Technical Sales Director SOD.DEL Group Kontich

About the role

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Technical and Commercial Business Leader to take a leadership position within the Management team of SOD.DEL.

You will have the responsibility to develop and grow the business organically while participating in SOD.DEL's Management team to finetune SOD.DEL's value adding approach enabling us to reach our ambitious 2028 objectives.

You will support the General Manager by taking ownership to embark and transform the company & its team members towards a high performance culture.

Supported by highly ambitious and knowledgeable shareholders, you will be actively supported in achieving the company's goals.

Responsibilities of the Technical Sales Director

Commercial Organic Growth: Volume, Revenue & Gross Margin improvement!

• Setting priorities & objectives for business development
• Sales Team Steering & Performance improvement towards New Biz Dev + Account Management to reach commercial objectives
• Gross Margin improvement=> set pricing strategy, lead pricing negotiations with clients & suppliers, sales operations cost structure improvement, Sales team support in negotiations.

Geographical growth: business development outside Benelux

• Development of new Key accounts in France, Germany, Italy & Spain.
• Sourcing of new Sales managers or partnerships in these countries.
• Focus on market synergies and opportunities following the integration of future international acquisitions.

Technical Product ownership & technical sales support:

• Own & develop our technical product and service offering per market segment.
• Support in sourcing of new raw materials and build new supplier relationships.
• Define, control and manage our QC/QA process.
• First line technical sales support for the Sales Team in all technical aspects of our product range to improve our technical service towards our clients.

Supplier relationship management:

• Manage main supplier relationships on a day-day to further grow our partnerships.
• Lead the supplier reporting & price negotiations process

Sales Team Management with regards to all commercial aspects:

• Manage and direct our sales team of 3 FTEs.
• Manage and direct our internal sales team of 3 FTEs.

Leadership role:

• Participate in the Management Team of SOD.DEL Benelux together with General Manager & shareholders.
• Report to the Management Team of SOD.DEL

You are the perfect fit if you

• Hold a master's degree in civil-, industrial-, chemistry-, business-, bioscience engineering, or a relatable field;
• Have Technical expertise & know-how of raw materials used in Paints & Coatings, Polymers or Sealants & Adhesives market (+ building construction flooring experience is a plus) => CASE market.
  • Resins & Additives knowledge (TOP)
  • Pigments & TiO2 (TOP)
  • Minerals knowledge (Nice to have)
• Have 8+ years of relevant experience in Sales or leading a technical sales organization with following types of roles:
  • Key Account Management
  • Experience in driving a Sales Team based on data-driven metrics to grow a business organically
  • R&D or Technical Sales Manager
  • Experience in Supplier management & pricing negotiations
• Possess an analytical mind, work in a structured approach, and have the flexibility to quickly adapt;
• Self-driven, relentless work ethic.
• Are fluent in both spoken and written French & Dutch, with good knowledge of English. Knowledge of German or Italian is a plus.

Nice-to-haves

• International business development expertise
• Benelux Market knowledge + EU-based key accounts knowledge/experience
• Experience in the raw material distribution or minerals industry

About SOD.DEL

SOD.DEL NV consists of 3 commercial entities, active as agent & distributor of mineral based raw materials and specialties for different industries (paint, plastics, rubber, glass, construction, agriculture, animal feed, etc.). SOD.DEL adds value towards its industrial clients through its mineral knowledge and the strong supplier representations, its sourcing capabilities, its technical knowledge, logistical services and pro-active solutions oriented mindset. Our suppliers come mainly from Europe and Asia, we sell at +-500 clients, mainly located in the Benelux and France.

SOD.DEL has the ambition to become a European best in class value adding distributor. We are therefore actively looking for geographical expansion through acquisitions and organic business development.

• Our commercial entities are: SOD.DEL Benelux NV, OREMIN BV and Distrivrac SAS with a consolidated turnover of about 19mio€
• We are a dynamic team of 14 people, future-oriented with a strong focus on continuous improvement and further organic growth
• Headquarters : Groeningenlei 16, 2550 Kontich