Sales & Marketing Director

Global B2B Manufacturer
c£90-100,000 plus car/all and exec package

This is an outstanding opportunity to join the UK division of a global manufacturing business operating across various sectors including Food, Automotive, Packaging, Textiles, Material Handling, and others. Their products sit at the heart of every manufacturing plant across their target sectors.

Their founders were credited with reinventing their sector 80 years ago with product innovation mixed with globally renowned quality & precision. 

Today, they have continued to lead on both those areas, constantly challenging the solutions to their client’s evolving marketplaces. They already possess a globally enviable client list but are set to climb to even greater heights thanks to an aggressive commercial strategy.

The group remains family owned, cash-rich and with an unbridled spirit of investment, they have proudly reached their current level of success with no-debt and remain focused on continuing that structure as they further develop the opportunity brought about by their refreshed mindset towards the global market.

This impressive business has kept ahead of the market and has a clear focus on technical input and product innovation to be seen as a preeminent operator in all markets they exist within. Quality of product and service is at the core of the business.

The business is performing well, but they are focused on further cementing their market position, constantly evaluating, and refining/developing their strategy and increasing their share of this €bn market whilst re-investing into the business to further accelerate commercial growth. 

This desire to continue to develop their UK & Ireland business (currently sitting at £18m turnover, budgeted to be £20m+ next year), along with the revised commercial strategy brought about by the recently appointed Managing Director has led to the need to recruit a Sales & Marketing Director.

The appointee will work closely with the Managing Director, but with a high degree of autonomy in the leadership of the Sales & Marketing function as well as with the development & delivery of their commercial strategy and growth aspirations. 

The successful candidate will design, develop, and implement a clear strategy to profitably expand the value and volume of sales. With a product that sits right at the heart of so many manufacturing plants, and key to much of the innovation their clients crave, the opportunities are immense, both in OEM supply but also within replacement and emergency repair – itself a potentially lucrative market.

Alongside developing the commercial relationship and breadth of supply within existing customers, they will furthermore be tasked with identifying suitable new opportunities, new target businesses/sectors and new product innovations.

Key Responsibilities: 
The priorities of this role include:

• Develop the sales and marketing strategy for the business, identifying business needs, market potential and innovative strategies for long terms success for target sectors/target customers in line with the long-term vision of the Group/Company and its objectives.
• Measurable success of the delivery of the strategy and the business plan with regular reviews.
• Leading the definition and implementation of development projects in new and existing markets, identifying the right mix between internal resources, agents, franchising, distributors, etc. 
• Deliver the results in accordance with the strategy and agreed plans identifying areas for profitable growth.  To assume responsibility for the performance, conduct and motivation of the department.
• To understand the market environment, to lead the department effectively, providing clear direction, motivation, and enthusiasm to ensure all work towards common goals, aligning local development goals with those in place on an international level. 
• To lead and develop the sales & marketing team, ensuring maximum productivity, effectiveness and customer facing skills to ensure a high-performance culture of business excellence and continuous improvement.
• Lead the team of Business/Sales Managers & technical specialists with regular & supportive contact to assess company performance against KPI’s for revenue, margin, order size and conversion.  Ensure an effective sales pipeline and lead tracking process.
• Responsibility for the marketing strategy, presiding over the choice and definition of price strategies, distribution channels, product / service mix, communication, and promotion. 
• Manage the implementation of the Marketing Communication strategy – including campaigns, trade fairs, events, digital marketing, website and PR, social media presence and direct programs to improve social media reputation and recognition.
• To drive and maintain the positioning of the business as a strategic partner with major customers to deliver contacts through meetings/visits to site as well as supporting customer visits to their own facility.
• Undertake continuous analysis of competitive environment to fully understand competitor positions and strategy to develop market share.
• Manage the quotations department to ensure quotations and supporting material relative to an enquiry are produced in a timely/customer focused manner sufficient to deliver the target sales revenue.
• Ensuring the CRM is being effectively and provides a competitive advantage.
• Control of contract documentation to ensure the commercial suitability of all contracts that the risk, contractual obligations, profitability, and cash flow are all in line with the business needs and meet the financial targets set. 

Specific Performance Deliverables and KPIs:

• The sales and profit performance of the Company.
• Setting and delivery of the Sales & Marketing Strategy.
• Meeting various deadlines
• Accuracy of budgets and forecasts
• Customer satisfaction performance of your function
• Implementation of cost reduction solutions
• Improvement and delivery of management information

The appointee will impress from first meeting. They will on the up in their career and on a definite career path. They will be strategic in their approach, constantly seeking fresh ideas, fresh markets, looking at broadening their, and the company’s market. They will be adept at long term planning and communicating with all stakeholders to further their knowledge of the broader market, it’s trends and be able to accurately forecast because of it. But they will still love to sell. This is a small entrepreneurial business; the Sales Director will lead by example and the best candidates will still want it that way.

Candidate profile and chemistry fit is critical for this pivotal role. Working within a fast-paced, innovative, entrepreneurial environment, attitude is as important as experience. The person is everything. The Sales & Marketing Director will be instrumental in setting the tone, energy, and culture for the business.….and in turn design its success. The gravity of success is all about having the right attitude, underpinned with demonstrable experience.

Suitable candidates will already be high achieving, experienced Sales & Marketing Directors with a track record of personal success AND success in leading sales teams. They will possess a strong ethos in supreme service delivery, customer engagement and a background in creating and managing a culture of commercial success & opportunity. They will ideally have come from a B2B manufacturing background with experience of managing teams of 20+. Their background will be sales, but they will have developed demonstrable commercial acumen.

The appointee will have designed commercial sales and business development strategies, worked closely with operations and technical teams in designing solutions and have had success in doing to; they will have significant entrepreneurial ability and desire, and be hugely excited by a very high paced environment.

Core Capabilities:

• Results driven
• Customer service focus
• Leadership capabilities
• Planning and monitoring
• Judgement and decision-making
• Forward thinking
• Excellent verbal and written communication, consulting and networking skills
• Excellent negotiation and numeracy skills
• Ability to lead, and work within a team
• Excellent people management skills
• Integrity
• Self-motivated
• Ability to prioritise workloads, meet deadlines and maintain accuracy at all times
• Ability to work independently and with the vision to ensure customer development
• Must be able to travel when required

Qualifications & Experience:

• Preferably degree educated or commensurate experience.
• Experience of the B2B industrial sector; manufacturing or supply-chain
• Experience of selling and dealing with ‘value added’ highly technical services/products
• Demonstrable ability to lead process change
• Excellent communication and listening skills, both internally and externally and appreciation of cultural requirements
• Ability to tailor communications to the appropriate audience.

Personal Attributes:

• Will have gravitas. It will be immediately apparent why the individual has been appointed. They will have a proactive, clear “can-do” attitude.
• The confidence, personal and professional credibility that comes from experience, the ability to anticipate market trends and customer needs
• An excellent communicator, in all forms, with the necessary confidence and business awareness to enthusiastically and persuasively present a case
• Strong motivational skills, with the ability to both work within a team and to lead with enthusiasm
• Excellent time management skills with the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
• Rigorous data driven approach, with a fastidious nature towards detail
• Ambitious, determined, personable and reliable with high standards of professionalism

This is a career defining, fantastic opportunity for an experienced, operationally aware and commercial client-facing professional to add significant value to an already high-performing market leader and reap the rewards to doing so.

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