About the RoleTemporal is looking for a Senior Manager, Global Deal Desk to build and lead the function that sits at the intersection of Sales, Finance, Legal, and GTM Operations. This role is responsible for designing and scaling the frameworks, approvals, and processes that power how Temporal structures, prices, and closes complex commercial agreements - across all segments and geographies.
As the owner of Deal Desk globally, you'll be the go-to partner for our field teams navigating non-standard deal terms, multi-year structures, consumption-based pricing constructs, and international commercial complexity. You'll bring a systems mindset to deal operations and a bias toward building scalable infrastructure - not just clearing the queue.
We're building a GTM Operations function that is AI-native from the ground up. We expect this leader to bring demonstrated, hands-on experience using AI tools to accelerate deal structuring, review workflows, and commercial analysis - not as a future aspiration, but as a core part of how they work today.
Responsibilities- Own and scale the Global Deal Desk function, serving as the primary escalation path for non-standard deal structures, pricing exceptions, and complex approvals across all sales segments and geographies.
- Design and maintain deal approval workflows, pricing guardrails, discounting frameworks, and escalation policies that enable field teams to move quickly without creating downstream revenue or legal risk.
- Lead CPQ strategy, configuration, and governance - partnering with GTM Systems to ensure our CPQ tooling (including Nue) accurately reflects our product catalog, pricing logic, and approval hierarchies.
- Own the operationalization of Temporal's consumption-based pricing model within Deal Desk - including how usage commitments, ramp structures, drawdown mechanics, and true-up provisions are documented, reviewed, and enforced in the quoting and contracting process.
- Partner with the VP of GTM Operations and Sales leadership to develop commercial frameworks for international markets - accounting for regional pricing, local currency, tax, and legal entity considerations across EMEA, APJ, and other expansion geographies.
- Serve as the cross-functional connective tissue between Sales, Finance, Legal, and GTM Operations on deal-level issues - translating commercial intent into executable deal structures that satisfy all stakeholders.
- Partner with Finance on revenue recognition implications of non-standard deal terms, multi-element arrangements, and usage-based constructs; escalate appropriately and maintain clean audit trails.
- Build and maintain Deal Desk playbooks, templates, and self-serve resources that reduce friction for AEs and reduce unnecessary escalations.
- Drive adoption and optimization of AI tools within Deal Desk workflows - including AI-assisted contract review, quote generation, deal-structuring support, and commercial analysis.
- Own Deal Desk reporting and analytics: deal velocity, exception rates, approval turnaround time, non-standard term frequency, and discount trends - surfacing insights to GTM and Finance leadership.
- Recruit, develop, and grow Deal Desk capacity as Temporal scales, including building team structure and operating norms for a globally distributed function.
Qualifications- 7+ years of experience in Deal Desk, GTM Operations, Sales Operations, or a related commercial operations function, with direct ownership of deal structuring and approval workflows.
- Consumption-based business model expertise: proven experience designing or operationalizing Deal Desk processes for consumption, usage-based, or hybrid pricing models - including quoting ramp structures, commitment tiers, true-up mechanics, and the downstream revenue recognition implications of non-standard consumption constructs.
- CPQ ownership: hands-on experience administering and evolving a CPQ platform (e.g., Nue, DealHub, Conga, or equivalent) - including product catalog management, pricing rule configuration, approval workflow design, and cross-functional governance.
- International markets experience: demonstrated experience structuring and approving deals across multiple geographies, with working knowledge of the commercial, legal, and tax considerations that vary by region (e.g., local currency, local entity contracting, regional pricing strategies, VAT/GST treatment).
- Proven AI-native operating style: hands-on experience using AI tools - such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Notion AI, contract intelligence tools, or purpose-built GTM AI - to accelerate deal review, generate quotes, analyze commercial data, or automate repeatable Deal Desk tasks. We want to see how AI is embedded in how you work today, not theoretical familiarity.
- Deep understanding of SaaS commercial constructs: multi-year agreements, ramp deals, ELAs, co-termination, consumption commitments, and the interplay between deal structure and revenue recognition under ASC 606.
- Strong cross-functional instincts - able to build trust and work credibly with Sales, Finance, Legal, and GTM Operations simultaneously, and to translate competing interests into workable commercial outcomes.
- Highly analytical, with the ability to identify trends in deal data, quantify risk in non-standard terms, and communicate findings clearly to senior leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to build scalable processes, playbooks, and policies - not just solve individual deal problems.
- Experience hiring and developing Deal Desk or commercial operations talent is a strong plus.
- Salesforce experience required.
