Vice President, Sales - North America

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The Vice President Sales, functions as a visible leader and driving force behind Orbit/Gardena’s growth initiatives by developing and executing the strategic business and sales plan to directly support the overall vision and company objectives and drive an omnichannel sales approach. The jobholder will utilize a fact-based and analytical sales approach to identify and increase the company’s customer base, targeting strategic customers within Big Box Retail, Regional Sales, eCommerce trade channels and Distributors. This individual will serve as a critical leader within the Orbit/Gardena team, delivering organic growth through a creative go-to-market strategies to increase profitability, market share and revenue growth.  The Vice President will oversee all US, Canada and Latin America Sales. They will serve as a guiding force providing direction and support to the sales team, directing the implementation and execution of sales policies and practices and holding managers accountable for maximizing the value of individuals through effective coaching and mentoring, and meeting KPI’s at an individual and departmental level. You will manage projects through thoughtful planning and extraordinary execution to meet or exceed multiple channel goals on time and improve company success. This Vice President will accomplish these initiatives while protecting the core values, principles, and essence of the company to increase profitability. The Vice President will create a transparent and candid culture and will be a hands-on leader to create a strong sales organization. You will establish cohesive selling practices to drive efficiency and enhance company performance.

 What You Need to Know:

• Function as a visible leader to the company, instilling a level of confidence among the sales team
• Lead the execution of Orbit/Gardena’s vision to surpass annual growth, profitability, cash flow, business goals and objectives
• Identify trends, market information, and translate this information into a forward-thinking approach to meet consumers and commercial demands
• Regularly assess, through sales reports, and other reconnaissance, the performance and support needs of all sales functions. Formulates and implements solutions that address deficits
• Facilitates alignment between the sales group and the balance of the organization
• Creates training curriculums that meet the needs of sales personnel
• Partners with the GM groups to develop or refine sales and promotional campaigns or to craft extemporaneous programs that respond to the competition
• Build market share, expand distribution, and implement retail programs that will not only meet the needs of the customers’ requirements, but will ensure Orbit/Gardena’s retail prominence
• Leads the development and maintenance of compensation measures that address the need to motivate, reward, and reinforce success for sales personnel
• Provide direction to the sales team with respect to the development and subsequent implementation of key performance indicators (KPI’s) and create specific success criteria to measure achievement of Sales goals and update Executive team regularly in this regard
• Orchestrate the development and employment of new markets, product lines, and channels of distribution.  Assess competitive activities and strategies. Implementation of tactical as well as strategic initiatives to maintain and grow our brand position in the marketplace
• Function as a change agent, and aggressively challenge long standing principles and paradigms to drive profit oriented mind-set and enhanced performance
• Partner with the Business Portfolio Units and Senior Vice President Go-to-Market to establish effective sales pricing and discount rates
• Develop and manage internal operating budgets
• Ensure a positive work environment and become instrumental in team building

 What We Are Looking For:

• Bachelor’s Degree required; MBA or Master’s Degree preferred
• 15+ years of experience in a senior-level sales position, with leadership assignments that typically involved long and short-term strategy, recruiting, managing, motivating, and coaching a sales team with emphasis on meeting sales goals and increasing market share
• Positive and energetic leader possessing a strong presence with grit and determination to take the business to the next level of success
• Strong history working with Big Box retailers is preferred
• Proven ability to negotiate and close complex deals at C-level consistently delivering strong commercial outcomes
• Strong ability to manage Big Box and other customer demand/forecasts and infield inventory management to optimize on hand inventories and customer service OTIF levels while being held accountable to minimize excess or unhealthy inventories
• Strong communication and storytelling skills that turn complex solutions into compelling customer value propositions
• Effectively manage multiple objectives to meet or exceed corporate requirements
• Prepare and present clear, compelling, and persuasive sales presentations that demonstrate the variety of Orbit/Gardena’s capabilities
• Exceptional project manager with proven success completing projects as assigned to achieve goals within requested timelines
• Process oriented with ability to quickly identify key players to maximize and achieve goals and build a continuous pipeline of sales
• Proven success of problem solving and priority setting, interpreting data to identify problems, establish facts and draw valid conclusions to create a successful business plan
• Knowledge and experience creating dashboards and metrics to hold sales team members accountable for KPI’s and budget accuracy
• Ability to function as a brand ambassador for Orbit/Gardena embodying the company’s vision, mission, and values
• Believer in a team-centric approach and combines this approach with the relentless pursuit for a solution to deliver P&L
• Demonstrated P&L ownership with direct accountability for revenue targets and operating budgets across a multi-market region
• Proven experience in eCommerce sales strategy and omnichannel go-to-market execution
• Spanish language proficiency preferred, given the scope of the LATAM region
• Willingness to travel up to 40% across the Americas region to support key customer relationships and team development