Sales Manager - Corrugated Packaging

Opportunity Profile

Location: Southeastern Wisconsin

Position Title: Sales Manager

The Opportunity:
This is a rare opportunity for a sales leader to step into a highly visible leadership role within a growing corrugated packaging business that is experiencing significant expansion and organizational evolution. The Sales Manager will inherit responsibility for leading a team of approximately five packaging sales professionals while helping shape the future direction of the commercial organization.

The individual selected for this role will not simply manage a sales team. They will become a strategic partner to senior leadership, providing coaching, leadership, contract guidance, and organizational support that allows the broader sales function to operate at a higher level. The sales team currently consists of both emerging talent and highly experienced professionals, creating an environment where strong leadership, mentorship, and communication skills are critical.

This position is designed for someone with corrugated packaging expertise who wants a long-term career path rather than simply a management title. The organization is intentionally seeking a leader who can be developed over the coming years into increasingly significant leadership responsibilities. For the right individual, the opportunity extends beyond sales management and may lead toward senior commercial leadership and ultimately General Manager-level responsibilities.

The Sales Manager will play a direct role in helping the business continue its growth trajectory by supporting customer strategy, navigating complex commercial agreements, strengthening team effectiveness, and ensuring sales representatives have the tools, resources, and internal support necessary to succeed. This is an opportunity to make a measurable impact while building a career path inside a growing and financially strong organization.

The Company:
The organization is a well-established and highly respected participant within the corrugated packaging industry. The business has experienced substantial growth, with its Wisconsin operation expanding significantly over time and becoming a major contributor to the overall enterprise.

The facility supports approximately $150 million in total business activity and operates within a larger organization that is approaching the billion-dollar revenue milestone. The company combines the scale and resources of a large organization with the agility and entrepreneurial mindset often associated with customer-focused packaging businesses.

The organization has built a reputation around customer service, operational excellence, long-term relationship development, and a commitment to investing in both people and growth. Leadership emphasizes developing talent from within and creating meaningful advancement opportunities for individuals who demonstrate capability, leadership potential, and commitment to the business.

The Boss:
The Sales Manager will work closely with an accomplished senior leader who has helped guide substantial growth within the Wisconsin operation. During the first year, the successful candidate will receive significant support and partnership from an experienced sales executive who understands both the commercial and operational sides of the business.

Leadership places a strong emphasis on people development, succession planning, and building future leaders. The hiring manager believes that successful commercial leaders can evolve into broader business leadership roles and has firsthand experience seeing sales-oriented leaders achieve long-term success within the organization.

The ideal relationship will be a true partnership. The Sales Manager will be empowered to take ownership of leadership, coaching, sales administration, and commercial processes while collaborating closely with senior leadership on strategic initiatives, customer relationships, and organizational development.

The Position:
The Sales Manager will lead the regional packaging sales team and serve as a key member of the commercial leadership structure. This individual will focus on coaching, team development, customer strategy, commercial agreement support, and organizational effectiveness.

Unlike traditional player-coach sales management positions, this role is primarily focused on leadership. The successful candidate will spend their time developing people, supporting customer-facing strategies, removing obstacles for the sales team, assisting with complex customer opportunities, and helping create a scalable sales organization capable of supporting future growth.

Essential Functions (Other duties may be assigned):

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of packaging sales professionals.
• Provide guidance and support to both experienced and developing sales representatives.
• Serve as an administrative and operational leader for the sales organization.
• Partner with leadership and legal counsel on customer contracts, MSAs, commercial agreements, and negotiations.
• Ride along with sales representatives and assist with complex customer opportunities.
• Advocate internally for the sales team and help remove barriers to success.
• Strengthen collaboration between sales, account coordinators, customer service, and operations.
• Support strategic customer relationship management efforts.
• Improve sales processes, organizational effectiveness, and team performance.
• Contribute to leadership development and succession planning initiatives.
• Help prepare the organization for future growth and leadership expansion.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Corrugated packaging industry experience required.
• Proven sales leadership experience.
• Strong customer relationship management capabilities.
• Experience managing commercial agreements, contracts, and negotiations.
• Demonstrated ability to coach and develop sales professionals.
• Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across sales, operations, and executive leadership teams.
• Ability to maintain a regular on-site presence in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience within the corrugated packaging industry.
• Sales leadership experience, ideally within a packaging environment.
• Two to five years of sales management experience preferred.
• Experience working within independent corrugated sheet plant organizations preferred.
• Exposure to integrated packaging organizations is valued.
• Track record of developing sales talent and future leaders.
• Interest in pursuing broader executive leadership responsibilities over time.

Competencies:

• Leadership and team development
• Strategic thinking
• Commercial acumen
• Customer relationship management
• Contract and negotiation management
• Coaching and mentoring
• Organizational effectiveness
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Problem solving and decision making
• Change leadership
• Communication and interpersonal effectiveness
• Long-term leadership potential

Work Environment: This is a hybrid leadership role based in Southeastern Wisconsin. The Sales Manager is expected to maintain a regular office presence approximately two to three days per week while also spending time with customers and sales team members in the field. The role requires frequent interaction with sales professionals, customers, operations personnel, and senior leadership.

Compensation: The organization offers a competitive compensation package, performance-based incentive opportunities, comprehensive benefits, and a long-term career path that may include advancement into senior leadership and potential ownership opportunities as the individual progresses within the organization.