Sales Director

• Leading a sales team across the UK and Europe
• Sitting on the board of the business

About Our Client

Established in 1983, Solstor UK Ltd was originally created to move produce inbound from Europe to the UK. They quickly realised that it was much more profitable to have the freight full in both directions and so soon after restructured to become a standalone company specialising in temperature controlled storage.

Whilst the core business is in movement of fresh, chilled and frozen products, there is a move internally to branch out into other products including pharmaceuticals and other time sensitive items. This will include a complete solution from pack-house and manufacturing sources to regional distribution centres and warehouses across the UK and EU.

With offices and consolidation centres in the UK, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Poland the business is able to offer solutions on a pan-European basis. This role will require at least 4 days per month based in the head office near Dartford, Kent and there will be frequent travel to mainland Europe to meet clients and colleagues.

Job Description

Reporting directly to the Managing Director and sitting on the board, the Sales Director will be tasked with sales strategy, driving revenue, account retention and management of the sales staff across Europe. Currently there are three sales staff in each of the hubs - the UK, Belgium and Poland.

Although the expectation is for the role to be primarily client facing, there is a definite need to cultivate and push relationships internally - specifically with the operations team who execute the solutions sold. In order to do this the SD will be expected to travel fairly extensively to visit stakeholders in other offices, combining this with client visits where possible.

Other responsibilities will include:

• Working with members of the board on budgeting and planning and presenting sales results on a periodic basis
• Creating and implementing strategic sales and marketing plans that align with business objectives
• Developing an operating budget for the sales division
• Forging positive long-lasting relationships with key clients to understand their business needs and objectives
• Negotiating agreements for contracts with customers to ensure a commercial outcome
• Effectively communicating the value proposition through proposals and presentations
• Serving as a business representative at major industry events, conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions
• Identifying valuable and viable emerging markets to target
• Meeting with the sales managers on a monthly basis to assess company performance against KPIs
• Full responsibility of all sales compliance processes across the business ensuring company and statutory standards and laws are being adhered to at all times

The Successful Applicant

In order to apply for the Sales Director role, candidates must be able to demonstrate significant experience in managing a sales team across multiple countries, winning multi-million Euro/Pound accounts and designing sales strategy. These skill sets will be assessed during a 3 stage interview process that will include a psychometric testing portion and a presentation.

Other competencies and experiences that Solstor will be looking for include:

• A commercial awareness and strong strategic development skills.
• Significant operating at a senior level, with a strong academic background (degree or equivalent)
• The ability to take the features and benefits of a service portfolio to build powerful business development and marketing campaigns.
• Be charismatic, have strong commercial acumen and demonstrable track record of coaching and mentoring high performing staff
• Proven experience of delivering results through managing a field based sales teams within a set territory
• Organised, with meticulous attention to detail
• Well rounded interpersonal & communication skills, able to prioritise
• Maintaining effective relationships, focusing on customer needs and being able to gain their commitment
• Establishing clear, challenging and achievable objectives
• Regularly reviewing and communicating progress against said objectives, adjusting as needed
• Championing continuous improvement and innovation, rewarding and recognising the contribution of others
• Providing employees, colleagues and business partners with candid and regular feedback, development and career opportunities
• Communicating strategy in a clear and concise way to colleagues, employees and business partners

What's on Offer

Dependent on experience, assessed at interview, there is a base salary from £70,000 to £90,000 on offer for the successful candidate. On top of this there will be a bonus, car allowance and other benefits in line with a position at this level.

Where specific UK qualifications are required we will take into account overseas equivalents. All third party applications will be forwarded to Michael Page.

Ref Code: MPFE14030320Z