Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Custom Injection Molding | Multi-Plant U.S. Manufacturer | Confidential Search

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer 

Location: Remote/home office based in the Southeast U.S. Residency in the region required.

Travel: Approximately 40 to 50 percent domestic

Type: Full-time, direct hire. 

The opportunity

The company's senior commercial leader is retiring after fourteen years, and we are hiring his replacement.

This is the number two commercial seat in the business and it reports directly to the CEO with no layer in between. The person who takes it owns the entire commercial function: revenue strategy, the sales organization, the independent representative network, pricing, customer portfolio, and the brand. There is no incumbent shadow to work around and no committee to negotiate with.

The business is a professionally managed custom injection molder with multiple domestic manufacturing plants and more than three decades of history serving OEM customers. Revenue is in the $75 to $100 million range. Recent capital investment has added capacity and manufacturing capability, and the growth plan ahead of it is funded and specific.

It is large enough that the work matters and small enough that one person's decisions show up in the numbers within a quarter.

What the company makes

Presses run from under 100 tons to more than 2,000 tons. Capabilities span conventional injection molding, structural foam, gas assist, insert and over-molding, painting and decorating, ultrasonic and spin welding, and full assembly. Facilities are IATF 16949 and ISO 9001:2015 certified.

End markets are deliberately diversified: industrial, medical and healthcare, appliance, filtration, material handling, consumer products, lawn and garden, sports and leisure, defense, and automotive.

What you will own

Commercial strategy and growth. The multi-year revenue plan, in partnership with the CEO. Growth in higher-margin, higher-quality customer relationships. Pricing governance and quote-to-win analytics across all plants and capability sets.

The sales organization. A geographically distributed team of sales managers running a mix of direct representatives and independent manufacturers' representatives. You will set the operating cadence: pipeline reviews, forecast discipline, CRM rigor, win/loss analysis, account planning. You will right-size the representative network and hold it to a standard.

A portfolio of strategic accounts, personally. This is a player-coach seat. You will carry accounts of your own and model the consultative selling motion you expect from the team.

Marketing. Website, digital lead generation, content, trade show strategy, collateral, customer communications, working with the in-house marketing resource. Repositioning the brand to reflect a diversified, multi-capability, multi-plant manufacturer rather than a single-plant molder.

A seat at the table. Enterprise strategy, budgeting and capital allocation as a member of the senior leadership team.

What you will not own

Engineering. The company has a dedicated engineering function and it does not report to this role. You need to be technically credible in front of a customer and able to hold a conversation about tooling, feasibility and cost. You do not need to be the engineer, and you will not be asked to run the engineering group.

That is a deliberate change from how the seat has historically been structured, and it is the reason this search is open to commercial leaders who would not have been considered before.

Who we are looking for

This search has one non-negotiable requirement, and we are stating it plainly at the top so nobody wastes their time.

You must have direct commercial experience in custom plastic injection molding. Specifically: you have sold, or led the sales organization for, a custom injection molder producing engineered parts to a customer's print. Not molding machinery. Not tooling alone. Not resin. Not a company that molds its own proprietary product. Custom, contract, to-print molding for OEM customers.

If that is not your background, this is not your search, and an application will not advance. We say that with respect — it is simply the bar our client has set.

What matters most

• Custom plastic injection molding. Hard requirement, as described above. You can name the molders you worked for and what they ran.
• You have led a commercial function, not just carried a bag. Team, forecast, pricing, margin. People or rep firms reporting to you.
• You have personally closed strategic, technically complex, multi-million dollar programs and you can name them. Real tooling decisions, real cost models, long cycles.
• You have worked with independent manufacturers' representatives and you know what to do about one who is not producing.
• Southeast U.S. residency. Reasonable proximity to a commercial airport. This is a firm requirement and it is about being close to both the customers and the plants.
• You can travel 40 to 50 percent domestically.

Strongly preferred

• Experience organizing a sales effort around industry verticals rather than geographic territories.
• Multi-plant commercial responsibility.
• Marketing leadership including website, digital demand generation and trade show strategy.
• Experience in a private-equity-backed or sponsor-held manufacturing platform.
• Existing relationships in any of the target verticals listed above.
• Bachelor's degree preferred. We care more about what you have run than what you studied.

What year one looks like

• An approved multi-year commercial strategy and a vertical-market plan.
• A right-sized representative network with refreshed scorecards and a real operating cadence.
• A measurable improvement in customer mix quality and gross margin profile.
• A relaunched brand and digital presence producing qualified inbound opportunities you can count.
• Demonstrable progress in a strategic account portfolio you own personally.

Compensation and benefits

Competitive base salary commensurate with experience. This role is positioned at the top of the company's compensation structure. Annual performance bonus tied to revenue, gross margin and strategic milestones. Long-term incentive participation aligned with enterprise value creation. Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life and disability. 401(k) with company match. Vehicle and travel allowance. Relocation assistance available where applicable.

How to apply

This is a confidential search conducted by Yewser on behalf of our client. Apply directly through this posting with a current resume.

Our client's identity will be disclosed to qualified candidates following an initial screening conversation. All inquiries and applications are handled in strict confidence. Your current employer will not be contacted at any stage without your explicit consent.

Our client is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.