Vice President Sales North America

We are currently recruiting a Vice President Sales North America for an international manufacturer of industrial automation, engineered capital equipment, and material handling solutions. This position will play a key role in shaping and accelerating the company’s growth strategy across the North American market.

The organization is a well-established German engineering company with a long-standing reputation for technical excellence, innovation, and long-term customer partnerships across industrial markets.

Position Summary

The Vice President Sales North America is a senior commercial leadership role responsible for the strategic and operational development of the North American business.

The position leads a small team and combines executive sales leadership, strategic account management, and hands-on responsibility for complex project-based sales cycles in the automation and material handling sector.

The successful candidate will lead a highly technical sales organization while personally supporting key strategic opportunities and major customer relationships. Acting as the commercial bridge between the North American organization and the German headquarters, the Vice President Sales will foster close collaboration, ensure alignment with the company’s values and leadership approach, and effectively navigate the culture, communication style, and decision-making processes of a German engineering organization.

Given the close collaboration with the German headquarters, candidates with substantial experience working within German or DACH-based industrial organizations will be particularly well suited for this position.

Why This Role Is Attractive

• Executive visibility and direct collaboration with global leadership.
• Exposure to highly engineered, complex automation projects with leading industrial customers.
• Opportunity to play a key role connecting the North American business with a highly respected German engineering organization.
• Long-term oriented company culture with strong market reputation and high customer retention.

Main Responsibilities

• Define and execute the North American commercial strategy across all business segments and customer groups.
• Lead, develop, and grow the regional sales organization while establishing a high-performance culture.
• Drive business development activities and identify new market opportunities across North America.
• Personally manage strategic customer relationships and major project pursuits.
• Lead complex, consultative sales processes involving automation, material handling, and storage solutions.
• Provide leadership and oversight for local finance and administrative functions, ensuring efficient business operations and alignment with corporate policies.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, operations, and project execution teams to ensure successful project delivery.
• Serve as the primary commercial interface between the North American organization and the German headquarters, ensuring close alignment on strategy, pricing, product positioning, organizational development, and long-term business objectives.
• Represent the company at trade shows, customer events, and industry conferences throughout North America.
• Support the ongoing development of organizational structures, customer processes, and market strategy.
• Contribute to the continued expansion of the North American organization, including recruitment and development of additional commercial talent.

Candidate Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a comparable technical discipline; MBA preferred.
• Proven leadership experience within highly engineered industrial equipment, automation, or material handling solutions.
• Strong track record in consultative and project-based technical sales environments with long sales cycles.
• Experience leading commercial organizations and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong understanding of automation technologies, industrial customer processes, and solution-based selling.
• Ability to combine strategic leadership with hands-on customer engagement.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen with experience in forecasting, budgeting, and business planning.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a high degree of ownership and accountability.
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout North America and internationally.
• Strong connection to the DACH region, ideally through education, professional experience, or long-term work within a German-speaking organization.
• Demonstrated success working within German companies, with a strong understanding of German business culture, communication style, and decision-making processes.
• Experience acting as the commercial interface between North American operations and a German or European headquarters is strongly preferred.
• Fluent German is beneficial but not required.