Sales Manager

Location: Illinois (regular presence across multiple Illinois manufacturing facilities)

Position Title: Sales Manager – Illinois

The Opportunity:
This is a highly visible sales leadership role within one of the organization’s most important and revenue-concentrated regions. Illinois represents a meaningful portion of total company sales, and this position sits at the center of stabilizing execution, modernizing sales behavior, and unlocking growth across three manufacturing facilities.

The Sales Manager will step into a region with significant opportunity but uneven sales maturity. The team includes a mix of long-tenured sellers, newer hires, and developing talent—creating an environment where strong leadership, clear expectations, and consistent coaching will have an immediate and measurable impact. Success in this role will reduce strain on senior leadership, bring structure to sales execution, and elevate accountability across the region.

This is not a maintenance role. The leader who takes this position will be asked to challenge legacy behaviors, reinforce core sales fundamentals, and develop future leaders. For the right individual, this role offers long-term runway, including the potential to expand into broader regional oversight as the organization continues to evolve and invest in sales leadership.

The Company:
The organization is a multi-site manufacturing business operating within a complex, operationally driven environment. It supports a diverse customer base and offers significant production capabilities across multiple facilities. The company is in a period of transformation, integrating acquisitions, modernizing sales processes, and building scalable internal infrastructure to support long-term growth.

Leadership emphasizes a long-term mindset focused on talent development, cross-functional alignment, and sustainable performance. Sales leaders are expected to understand how commercial decisions impact operations, margins, and customer outcomes, and to collaborate closely with plant leadership and operations teams.

The Boss:
The role works closely with a senior sales leader who brings deep industry experience and a strong operational foundation. This leader is known for being hands-on, direct, and highly invested in building disciplined, high-performing sales teams. They value leaders who can balance cultural awareness with the courage to introduce necessary change.

The ideal working relationship is built on trust, transparency, and execution. The Sales Manager will have meaningful autonomy while also benefiting from access to strategic mentorship, enterprise-level perspective, and the opportunity to influence how sales leadership is structured across the organization.

The Position:
The Sales Manager – Illinois is responsible for leading sales performance across three Illinois-based manufacturing facilities. The role requires frequent on-site engagement and close collaboration with General Managers, Sales Operations, and regional leadership. This individual serves as the primary sales leadership presence in Illinois and plays a key role in aligning market strategy with plant capabilities.

Essential Functions (Other duties may be assigned):

• Lead, coach, and develop approximately 5–7 direct-report sales representatives
• Establish clear sales expectations, performance metrics, and accountability standards
• Drive pipeline discipline, prospecting rigor, and new business development
• Conduct regular field coaching, ride-alongs, and facility-based sales meetings
• Partner with plant and general management to align sales strategy with operational capacity
• Identify and correct legacy behaviors that limit growth or accountability
• Develop emerging sales talent into future leaders
• Support pricing strategy, margin improvement, and market execution initiatives
• Serve as the primary sales leadership presence across Illinois facilities

Qualifications:

• Proven experience leading sales teams in manufacturing or industrial environments
• Demonstrated ability to coach, challenge, and hold teams accountable
• Experience managing sales teams across multiple locations or facilities
• Strong understanding of sales fundamentals, including prospecting, pipeline management, and territory strategy
• Comfort operating in environments with mixed tenure, skill levels, and resistance to change

Education and Experience:

• Background in manufacturing or industrial sales leadership required
• Experience in corrugated packaging, paper, or related industries preferred
• Prior involvement in sales transformation or turnaround environments strongly valued
• Technical, design, or operational experience that enhances credibility with customers and plant leadership is a plus

Competencies:

• Presence-driven leadership and credibility through action
• Strategic thinking with the ability to explain both the “what” and the “why” behind sales behaviors
• Balanced leadership style combining empathy with firmness
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Ability to identify, mentor, and develop future sales leaders

Work Environment:
This is a field- and facility-based role requiring regular on-site presence across multiple Illinois manufacturing locations. The environment is fast-paced, operationally complex, and highly collaborative, with close interaction between sales, operations, and leadership teams.