Business Development Director Europe

Location: Germany strongly preferred (other European locations considered for the right candidate)

The Company

Our client is an international manufacturer of high precision components that sit at the heart of capital equipment — critical parts where reliability is non-negotiable and where the specification decision is made by OEM engineering teams. Relevant end-user sectors include food production, renewables, semiconductors, chemicals and oil & gas, plus further manufacturing.

The business offers a mandate built around long-term, sustainable growth. It is highly profitable and growing, with a global ambition to expand the business substantially over the coming years. Its current, more assertive pricing posture is a deliberate market-share strategy pursued from a position of strength - not a response to financial pressure.

The Opportunity

EMEA has performed comfortably in mature markets and has a highly-technical sales team with a well-networked and respected market position. The challenge is to turn modest growth into a more dynamic performance through a sales operation that is more active, and better focused on profiting out of growing target industries. The mandate is to compete actively in all product segments in order to protect the premium position.

Scope:

• Operational leadership of European sales teams across seven legal entities, four of them MDs
• Strategic leadership of two further country managers
• Full ownership of distributor relationships across all non-subsidiary markets
• Germany is the largest market by some distance, at roughly half of EMEA revenue; a Germany-based candidate will travel materially less
• Approximately 30% domestic and international travel

Key Objectives

Shift the growth posture. Move a capable but comfortable regional organisation from defending mature positions to actively hunting growth, and give the country teams the strategy, structure and confidence to do it.

Bring pipeline rigour. Establish clear visibility of progress, target gaps and process actions to bridge it. Large multi-year projects and short term performance both require hands-on involvement.

Open under-penetrated segments. Lead the push into priority growth markets where the business is currently under-represented in Europe, and into a second, electrically based product family. The latter is as much a culture challenge as a commercial one: a mechanically minded sales force must be moved outside its comfort zone and into new applications.

Own regional pricing. Act as the ultimate authority on intercompany pricing and as referee between the plants, driving collective responsibility and avoiding siloed sales structures.

Drive quick wins. Design and roll out incentive and recognition programmes that reward short-cycle revenue alongside the long-cycle project work.

Experience

• Component sales into OEMs, or capital equipment sales; engineering-led selling for critical applications
• Multi-country leadership experience with clear responsibility for multiple teams and for revenue performance
• A track record of adapting a key-account-oriented sales organisation into a hunting one; alternatively, a strong hunter background and experience with transformation initiatives
• Demonstrable success with sales strategy and aggressive growth initiatives
• Machine tool exposure is a significant bonus; aerospace and defence experience is welcome given planned expansion
• Experience designing and running sales incentive programmes is a strong advantage

Mindset and capability

• Flexible and authoritative in equal measure — able to adapt communication and management style to very different local teams and market realities
• Strong intercultural competence, and the ability to lead and influence internally without relying on direct authority
• Clear prioritisation, tolerance for ambiguity, and the ability to build, manage and improve adaptable structures
• Comfortable with data, market segmentation and visible KPIs as tools for ownership and accountability
• Degree in engineering or business; an engineering degree is strongly preferred, further qualifications are a plus
• Approximately 10-12 years of progressive sales experience, including 6-8 years in sales management
• Fluent English; German is strongly preferred, though there is successful precedent for a non-German-speaking EMEA leader

What Success Looks Like

Within the first year, you will have established credibility with the country Managing Directors, the distributor network and the global leadership team; brought visible discipline to pipeline and territory performance; delivered momentum in the under-penetrated segments; and shifted the regional culture measurably towards proactive, offensive selling - without losing the customer intimacy that underpins the premium position.

Applications are handled in confidence.