Vice President Sales - Paper Products Company
About The Company
The company is a 10 year-old company in a growth transition. A manufacturing and product driven company, with the opening of its second manufacturing facility in Toronto, it is evolving to a product and solution driven organization that focuses on expanding the building product offerings. As part of this growth strategy, the company seeks new talent and ideas, new strategies and a faster pace of change.
Scope of the Position
Reporting to the President, the VP Sales will be responsible for sales development and play a leadership role in the Company. S/he will continually develop and build a high performance sales team, play an active role developing and managing key account relationships, and assume responsibility for select accounts. Specific responsibilities and success factors of the position are prioritized as follows:
Short Term (first 6 months)
• Gain a detailed understanding of the Company’s economics including pricing, margins, fixed and variable costs and product offerings.
• Meet with the sales team and develop and assess the team strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.
• Gain a detailed understanding of the Company’s sales history and projections by sales channel and account.
• Gain an understanding of the operations, including capacities and capabilities of the manufacturing and logistics group.
• Establish confidence with the President, Plant Manager, sales team, and other internal team members.
• Develop and communicate your overall sales strategy and budget to facilitate the sales growth goals.
• Assume accountability for designated accounts; expand, develop and manage these relationships.
• Where possible, leverage your existing channel network: for business, human capital, and process development.
Ongoing
• Assess, build, structure and sustain a competent, motivated sales team environment, and ensure each sales professional is held fully accountable to meeting pre-agreed sales objectives;
• Lead by example, establish a sales culture that that is nimble, responsive, and fosters open communication, coordinated efforts, common goals and personal development and growth.
• Where appropriate, expand, develop and manage relationships with brokers and key accounts; recommend means to enhance channel performance.
• Provide constant feedback to President on the status of all pipeline and sales activities.
• Compare results against budgets and plans, make necessary changes when required, and communicate status to all necessary parties.
• Provide leadership, direction, support and focus to all sales training.
• Represent the company at key trade shows and/or business meetings to promote the company.
• Supervise the preparation, issuance, and delivery of sales materials, exhibits, and programs.
• Identify, and play a role in developing, new product offerings and provide feedback on viability and investment required.
• Assist in establishing the necessary culture and business processes to successfully integrate new products and accounts.
• Participate as an active member of the management team, fostering an environment of high performance and cooperation.
• Support the President in refining a vision for the business as well as the strategic direction, including assessment of the company's existing market opportunities and competitive positioning and solutions to streamline and determine the appropriate strategic roadmap.
Key Performance Deliverables
In light of the identified responsibilities, the following are specific deliverables that the position is designed to achieve.
• Meet or exceed annual sales plan goals.
• Judicious implementation/introduction of sales processes, systems and develop and upgrade the sales human capital to ensure the company can scale and maintain growth.
Preferred Candidate Qualifications
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent.
• Preponderance of sales career in an industrial company with the following characteristics: large North America accounts, value added process including product solutions, large volume/mid margin products; exposure to the paper processing industry is a definite asset.
• Previous sales exposure with a Tier 1 company/industry considered to have sophisticated sales training and management disciplines; steady career sales management progression.
• Past 7+ years in sales management including leading in-house teams and brokers across North America.
• Within an “entrepreneurial environment”, proven ability to upgrade a sales team.
• As a sales professional, consistent track record leveraging existing networks and identifying, securing and managing new accounts.
• Successfully developed and executed a profitable sales strategic plan for a rapidly growing business with multiple-product lines.
• Possesses sound business judgment that extends beyond sales and includes operations.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly transition to new industries and companies; exhibits an inherent ability to accurately sense industry trends and opportunities.
• Current industry knowledge and an established network that can be potentially leveraged would be an asset.
• Hands-on style (and track record) that involves getting things done not just delegating.
• Energetic, self-motivated and results-oriented.
• A team player: a collaborative helpful resource to be leveraged, shares the credit, thrives in a non-hierarchy environment, and knows how to balance company, team, and personal goals and rewards.
• A balanced ego: strives towards the desired result; is empathetic; understands the sensitivity around owner managed businesses; uses past experiences as context not as the solution.
Please email Tom Summers at the StoneWood Group
The company is a 10 year-old company in a growth transition. A manufacturing and product driven company, with the opening of its second manufacturing facility in Toronto, it is evolving to a product and solution driven organization that focuses on expanding the building product offerings. As part of this growth strategy, the company seeks new talent and ideas, new strategies and a faster pace of change.
Scope of the Position
Reporting to the President, the VP Sales will be responsible for sales development and play a leadership role in the Company. S/he will continually develop and build a high performance sales team, play an active role developing and managing key account relationships, and assume responsibility for select accounts. Specific responsibilities and success factors of the position are prioritized as follows:
Short Term (first 6 months)
• Gain a detailed understanding of the Company’s economics including pricing, margins, fixed and variable costs and product offerings.
• Meet with the sales team and develop and assess the team strengths, weaknesses and opportunities.
• Gain a detailed understanding of the Company’s sales history and projections by sales channel and account.
• Gain an understanding of the operations, including capacities and capabilities of the manufacturing and logistics group.
• Establish confidence with the President, Plant Manager, sales team, and other internal team members.
• Develop and communicate your overall sales strategy and budget to facilitate the sales growth goals.
• Assume accountability for designated accounts; expand, develop and manage these relationships.
• Where possible, leverage your existing channel network: for business, human capital, and process development.
Ongoing
• Assess, build, structure and sustain a competent, motivated sales team environment, and ensure each sales professional is held fully accountable to meeting pre-agreed sales objectives;
• Lead by example, establish a sales culture that that is nimble, responsive, and fosters open communication, coordinated efforts, common goals and personal development and growth.
• Where appropriate, expand, develop and manage relationships with brokers and key accounts; recommend means to enhance channel performance.
• Provide constant feedback to President on the status of all pipeline and sales activities.
• Compare results against budgets and plans, make necessary changes when required, and communicate status to all necessary parties.
• Provide leadership, direction, support and focus to all sales training.
• Represent the company at key trade shows and/or business meetings to promote the company.
• Supervise the preparation, issuance, and delivery of sales materials, exhibits, and programs.
• Identify, and play a role in developing, new product offerings and provide feedback on viability and investment required.
• Assist in establishing the necessary culture and business processes to successfully integrate new products and accounts.
• Participate as an active member of the management team, fostering an environment of high performance and cooperation.
• Support the President in refining a vision for the business as well as the strategic direction, including assessment of the company's existing market opportunities and competitive positioning and solutions to streamline and determine the appropriate strategic roadmap.
Key Performance Deliverables
In light of the identified responsibilities, the following are specific deliverables that the position is designed to achieve.
• Meet or exceed annual sales plan goals.
• Judicious implementation/introduction of sales processes, systems and develop and upgrade the sales human capital to ensure the company can scale and maintain growth.
Preferred Candidate Qualifications
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent.
• Preponderance of sales career in an industrial company with the following characteristics: large North America accounts, value added process including product solutions, large volume/mid margin products; exposure to the paper processing industry is a definite asset.
• Previous sales exposure with a Tier 1 company/industry considered to have sophisticated sales training and management disciplines; steady career sales management progression.
• Past 7+ years in sales management including leading in-house teams and brokers across North America.
• Within an “entrepreneurial environment”, proven ability to upgrade a sales team.
• As a sales professional, consistent track record leveraging existing networks and identifying, securing and managing new accounts.
• Successfully developed and executed a profitable sales strategic plan for a rapidly growing business with multiple-product lines.
• Possesses sound business judgment that extends beyond sales and includes operations.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly transition to new industries and companies; exhibits an inherent ability to accurately sense industry trends and opportunities.
• Current industry knowledge and an established network that can be potentially leveraged would be an asset.
• Hands-on style (and track record) that involves getting things done not just delegating.
• Energetic, self-motivated and results-oriented.
• A team player: a collaborative helpful resource to be leveraged, shares the credit, thrives in a non-hierarchy environment, and knows how to balance company, team, and personal goals and rewards.
• A balanced ego: strives towards the desired result; is empathetic; understands the sensitivity around owner managed businesses; uses past experiences as context not as the solution.
Please email Tom Summers at the StoneWood Group