Sales Director, Europe (m/f/d)

We are NovaTaste - an independent and autonomous group of companies with headquarters in Salzburg, Austria and further locations in Europe, North America and Asia. We offer a wide range of ingredients - such as herbs, spices and active ingredients - for food manufacturers and the catering industry. With around 1,900 employees, we serve more than 16,000 customers worldwide. As an employee*, you can count on team spirit, flexibility, attractive career opportunities, international projects and numerous benefits.

The Role 

• The Sales Director Europe will be responsible for leading the commercial functions and be responsible for implementing a best practice infrastructure to help drive the business forward to its next stage of growth. 
• The main responsibilities of the role include, but are not limited to: 
• Leading and executing on value creation projects, including pricing, salesforce effectiveness, procurement and manufacturing optimization plans in coordination with the other Executive Committee members. 
• Leading the commercial team: build, manage, and mentor a high-performing sales team across key European countries and ensure integration of the whole EU team. Set clear sales targets, monitor performance and provide support in negotiations (coaching, shadowing, director support on major accounts) to ensure team’s competencies development. 
• In collaboration with the European leadership team, developing and anchoring a culture of commercial proactivity within the entire EU sales team: driving commercial growth and attracting and retaining new business by assessing, implementing and reporting on sales strategies. 
• Consolidating and further developing NovaTaste’s customer base and relationships to optimize distribution and grow market shares. Drive initiatives to enhance customer loyalty and retention.
• Creating and maintaining best practices on all commercial activities such as the contracts and creating a customer centric culture across NovaTaste Europe with an organised and intelligent approach to commercial opportunities. 
• Leading the organization transformation for the European market in terms of team structure, mindset, and capabilities to setup an organization that is high performing.
• Further contributing to R&D efforts in collaboration with the Group Head of Innovation to seize growing markets with innovative and sustainable solutions.
• Ensuring efficient sales processes and compliance with Group policies and industry regulations. 

Team and Reporting Lines 

• The Group is made up of three main business units (Europe, Mexico and North America), each with strong leadership teams who are motivated to lead the next phase of growth in their respective geographies. 
• The Group also benefits from strong functional leadership in Innovation and Operations as well as Finance, HR, Legal and others. 
• The Sales Director Europe will oversee a team of approx. 130 employees. S/he will report to the GM Europe of NovaTaste and will work closely with the other leaders in the cross-functional teams across Europe.
• Direct reports will include:
• The Sales Leaders in DACHI / Ukraine / Poland / Ireland & UK 

Candidate Profile 

• Candidates should bring outstanding commercial, negotiation and business judgement skills, as well as knowledge of the food industry landscape. He/she will bring a minimum of 15 years of professional experience in dynamic, multinational companies and be an astute executor that can be relied on. 
• Previous experience required for the role:
• Industry experience: Previous experience with ingredients, FMCG or adjacent industries and dealing with the rules and dynamics of the sector is a must have for the role.Experience with CRM systems and business process implementation to drive differentiated growth. 
• Customer base knowledge: Deep understanding of the customer base of NovaTaste in the DACH region and ideally across Italy, Poland, and UK/Ireland 
• Change driver: Proven track record in acting as a facilitator of change, bringing a change mindset with a focus on best practice processes and driving commercial teams to achieve substantial revenues. 
• Strategic and commercial experience: S/he will have experience in contributing to the definition, development, and implementation of a forward-looking strategy and change agenda for a dynamic and global organization, alongside the GM Europe. S/he will also have a strong commercial expertise and the ability to establish credibility with sales teams and customer alike in previous roles.
• Executing for results: The ability to set clear and challenging goals while committing the organization to improved performanceExperience of organic and transformational growth and a track record in creating high performing sales teams that will focus on improving operations while maintaining customer focus. 
• International (Regional) exposure: Candidates will bring professional experience in international (regional) groups where they will have integrated a global strategy agenda into their local businesses.
• Key requirements for the role include the following: 
• Willingness to lead with commercial aggressivity and enthusiasm.
• Strong Interpersonal Skills: Excellent relationship with customer groups. Team building skills and the ability to partner with various levels of management including C-Suite, business and functional leaders.
• Collaboration: Successfully collaborates on projects and programs with other team members. Understands that co-creation and buy-in is key to successful execution.
• Results-Orientation: Continuously drives for results and challenges the team.
• Decision Making: Manages ambiguity and is comfortable acting decisively.
• Accountability: Takes responsibility for consistent completion and follow-up on departmental jobs and providing excellent service delivery.
• Critical Thinking: Uses problem solving skills to assist in determining priorities, finding timely solutions to departmental or system-wide issues.
• Flexibility: Responsive to change and demonstrates adaptability.
• Languages: Candidates must be fluent in German and English.

The role will be based in the DACH region.  The role may require frequent travel, in particular across NovaTaste European countries.

The minimum salary for this position is € 4.960,92 gross per month on a full-time basis (38.5 hours). A significant overpayment in line with your qualifications and experience is a matter of course for us.