Sales Manager

About the job

Job Title: Sales Manager – Manufacturing & Retail
Location: West Yorkshire
Salary: Up to £75,000 Basic DOE + £120,000 OTE

About the Role

We’re recruiting on behalf of an established and growing manufacturing business looking for an ambitious Sales Manager to lead its commercial growth and develop the sales function through its next phase.

This is much more than maintaining an existing customer base. The business is looking for someone with the commercial drive to win new business, develop opportunities with major retail customers, and create a structured, high-performing sales environment.

You’ll take ownership of sales strategy and performance while remaining close enough to the market to lead from the front. Alongside developing new customer relationships, you’ll lead and develop the existing sales team, introduce greater structure around lead generation and KPIs, and use data to identify where the strongest opportunities for growth sit.

For the right person, this offers genuine longer-term progression, with the potential to develop beyond the Sales Manager position as the business continues to grow.

Key Responsibilities

Sales Strategy & Growth

• Lead and develop the sales function, creating a clear strategy for sustainable revenue growth.
• Identify, target, and convert new business opportunities, particularly across large multi-site and national retail customers.
• Build and develop strategic relationships with key customer stakeholders.
• Strengthen existing customer relationships while identifying opportunities for further commercial growth.
• Monitor customer trends, competitor activity, and wider market opportunities.

Sales Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the sales team, creating clear expectations and accountability around performance.
• Establish and monitor meaningful sales KPIs, pipeline activity, and conversion metrics.
• Create a structured and high-performing sales environment that supports both individual and team development.
• Help shape the longer-term sales structure as the business continues to grow.

New Business & Lead Generation

• Develop a structured, data-led approach to lead generation and new customer acquisition.
• Analyse the performance of different lead generation channels to improve effectiveness and return on investment.
• Evaluate different routes to market and identify where commercial investment can generate the strongest returns.
• Maintain a strong and visible pipeline of prospective customers and commercial opportunities.

Commercial Performance & Reporting

• Provide clear sales forecasting, reporting, and commercial insight to support wider business decisions.
• Use sales and customer data to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
• Work collaboratively with operational and senior leadership teams to ensure commercial strategy can be effectively delivered.
• Support wider strategic decision-making through accurate market and sales intelligence.

Candidate Profile

• Strong track record within B2B sales, with demonstrable experience winning and developing new business.
• Experience selling products into large, multi-site, or national retail customers.
• Background within manufacturing, timber, building materials, retail display, interiors, or another product-led environment would be advantageous.
• Previous experience leading or developing sales or business development colleagues would be beneficial.
• Commercially driven and comfortable combining strategic thinking with hands-on sales activity.
• Strong understanding of sales KPIs, pipeline management, forecasting, and performance metrics.
• Interest in using data and modern lead-generation approaches to improve sales performance.
• Confident analysing different routes to market and identifying where commercial investment will generate the strongest return.
• Strong relationship-building, influencing, and negotiation skills.
• Comfortable challenging existing ways of working and introducing greater structure where required.
• Collaborative leadership style with the ability to engage, motivate, and develop an established team.

We welcome applications from candidates with different career backgrounds and experiences and are committed to an inclusive and equitable recruitment process.

What Our Client Offers

• Basic salary of up to £75,000, dependent on experience.
• OTE of approximately £120,000.
• Potential opportunity for equity participation.
• Significant autonomy to shape and lead the sales strategy.
• Opportunity to develop and build a high-performing commercial function.
• Established business and customer base with considerable scope for further growth.
• High level of visibility and influence within the senior leadership team.
• Genuine long-term career progression as the business develops.

How to Apply

If you’re an experienced Sales Manager or senior business development professional with a strong track record of winning new business and developing major retail customers, we’d love to hear from you.

About Us

We are a recruitment agency specialising in commercial, sales, manufacturing, and leadership appointments across the UK. We work closely with businesses to understand not only the experience they need, but the individuals who can genuinely influence their next stage of growth. Our approach is relationship-led, transparent, and focused on creating successful long-term appointments.