Head of Sales - France & Southern Europe

Head of Sales - France/Southern Europe

A world leader in optical designing, testing and manufacturer, require an experienced Sales Manager / Head of Sales to develop business at key customer accounts, plus manage the distribution network in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Portugal.

As experts in the technology of light, the business works with OEM customers worldwide, to provide optical systems, assemblies, and components.

This role requires a combination of both applications engineering knowledge and commercial acumen.

Responsibilities:

• Be a primary contact for European customers.
• Provide presentations, RFQ responses and liaise with key customer technical staff and decision makers to facilitate sales
• Provide high level technical sales and application understanding in support of sales & business development managers
• Understand business and application requirements & how these translate into technical product specifications and provide suitable sales responses to the customer
• Work with product management to identify market needs, competitive pricing, lead times and margin models for existing or new products
• Identify target customers for the business and assist with development of formal sales plans, and proposals for assigned opportunities
• Own technical liaison & process for customer pre/post-sales support items & issues
• Effectively use SalesForce CRM to track opportunities and provide unit and revenue forecasting data to product management & manufacturing
• Perform in-depth and high-level presentations and demonstrations for customers and conferences in Europe

Qualifications And Experience

• BSc or MSc in Physics, Materials Science, Mathematics or Engineering (Optics/Electronics)
• MBA / Business Degree (or equivalent) is an advantage
• 5 years technical sales, product marketing or applications experience in photonics
• Knowledge of the following areas would be beneficial: lasers, optics, electro-optics, acousto-optics as well as experience in industrial and/or biomedical laser applications
• Experience in project management, negotiation and relationship management would be preferred
• Strong writing & European language skills, with the capability of writing customer reports as required, as well as experience of presenting technical data

Other Information

• Expected travel to company sites and customer locations - Up to 30% of the time
• Region: France
• Languages required: primary French, very good English (spoken and written English), Italian and or Spanish, would be an advantage

Package Includes:

• Competitive Executive Base Salary
• Car Allowance
• Sales Incentive Plan
• Base Commission
• Accelerated Commission

Interested please contact Graeme at Vibe Recruit on +44 7931 309403 or apply immediately!

Vibe Recruit is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.