Sales Director France

Reporting to the Regional Sales Director South, the Sales Director France is responsible for driving profitable sales growth for CRC Industries across France. This leadership role manages and motivates a national B2B sales team and is pivotal to CRC’s commercial transformation in EMEA.

The Sales Director France will be tasked with energizing and expanding CRC’s presence in the French market, particularly in industrial consumables, maintenance chemicals, MRO products, automotive aftermarket, and specialty chemical sectors. The role encompasses distributor-driven sales models and requires a hands-on approach to team leadership, commercial strategy, and operational execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership and Team Engagement :
• Lead and manage the indirect sales team, customer care and experience teams within the FRANCE region to become a high-performing team. You manage a team of about 12 professionals in sales, customer care and experience
• Organize, motivate, and develop the local team to achieve set revenue targets and market share growth.
• Develop and execute the sales strategy for the FRANCE region in alignment with the company’s overall business objectives
• Act as the primary contact for support, accountability, and development of direct reports.
• Foster a proactive, high-energy hunting culture within the sales team, focused on new customer acquisition, expansion of existing accounts, and consistent pipeline development to support long- term revenue acceleration

• Customer Engagement and Strategic Planning:
• Develop an in-depth understanding of the top customers in France
• Collaborate with the Regional Sales Leadership to set revenue goals and gross profit targets.
• Implement local sales plans aligned with the EMEA marketing strategy to drive revenue growth.

• Relationship Building and Collaboration:
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key distribution partners at operational and senior management levels.
• Work closely with cross-territory and Pan-EMEA teams on strategic account initiatives.
• Drive cross-pollination of best practices and commercial strategies across multinational opportunities within the MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) space, leveraging synergies across borders to unlock new growth opportunities.
• Collaborate cross-functionally towards product development, operations, finance to ensure seamless execution of commercial initiatives.

• Marketing Strategy Implementation:
• Ensure successful local implementation of EMEA marketing strategies.
• Monitor the competitive landscape and market trends within the assigned territory.
• Identify new business opportunities, market trends and competitive threads to drive innovation and maintain a competitive edge.
• Represent the company at industry events, conferences, and trade shows to promote our products/services and enhance brand visibility.

• Sales Operations and Reporting
• Achieve annual sales budgets for France while maintaining profitability.
• Implement effective Sales processes (demand, pricing implementation, pipeline, rebates, promotional campaigns, CRM, etc) to achieve Sales excellence.
• Provide regular sales reports, competitor activity insights, and market intelligence to the Regional Sales leadership
• Monitor KPI’s and daily activities to ensure performance standards.
• Monitor and analyze sales performance metrics, market data and customer feedback to optimize tactics.

The person we are seeking has a minimum of 8+ years of experience in consultative B2B sales, with at least 3+ years in a sales leadership role managing and motivating teams within France. Experience in industrial consumables, maintenance chemicals, MRO, automotive aftermarket, lubricants, or specialty chemicals is highly valued, particularly in environments with distributor-driven sales models.

The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of building and executing integrated commercial strategies in collaboration with marketing, product management, and technical support. Experience with CRM systems and remote/digital selling environments is preferable.

We seek a commercially astute sales leader with excellent verbal, written, and motivational communication skills in both French and English. The ideal candidate is an active listener with high emotional intelligence, cultural awareness, and adaptability—capable of inspiring, coaching, and developing high-performing teams during periods of change.

The person we seek is an effective negotiator, able to drive win/win solutions and build robust, long-term customer and distributor relationships. They are comfortable working in a matrix organization, collaborating cross-functionally, and leading by example in a team- selling environment.

Self-reliance, strong organizational skills, and a keen sense of urgency and prioritization are essential. The ideal candidate is curious, open-minded, and views change as an opportunity—instilling these same values in their team. A commitment to continuous improvement and a coaching approach to leadership are highly valued.

Required Qualifications

• Strong ability to help sales professionals identify and analyze long-term opportunities, define and execute sales strategies, and implement tactical plans with clear objectives.
• Experience in making high-level contacts and developing business with both end users and distributor partners.
• Effective cross-functional collaboration with technical support, R&D, manufacturing, and supply chain.
• Demonstrated innovative mindset and high self-motivation.
• Hands-on, goal-oriented attitude with a creative approach to market innovation and business growth.
• Tenacity and responsiveness to persist in sales efforts and manage ambiguity in a dynamic organization.
• Strong negotiation, project management, and performance management skills.
• Excellent communicator with direct reports, business partners, and colleagues at all levels.
• Ability to motivate and develop sales teams to anticipate and meet customer needs.
• Proficiency in CRM and IT systems (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Excellent time management, goal setting, and execution skills.
• Deep understanding of the French market dynamics and customer base.

Education

A university degree at a minimum Bachelor level is required, preferably in a technical or scientific field (chemistry, chemical engineering, industrial engineering, or similar). An MBA or another advanced business degree will be an asset.

Languages

Fluency in English and French is required. Additional spoken languages are highly valued.

• A permanent role in a stable, international company
• A collaborative and supportive team culture that values initiative and growth
• Opportunities for growth in both patron care and sales
• A competitive compensation package with attractive benefits