Regional Vice President, Public Sector

Okta is the leading independent identity provider and the brand millions of Australians and New Zealanders trust every day to secure their most valuable asset - their identity.

Australia and New Zealand’s Public Sector trusts Okta to solve their biggest identity challenges - from Local Councils to State and Federal Government agencies, from independent schools to the largest universities. Our public sector partnerships span from the most innovative citizen services to enabling education outcomes for students across the country.

Due to our expansive growth, we are seeking an exceptional, growth-minded sales leader to join our team as a Head of Public Sector in ANZ. Reporting to the Vice President and Country Manager for ANZ, this role will define and execute our go-to-market strategy to deliver growth in the Public Sector business.

They will establish and lead a cross-functional team of experienced account executives in growing a productive and sustainable sales pipeline across the complex territory. This person will help transform and integrate all go-to-market functions, evolving an already world-class field operation, while achieving significant revenue growth annually. In addition to requisite passion, skills and experience, the successful candidate will have a measurable track record in building and managing high-performing sales organisations in Public Sector. This individual will play a key role in driving significant growth in our public sector business and empower the lives of millions of Australians.

The successful person must have the ability to develop and implement an effective go-to-market plan aligned with Okta’s overall strategy, act as an Okta spokesperson in the region and be the executive sponsor for key customer and partner relationships. The successful candidate is an inspiring leader of people who can recruit and retain exceptional sales talent, support the team in delivering on the agreed metrics, and while leading from the front, work alongside the team to exceed the targets for the region.

Thinking long term, this person will establish deep partnerships across the public sector - from Government to Education in both agencies, peak bodies and partners. A thought leader capable of aligning Okta to government identity strategy, enhancing citizen and student outcomes, and the ability to drive elite execution. And yes, we are IRAP assessed across both the Okta and Auth0 platforms and we have investment in Australian data centres.

This is a unique career opportunity for an entrepreneurial and driven sales leader to spearhead the expansion of a global market leader into the Public Sector in ANZ, leveraging the impressive existing local customer references, partner base, and alliance relationships.

You will be a great fit for us if you possess some of these things:

• 10+ years of experience building and running enterprise sales teams in the software or SaaS industry with most of that time spent in the ANZ Public Sector
• You have previously led a $30M+ (minimum) ARR sales organisation with demonstrable examples of 40%+ growth
• Relevant software industry experience in any of the following: IT systems, cloud enterprise or infrastructure management, application development and management, security, business applications and/or analytics. Subscription, SaaS, or Cloud software experience.
• Proven track record of generating 70%+ of revenue through the Channel ecosystem. Must have strong, active relationships with key ANZ SIs (e.g., DXC, Accenture, Deloitte) and specialized Public Sector partners to drive tender responses and procurement.
• Deep, practical understanding of major ANZ Public Sector procurement mechanisms and security compliance frameworks (e.g., IRAP and relevant Essential Eight controls). Must be able to coach AEs on overcoming these barriers.
• Act as an industry thought leader, speaker and commentator positioning technology benefits for business and human impact
• History of consistently meeting/exceeding targets and objectives personally and as a leader.
• Excellent leadership and influencing skills; ability to build strong business partnerships both outside, and within the organisation.
• Skilled at business planning and diligent at measuring and communicating progress towards the plan, identifying roadblocks, and coming up with appropriate solutions.
• Highly professional persona and polished demeanour. Strong verbal and written communication skills; effective at delivering executive-level presentations.
• Mastery of Consultative/solution selling methodologies like MEDDPICC, Challenger, Solution Selling, and Sandler
• Technically strong and accustomed to selling to CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CTOs and Line of Business
• Operationally strong and experienced in bringing process and rigour to their organisation
• An innovator with the courage to nourish “outside the box” thinking to the surface and pursue new ideas

Okta’s Top 5 Core Leadership Competencies are part of the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our company’s actions. They also align strongly to our cultural cornerstones, our Okta values: love our customers, always secure, always on, build and own it, drive what's next. It’s our expectation that our managers and leaders embody these core competencies

• Builds Effective Teams: Building strong-identity teams that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.
• Demonstrates Self-Awareness (EQ): Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Develops Talent: Developing people to meet both their career goals and the organization’s goals.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Strategic Mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.

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