Senior Manager Sales Lithium Pacific

Senior Manager Sales Lithium Pacific

• Drive our growth for Pacific region
• Leadership and exciting role
• Based in Singapore, global commercial hub for Singapore

Primary Purpose
The Senior Manager Sales Lithium Pacific is a key member of the Lithium Commercial leadership team. Overseeing the large and fast-growing Pacific region and reporting to the VP of Sales & Marketing, Lithium, this role will oversee all aspects of the Pacific region, including sales strategy, strategic accounts, customer & stakeholder management, team development, and cross-functional collaboration.

This position will be instrumental in development and securing new business and turning them into strategic accounts for the business in the Pacific region, especially across the East Asian markets.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Sales Leadership

• Develop and execute regional growth strategy, including market penetration, customer acquisition, and commercialization opportunities across the Pacific region with global lithium chemicals, targeting EV battery and energy storage applications
• Set and track regional sales targets, budgets, and KPIs, ensuring alignment with Group and Product Group objectives
• Partner with market analysis team to identify trends, competitive threats, and new opportunities in lithium supply chains

Strategic Account Management & Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead acquisition of new strategic customers and establish market presence with emerging battery, cathode and global EV manufacturers and converting them into strategic accounts for the business.
• Identify and develop entry strategies into emerging customer segments, applications and geographies to accelerate regional growth.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key clients, OEMs, battery manufacturers, cathode makers, and strategic partners
• Secure long-term offtake agreements for lithium chemicals, including negotiations on pricing, terms, and prepayment structures, as well as medium-term and short-term agreements

Team Management & Development

• Lead, mentor, and coach a multicultural sales organisation, including sales managers and technical marketing across China, Korea, Japan and Singapore, fostering a high-performance, results-driven culture
• Recruit, onboard, and retain top talent; provide ongoing training in product knowledge, sales methodologies, and industry-specific skills
• Manage performance reviews, quotas, and incentive structures to drive results
• Adroitly manage the team with keen cultural sensitivity and translating it into a positive outcome for team and clients

Sales Execution & Pipeline Management

• Oversee full sales cycle from lead generation to deal closure, ensuring a healthy pipeline and predictable revenue
• Manage sales operations, including CRM (e.g., Salesforce), forecasting, and reporting to senior management

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with marketing, product, and technical teams to align go-to-market strategies and product positioning
• Work with quality, legal, and operations to structure agreements, licensing, and compliance
• Coordinate technical-commercial alignment for product validation and qualification

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field; MBA or advanced degree a plus
• 10+ years of commercial experience, including demonstrated success in developing new business and opening new markets, preferably in chemicals, minerals, specialty chemicals, or energy materials
• Sales Leadership experience essential
• Proven track record of developing new business and exceeding sales targets in complex, technical markets

Skills & Competencies

• Commercial: Entrepreneurial with a strong growth mentality. Proven ability to create new revenue streams, penetrate new markets and challenge established commercial models
• Strategic planning, negotiation, lead generation, customer relationship management, forecasting
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Ability to partner with multiple teams across Rio Tinto and influencing the stakeholders to explore new clientele horizons which may not have been previously explored.
• Technical: Understanding of lithium chemistry, battery manufacturing processes, and EV/energy storage supply chains
• Leadership: Team coaching, performance management, change management
• Analytical: Market research, competitive analysis, data-driven decision-making
• Tools: CRM platforms (Salesforce), Microsoft Office, Excel, market analysis software

Other Skills

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to travel extensively within the region
• Resilience and adaptability in fast-moving, capital-intensive markets
• Strong cultural sensitivity dealing with diverse teams in Pacific, recognising and expertly managing the similarities and differences of different markets.

Industry Fit

• Experience in lithium, battery materials, or sustainable energy sectors is highly valued
• Ability to navigate global supply chain dynamics and geopolitical factors affecting lithium availability
• Prior working experience with East Asian battery materials, battery manufacturers, or EV players will be highly advantageous

What we offer

Be recognised for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress.

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority

• A competitive salary package with annual cash incentive awards for eligible employees

• Career development & education assistance to further your ambitions

• Access top tier family-friendly health and medical programs and pension plan

• Wellbeing benefits

• Generous Rio Tinto employee share program

• Employee Assistance Program

• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for you and your family for personal and professional matter

• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)

Where you will be working

Our Commercial function at Rio Tinto connects our product groups, customers and suppliers from mine to market. We bring together Sales & Marketing and Trading (Sell), Global Procurement (Buy), and Marine & Logistics (Move) to buy, sell and move the materials the world needs, by partnering across the value chain to optimise outcomes for our customers and the Group. Headquartered in our global Commercial hub in Singapore, and with a strong presence in Chicago, Frankfurt, Antwerp and across Asia in Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul, we work as one team to deliver customer centric value, safely and sustainably.

Work at the heart of our global Commercial hub in Singapore, partnering cross‑functionally across Buy, Sell and Move to shape strategy and deliver mine‑to‑market value around the world.

(Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove job postings prior to the stated closing date)

Please note, in order to be successfully considered for this role you must complete all pre-screening questions.

Rio Tinto does not accept unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles from recruiters or employment agencies. Rio Tinto will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee relating to unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles. Rio Tinto reserves the right to hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles, including those submitted to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Rio Tinto.” 

About Rio Tinto
 

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive.
 

We have been mining for 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs – striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win-win situations and meet opportunities.

Respect and Inclusion

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQ+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.