Manager, Sales

Date: 5 Nov 2025

Location: Alabama, US

Company: Coats

Role Purpose

  • To drive strategic sales and create new market entry initiatives within the Composites segment. The role is responsible for generating $5M in new profitable sales in the USA per year and leveraging Coats' footprint to globalize this business.
  • To identify high-value opportunities, collaborate with R&D to develop innovative solutions and commercialize these products to generate an approximate gross margin of 30% or higher.

Principal Accountabilities and Key Activities

  1. Drive new business growth by building and expanding strategic relationships with key accounts and new customers in the Composites and adjacent sectors, targeting $5M/year in new U.S. sales within 2–3 years and sustaining long-term growth.
  2. Develop structured account plans, opportunity pipelines, and forecast plans in line with Coats metrics (revenue, margin, win rate, new business % by territory and segment), identifying and converting high-potential opportunities within both existing and new accounts.
  3. Build deep industry knowledge to identify pilot customers and early adopters willing to collaborate on new product developments.
  4. Partner with R&D to identify, prioritize, and commercialize opportunities in Composites and other non-traditional market sectors.
  5. Secure product approvals at major customers and launch profitable sales programs to meet and exceed revenue targets.
  6. Lead new product introductions and guide the establishment of large-scale manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. to support market expansion.
  7. Drive product innovation in alignment with customer needs, sales strategy, and evolving market trends to maintain a competitive advantage.
  8. Foster collaboration across regions and functions, building high-impact internal and external partnerships that accelerate commercial success.
  9. Apply consultative, value-based selling techniques — connecting Coats’ materials innovation to specific customer process or performance challenges (e.g., reliability, miniaturization, sustainability).
  10. Leverage industry relationships to anticipate market shifts (BEAD funding, data center fiber growth, 5G rollouts) and position Coats as a preferred partner within customer design-in and specification cycles.
  11. Take action on voice of customer — orchestrating support from innovation, marketing, and Operations to ensure on-time qualification, customer feedback, product delivery.

 

Education, Qualifications and Experience

Essential

Desirable

  • 4-year college degree
  • Direct sales or R&D experience in Telecom/Composites sector
  • 5-10 years Sales or Techno-Commercial and manufacturing experience in high value performance material markets.
  • Track record of closing sales and delivering on margin commitments, especially in start- up operations
  • Ability to engage with R&D, Technical, Engineering and Manufacturing personnel within customer/prospect organizations
  • Be willing to travel extensively
  • High energy, self-drive and achievement orientation
  • Expertise in solution selling, value quantification, and long-cycle negotiations
  • Builds multi-disciplinary account relationships: sales, R&D, supply chain to deliver total customer value
  • Business strategic growth and tactical execution
  • Demonstrates high learning agility, curiosity, and entrepreneurial ownership

 

  • Engineering background
  • Knowledge of business complexity/long approval cycles
  • Relationship skills to work in a matrix organization
  • Ability to manage cross-cultural markets