Chief Sales Officer for an international industrial company

A family-owned industrial company with a global presence and specialising in the automotive, railway and renewable sectors, with 1,200 employees and production plants in Spain, China, Mexico, Morocco and Vietnam.

From Saltor Talent Executive Search we have successfully led the search and selection of a Chief Sales Officer for a family and international industrial company of reference in the industrial sector, with a global presence and production plants in Spain, China, Mexico, Morocco and Vietnam and with more than 1,200 employees.

The challenge

Our client sought to incorporate a key managerial profile to lead the international commercial strategy, guarantee the sustained growth of the business and strengthen the company’s positioning in sectors such as automotive and industrial in a highly technical, competitive and expanding environment.

The key challenges that the profile had to face were:

• Define and execute the global business strategy, ensuring compliance with the growth targets set for 2026.
• Lead an international sales team of approximately 35 people distributed internationally, ensuring their coordination, motivation and loyalty.
• Directly manage the main global customers and provide strategic support to international Sales Managers, fostering solid relationships with the main Tier 1 and OEMs of interest to the company.
• To drive business growth in NAFTA, a key region due to its high potential due to the loss of share of the main competitor.
• Ensure the development and monitoring of the global sales budget, monitoring forecasts, market trends, vehicle awards and evolution of raw materials.
• Collaborate closely with the Technical and Industrial departments to define products, manage modifications, adaptations and roadmap of new technical solutions.
• Supervise the definition and evolution of prices, guiding the Pricing & Sales Analyst team in value strategies, contracts and commercial policies.
• To guarantee the coherence of the company’s commercial and technical positioning in international markets, promoting consultative and highly specialized sales.
• Represent the company at international trade fairs, strategic visits to key customers and business meetings in Europe, North America and Asia.
• Ensure the effective use of Salesforce as a global business management and reporting tool.
• Foster a results-oriented work environment, with agile decision-making, analytical rigor and a culture of continuous improvement.

Our strategy

We define a search approach focused on four main axes:

1.- Extensive experience in commercial, managerial and strategic roles at an international level.

We focus the search on profiles with a minimum experience of 8-10 years under commercial roles of international impact within the automotive sector, preferably in Tier 2 companies, selling to Tier 1 and, additionally, to OEMs. With a global vision of the business, as well as solid commercial experience in Europe, North America and Asia.

2.- Management and leadership skills of large, international, multidisciplinary and culturally diverse teams.

We prioritize profiles with a proven track record managing large, multiculturally diverse and globally distributed commercial teams due to the international reality and complexity of our client, working directly with Engineering, Quality and Operations departments in environments of continuous product development.

3.- Technical background as well as knowledge and sensitivity in technical, complex and high value-added industrial products.

The ideal profile had to have technical training (Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or similar) as well as in-depth knowledge of technical and complex industrial products linked to the automotive sector and related sectors.

4.- High orientation to data and results.

The candidate in question had to have a marked dynamic, decisive profile with a strong orientation to results, accustomed to very demanding environments, as well as to fast decision-making, with high analytical capacity and advanced reporting management. All this with a very fluent level of English and the ability to successfully manage family environments and corporate structures with strong ownership involvement and great data orientation.

The result

The process was completed in six weeks, with the presentation of a final shortlist of highly qualified candidates.

The selected profile stood out for:

• Its undisputed consolidated track record both in the automotive sector and in other industrial sectors of high added value and complexity of interest to our client.
• Its in-depth technical knowledge of the entire production chain and components of the automotive sector, as well as its extensive network of contacts, customers, suppliers, stakeholders and other agents involved in the industry.
• Its great orientation to data and results, as well as its ability to adapt in very dynamic and demanding environments, with a very accentuated fit with the culture, vision and values of our client.

This case further reinforces our extensive experience as an executive firm specialising in the search and selection of strategic management profiles with high corporate impact, in this case in industrial sectors and in demanding, competitive and complex commercial environments, capable of outlining, defining, consolidating, designing and executing sustainable and sustainable global business strategies that can be assumed in the short term. medium and long term for the company.