What are SaaS Leaders Looking For Beyond Experience?

Discover the key qualities SaaS leaders value beyond experience, including coachability, commercial judgement, resilience and repeatable performance.

In many industries, including SaaS, experience will always matter. A track record of closing deals, building a pipeline, scaling marketing engines or driving retention is still a necessity, but increasingly, hiring managers are looking beyond the CV.

Across the searches we’re running at Oakstone International, the most desirable candidates are those who demonstrate a set of transferable qualities that indicate repeatability, adaptability and commercial maturity.

Here’s what we’re seeing across Sales, Marketing and Customer Success.

1. Growth indicators such as Coachability and Adaptability

“From my perspective, hiring managers are valuing coachability and adaptability. They want people who are willing to learn quickly and adjust to new processes, especially within sales roles and fast-moving environments.” - Libby Atkinson, Recruitment Consultant

Coachability is one of the strongest predictors of long-term performance. SaaS hiring managers want individuals who proactively seek feedback, take it onboard, and implement change quickly to improve.

Adaptability sits alongside coachability. High-growth SaaS startup environments rarely offer predictability. Leadership teams can shift strategies, and the individuals who thrive are those who remain effective through ambiguity.

The need for adaptability proves most noticeable in sales, where resilience and persistence set consistent performers apart from short-term ones. Quota attainment in a favourable market is different from maintaining composure and momentum during downturns and organisational change.

Hiring managers know the difference.

2. Historic performance still matters, but context matters more

Instead of asking, “Have they done this before?” leaders are now asking, “How did they do it? And could they do it again here?”

“Sales leaders are looking past what an AE has achieved and are more focused on how it was achieved. This will indicate whether their success is likely to be repeated in a different environment. A strong method for pipeline generation, territory building, and overall sales execution will help identify those who are adaptable and successful in any environment, regardless of business size or stage, vertical focus, or product.

Ideally, a candidate needs to be able to walk a hiring manager through their performance, articulate where the leads came from and what steps they took to close deals.” - Sam Reader, Senior Consultant

An AE who hit 140% of quota in a high-inbound, brand-led environment may find it difficult to work in a Series A business that requires greenfield territory building.

Hiring managers are probing for:

• Structured pipeline generation methodology

• Clear territory planning approach

• Defined sales strategy

• Understanding of stakeholder mapping

The ability to articulate process is becoming as important as the ability to articulate results.

In short, performance without methodology looks fragile. Performance underpinned by repeatable systems looks scalable.

3. Commercial Judgement and Functional Competence

Across every function, commercial awareness is now non-negotiable.

Burnice Lange, Managing Consultant, highlights a consistent theme: “Across all roles, I definitely see the need for energy, resilience, commercial judgement, consultative advisory approach, cross-team collaboration, and ownership to drive responsibilities. Marketing is no longer a creative support function. It is a revenue engine, and leaders want marketers who understand pipeline contribution.”

Commercial thinking is no longer confined to leadership roles. It is expected at every level.

4. Ownership Mentality and Thinking Like a Business Leader

One of the most consistent themes we hear from founders and CRO’s is frustration with siloed thinking.

High-performing organisations are built on individuals who take responsibility beyond their job description.

Ownership manifests in several ways:

• Proactively identifying risk before it becomes visible.

• Solving problems cross-functionally rather than escalating them

• Measuring personal performance against business outcomes, not activity

In Customer Success, this evolution is notably clear.

Burnice Lange, Managing Consultant, shared that, “Hiring managers want Customer Success professionals to have value-based conversations and executive presence, which increases upselling ability. CS is not only just relationship-led, but it’s also revenue retention and expansion driven.”

Customer Success has matured significantly, making relationship-building alone insufficient. Leaders want CS professionals who understand expansion strategy.

As SaaS contracts increase in value and complexity, CS leaders must influence CFOs, COOs and board-level stakeholders, making executive presence even more desirable.

5. Cross-Team Collaboration as a Core Skill

SaaS growth is a team sport, and collaboration is a performance driver. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who:

• Understand adjacent functions’ metrics.

• Communicate effectively across departments.

• Resolve friction constructively

• Align around shared revenue goals.

The strongest candidates speak fluently about how they partner with RevOps, how they feed market insights relating to Product, and how they co-own pipeline or retention targets with Sales and Marketing.

Functional brilliance without collaborative ability is progressively seen as a liability.

6. Resilience and Energy within High-Pressure Environments

Growth-stage SaaS, investor scrutiny and the need to grow are demanding. Energy and resilience are, therefore, recurring themes in hiring conversations.

Resilience needs to be demonstrated in the experience of:

• Consistency under pressure

• Emotional management during setbacks

• Ability to sustain performance spanning multiple quarters

Energy needs to show up in every conversation:

• Proactive pipeline creation

• Momentum in stakeholder engagement

• Drive to exceed baseline expectations.

These traits often distinguish those who maintain performance curves from those who plateau after initial success.

What This Means for Candidates

For ambitious SaaS professionals, your CV should show more than just experience.

You must demonstrate:

• How you think

• How do you build systems

• How you collaborate

• How you adapt

• How do you create commercial impact

Be prepared to walk hiring managers through your methodology, explain the commercial context of your results and show ownership beyond your remit.

Oakstone International Perspective

The most successful hires are commercially sharp, resilient, coachable operators who deliver. They understand revenue mechanics, collaborate cross-functionally, and take ownership of outcomes rather than tasks.

As markets become more competitive, hiring decisions are progressively focused on the durability and scalability of performance.

Experience matters, but repeatability, commercial judgement and mindset are what really differentiate.

For leaders building high-performing GTM teams, identifying these qualities early can be the difference between brief traction and sustainable growth.

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FAQs

• What do SaaS employers look for beyond experience?

  SaaS employers look for coachability, adaptability, commercial awareness, resilience and cross-functional collaboration in addition to technical experience. Hiring managers prioritise candidates who can demonstrate repeatable performance, ownership of outcomes and the ability to operate effectively in fast-moving, high-growth environments. Experience may open the door, but mindset and commercial impact secure the role.

• Why is commercial awareness important in SaaS roles?

  Commercial awareness is important in SaaS because every function impacts revenue, retention and growth. Employers want professionals who understand pipeline contribution, customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV) and margin protection, not just task execution. Candidates who can connect their work directly to revenue outcomes are significantly more attractive to hiring managers.