National Sales Manager - Chemicals (Cleveland)

Summary:

Our client is a privately-owned specialty manufacturer serving customers across multiple industries throughout North America and internationally. With decades of experience in the specialty chemicals space, the company has built a strong reputation for product quality, technical expertise, and long-standing customer relationships.

Operating with a lean, collaborative team, the organization combines the agility of a smaller business with a strong technical foundation and loyal customer base. Leadership maintains a transparent and employee-focused culture, where employees are actively engaged in the company’s performance and long-term success.

The National Sales Manager will lead the company’s sales organization and play a critical role in developing the team, driving revenue growth, strengthening customer relationships, and identifying new market opportunities. This individual will work closely with executive leadership, operations, and technical teams to support the company’s continued expansion.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

Leadership Opportunity:

Lead the company's sales function and play a key role in shaping the company’s commercial strategy and overall growth.
Autonomy & Impact:

Opportunity to evaluate existing sales processes, develop strategy, and build a high-performing sales organization.
Highly Visible Role:

Reporting directly to the President, you will have a meaningful influence on business growth and direction.
Team-Oriented Culture:

Employees are aligned around shared goals, with a strong emphasis on transparency and collaboration.
Profit Sharing:

The company offers a profit-sharing program that rewards employees for the organization’s success.

Key Responsibilities:
Lead and develop a high-performing sales organization by coaching, mentoring, and motivating team members to consistently exceed performance targets while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Oversee the company’s marketing and demand-generation initiatives, including digital presence, website management, SEO, social media strategy, email campaigns, trade show participation, advertising, and marketing collateral to increase brand visibility and generate qualified leads.
Serve as a strategic bridge between customers, sales, operations, and executive leadership, aligning demand forecasting, inventory planning, and product distribution while solving complex business challenges to deliver exceptional customer outcomes.
Drive pipeline development and opportunity management, ensuring consistent new business generation, strong lead conversion, and a healthy sales funnel that supports sustained revenue growth.
Champion profitable growth initiatives by identifying new product opportunities, collaborating on product improvements, and establishing effective pricing, margin, and volume strategies that strengthen the company’s competitive position.
Develop and execute strategic sales and marketing plans across all product lines, including setting measurable goals, managing budgets, monitoring performance metrics, and continuously refining strategies to exceed revenue targets.
Build long-term, value-driven relationships with key accounts through a consultative sales approach that expands customer partnerships, uncovers additional opportunities, and maximizes profitability while improving account management efficiency.
Demonstrate an ownership mindset, proactively stepping beyond defined responsibilities to identify opportunities, solve problems, and contribute to the overall success and growth of the business.

Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field
5+ years of progressive B2B sales experience within chemical manufacturing required.
Prior experience leading or mentoring sales teams
Comfortable working in a hands-on, entrepreneurial environment within a smaller organization.
Ability to travel 40–50% domestically, with occasional international travel.