.
Contact
Building a revenue team?
ryan.obrien@email.com
- Dublin, Ireland
- +353 86 900 1234
- linkedin.com/in/ryanobrien
Fictional candidate — contact details shown as plain text only.