Senior Director of Sales North America

RHH202115

Manufacturing

THE COMPANY

Established in 2008, our client is a leading manufacturer of electric, CNG, and clean-diesel buses and trucks within the municipal and commercial transit industry. Led by an industry pioneer, our client’s success is due to an executive team that is second to none within their industry. Their success in growing the company’s market share has been achieved by delivering high-quality, efficient, eco-friendly, and innovative transit solutions coupled with expert full turnkey services. This has positioned them to expand their reach into new regions and markets. This newly created position will help our client exceed their organic growth goals and lead the company to new and higher levels of success.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Our client is looking for an experienced and driven sales and business development leader who will play an essential part in moving the company forward. As the Company is poised to expand its reach, the prime role for the Senior Director of Sales N.A. will be developing and securing a growing stream of profitable customers. They will help develop the corporate sales strategy and annual sales plan. The company has cultivated a family-based culture with a strong emphasis on integrity, honesty, accountability, teamwork, and excellence. This leader will be a spokesperson for the company and be expected to enhance these core values as the company continues to innovate and grow over the next decade. This is an opportunity to have a significant impact on an already successful company.

JOB DEFINITION

The successful candidate will plan, execute and coordinate sales and business development functions, as well as collaborate with cross-functional leaders to expand the company’s product line. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience selling products and services within the municipal and commercial transit industry and be familiar with municipal/governmental sales processes and funding models. Key metrics will include delivering annual organic top and bottom-line revenue growth, driving sales diversification within the U.S, improving return on invested capital, and improving sales forecast accuracy. Working as an active member of the executive leadership team the successful candidate will be instrumental in crafting the corporation’s future strategic direction.

This position reports to the Vice President of Sales and Business Development and has five direct reports.

SKILLS

This position is responsible for capturing new customers, maintaining and expanding existing customer relationships, and driving profitable revenue growth in the North American market.

Leadership and Management:

Leads the process of developing and implementing aggressive but realistic annual sales plans targeted to increase market share, delivering consistent year-over-year revenue growth of at least 10% and growing EBITDA by 15% while maximizing profitability.
Owns the sales efforts by leading targeted new customer presentations, sales campaigns, and proposals and identifies opportunities and prospects, while ensuring opportunities are well-qualified and consistently closes new sales to exceed revenue goals.
Development of sales/account management strategy, processes, and underlying objectives.
Reports on the sales and solution delivery pipeline performance-against-budget and projected future activity to the Executive Team.
Proactively develops, manages, and enhances long-term customer relationships including development and maintenance of excellent state and local municipal/government relationships.
Ensures that the voice of the customer is communicated throughout the organization.
Directly responsible for managing and motivating distributor relationships.
Delivers results in a fast-paced, high-growth, entrepreneurial culture, where the industry and regulatory environment is dynamic.
Fosters and maintains highly effective internal partnerships with key departments (e.g., Operations, Product Management, Finance, etc.)
Establishes, maintains, and continually enhances a sales and revenue forecasting system that delivers monthly reports that are accurate, reliable, and provide predictable information regarding the retention of existing customers and new customers, prospects, viable opportunities, and contracts.
Maintains a productive sales pipeline by effectively building out and managing a team of Regional Sales Managers and associated sales support staff; recruits, trains, coaches, develops and manages the team to be effective at driving and closing new sales opportunities.
Collaborates with the leadership team to leverage branding, messaging and related marketing and communication strategies that focus on differentiation in the marketplace regarding product and service capabilities.
Ensures that all contractual commitments are being fulfilled and met by routinely monitoring updates from sales/account management teams.
Ensure that all RFP responses have content that differentiates from competitors and clearly describes a customer-specific value proposition, as well as a bid strategy.
Validates solution pricing and contract-specific revenue proposals with the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer to ensure economic viability. Responsible for ensuring signed contracts are negotiated in accordance with the financial, legal, and risk parameters of the company.
Monitors the latest trends in sales strategy and techniques and modifies the company approach accordingly.
Develops a standard process that leverages the sales/account management organization to help influence specifications for RFP’s issued by prospective state and local government customers.

BACKGROUND EXPERIENCE

At least 15 years of experience managing national sales within North America.
Established leadership record with an ability to assess “bench strength” within the team; grow capabilities that support ongoing business/customer strategies; hiring the right candidates and developing and retaining key high-potential employees.
Demonstrated experience managing and mentoring national sales/account management staff.
Demonstrated ability to motivate and lead cross-functional teams in a matrix organization.
Proven track record of successfully growing revenue while maintaining required profitability metrics.
Exemplary interpersonal skills, including executive presence and the ability to establish and maintain rapport and trust with stakeholders at a variety of levels, both internal and external to the company.
Financial acumen and related analysis skills, including P&L, budget planning and creation, understanding pricing strategies, and the ability to create highly accurate sales and revenue forecasting models.
Strong verbal communication skills, including the ability to: present and explain complicated information in a public forum in a clear and concise fashion, leverage negotiation and persuasion skills to maximize customer satisfaction and program success, and deliver difficult messages effectively.
Understanding of municipal contracting practices, requirements, and other related business processes with the ability to analyze complex business situations and to recommend and implement a proper course of action.
Exemplary written communication skills, including the ability to draft effective written communication to a variety of audiences in a comprehensible manner; Editorial skills to effectively shape the style, structure, and content of written proposals
Proven ability to demonstrate the highest integrity within their personal and professional life.
Proven ability to create and maintain a fun, team-oriented, and enjoyable work environment.
Must be a “Hands-On,” “Roll-Up-Your-Sleeves” participative leader, with the ability to function effectively at both the strategic and tactical levels.
Ability to travel throughout North America; 30 – 50% of the time.

Education:

A bachelor’s degree is required, and a master’s degree in business or management is preferred.

If you have these qualifications and are looking for a challenging career, please submit your Resume using the button below.

Eric Hohauser

Lead Consultant

Sam Frank

Vice President, Executive Search

Kate Scott

Director, Executive Recruitment