The posting
Regional Sales Manager – Africa
Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa Employment Type: Full-Time Division: Sales & Marketing Department: Sales & Marketing Travel: Required Reports To: Head of Sales & Marketing
Our client is seeking an experienced Regional Sales Manager – Africa Region to lead sales and marketing activities across the African regional territory. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing and implementing sales strategies that drive growth, profitability and market share across a diverse industrial and process automation environment.
The role will provide operational leadership to Front-End Sales Engineers (FSEs), manage major project opportunities, develop strategic customer and channel partner relationships, and collaborate with internal business units, EPCs, engineering teams and regional stakeholders to achieve annual sales targets.
Key Responsibilities
Sales Strategy & Business Development
- Contribute to the development and implementation of the regional Sales & Marketing strategy.
- Develop and execute sales plans to achieve annual sales targets and profitability objectives.
- Develop a comprehensive understanding of the regional market, including key players, market size, industry trends, project opportunities, automation profiles and competitor activity.
- Gather market intelligence through customer engagement, internal stakeholders and data-driven analysis.
- Identify, qualify, prioritise and manage major project opportunities across the territory.
- Drive new business development and identify opportunities for market growth.
- Market and sell the full industrial automation portfolio across Systems & Solutions, Services and Products.
- Identify opportunities to leverage synergies across business units and product portfolios.
- Maintain awareness of competitor activity and develop strategies to effectively position solutions in the market.
Regional Sales Management
- Take responsibility for achieving annual sales targets within the assigned territory.
- Develop annual budgets and business plans under the direction of the Head of Sales.
- Allocate sales quotas to Front-End Sales Engineers in line with regional objectives.
- Manage priorities and resources to maximise sales performance.
- Monitor regional sales performance, growth and profitability across business units.
- Develop and implement recovery plans where sales performance is below target.
- Prepare monthly, quarterly and half-yearly sales forecasts and reports.
- Maintain oversight of major enquiries, RFQs, ITBs and tenders within the territory.
- Manage sales opportunity and forecast data within the CRM system.
- Ensure CRM information is accurate, complete and maintained in accordance with company requirements.
People Management
- Provide operational management and coordination of Front-End Sales Engineers within the region.
- Set performance objectives and KPIs for FSEs in line with company performance management guidelines.
- Cascade objectives and key results and conduct regular performance review and feedback cycles.
- Identify individual training and development requirements.
- Coach, mentor and support FSEs to achieve their sales targets.
- Support recruitment, selection, onboarding, training and development of sales team members.
- Communicate performance expectations and monitor individual contributions.
- Promote accountability, productivity and continuous professional development within the team.
Major Projects & EPC Engagement
- Identify and manage major project opportunities in collaboration with FSEs, business units, Business Development Managers and engineering teams.
- Develop and implement action plans for key project opportunities.
- Drive early engagement with project owners, consultants and engineering houses during pre-FEED phases.
- Promote automation and project capabilities during early project development stages.
- Develop strong relationships with EPCs and project stakeholders.
- Coordinate with international and regional teams where project owners, stakeholders or EPCs are based outside the territory.
- Maintain a strong understanding of project life cycles, stakeholders and EPC requirements.
- Support the successful positioning of solutions within large-scale automation projects.
Customer & Key Account Management
- Maintain a strong customer-centric approach across the region.
- Build and maintain long-term relationships with key customers and stakeholders.
- Conduct regular customer visits to understand requirements and identify new opportunities.
- Anticipate customer needs and coordinate appropriate internal resources to support customers before, during and after the sale.
- Identify key customers for Major Account status and develop appropriate account strategies.
- Assign and coordinate Major Account teams in collaboration with relevant sales and business units.
- Ensure high standards of customer service and responsiveness.
Channel Partner Management
- Support Channel Partners within the territory to maximise sales opportunities.
- Conduct joint sales calls and provide technical and product application support.
- Participate in customer meetings with Channel Partners where required.
- Identify and evaluate new Channel Partner opportunities.
- Ensure Channel Partner selection and due diligence processes comply with company requirements and policies.
- Develop relationships that support sustainable channel growth and regional sales performance.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Collaborate with internal Sales, Proposals, Engineering, Projects, Services, Training, Procurement, Logistics, Finance, HR and QHSE teams.
- Work closely with Business Development Managers, Product Specialists, Local Business Owners and Subject Matter Experts.
- Coordinate with regional and global business teams to support major opportunities.
- Maintain strong internal and external networks to support business growth.
- Ensure effective communication and alignment across business units and supporting functions.
Financial & Commercial Management
- Monitor regional sales performance against budgets and targets.
- Manage and monitor trade accounts receivable within the assigned territory.
- Proactively monitor aged receivables and coordinate corrective action with Finance and relevant business units.
- Support commercial and contractual processes associated with sales opportunities.
- Ensure sales activities comply with approved authority levels and business expenditure policies.
- Contribute to advertising and trade promotion programmes in collaboration with Marketing.
Compliance & Governance
- Ensure adherence to company policies, procedures and management systems.
- Comply with applicable sales, HR, QHSE, accounting and governance requirements.
- Ensure compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption requirements.
- Maintain confidentiality of sensitive customer and company information.
- Ensure appropriate handling and sharing of confidential information under NDAs.
- Ensure the sales team understands and complies with customer registration, credit application and legal review processes.
- Promote a strong culture of compliance, safety and quality across the region.
Minimum Requirements
Qualifications
- Recognised formal qualification in Engineering or a Process-related discipline at minimum S4 level or equivalent.
- Degree in Engineering or a related Process discipline would be advantageous.
- Further qualification in Business Administration or Sales & Marketing Management would be advantageous.
- Training in Sales Management, Marketing, Negotiation or Contract Law would be advantageous.
Experience
- Minimum 10 years' experience, preferably as a Sales Manager or Business Development Manager within an automation environment.
- Proven experience within the Process Automation industry in South Africa.
- Strong understanding of large-scale project execution within the automation industry.
- Strong understanding of project life cycles, project stakeholders and EPC environments.
- Proven experience managing sales teams and achieving sales targets.
- Experience managing major projects and strategic customer accounts.
- Experience working across multiple African markets would be advantageous.
Extensive regional and international travel will be required.
What's on Offer
- Full-time permanent opportunity based in Johannesburg.
- Regional responsibility across multiple African markets.
- Opportunity to lead regional sales growth within a technical and process automation environment.
- Exposure to major industrial projects, EPCs, strategic customers and channel partners.
- Opportunity to lead and develop a Front-End Sales Engineering team.
- Senior stakeholder engagement across sales, engineering, projects and business development functions.
- Extensive travel and customer engagement across the assigned territory.
If you are an experienced Regional Sales Manager, Sales Manager or Business Development Manager with a strong background in Process Automation, Industrial Automation and large-scale project sales, and a proven track record of leading sales teams and delivering regional growth, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply today by submitting your detailed CV.
Please note: Should you not be contacted within two weeks, please take your application as unsuccessful.
