Commercial Director

About the Role

Southco is looking for a Commercial Director to lead our Americas commercial organization and serve as a key member of the regional leadership team. Reporting to the Managing Director, Americas, you will own the commercial contribution to a multi-hundred-million-dollar region. You will drive profitable growth with OEM customers and channel partners and help guide new product opportunities from first customer conversation through launch.

You will lead a team that includes North America Sales, Customer Service, and regional Industry Marketing. You will also work closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, Quality, Product Management, Marketing, Pricing, Engineering, and Southco teams around the world. This is a highly visible role with broad exposure across the business and a clear path toward more senior regional leadership.

What You Will Be Doing

Leading commercial growth and performance

• Set and execute the Americas commercial strategy and annual operating plan, turning company priorities into clear actions by market, customer, channel, and product.
• Own commercial results for the region, including revenue, price, mix, gross margin, commercial expenses, and forecast accuracy.
• Provide fact-based commercial input to decisions on regional investment, capacity, inventory, and resources.

Growing with customers and channels

• Win early design-in positions with strategic OEMs and secure long-term specification across customer programs.
• Strengthen performance across direct sales and distribution, with clear account segmentation, coverage models, and profitability expectations.
• Identify and prioritize growth opportunities across transportation, industrial, technology infrastructure, and other strategic markets.
• Build executive relationships with key customers, lead major negotiations, and coordinate global accounts that span multiple regions.

Bringing new products to market

• Drive cross-functional accountability from customer opportunity through product launch and into stable production.
• Coordinate engineering and manufacturing contributions across regions and help shape the right global manufacturing footprint.
• Manage cost, quality, timing, technical, and supply risks through launch and ramp-up.
• Align application and custom-engineering capacity with the most attractive opportunities to speed time to market.

Driving pricing and commercial discipline

• Execute Southco’s global pricing strategy in the Americas and bring regional market insight back to global pricing decisions.
• Ensure strong price realization through disciplined quoting, discount governance, contract management, and negotiation.
• Improve profitability across customers, products, channels, and segments.
• Maintain strong pipeline, forecasting, CRM, and opportunity review practices.

Delivering a great customer experience

• Lead Customer Service and Inside Sales to improve responsiveness, technical request handling, order conversion, and service levels.
• Represent commercial demand and new product requirements in the regional S&OP process, partnering with Operations and plant leadership.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives to improve delivery, lead times, working capital, cost competitiveness, and supply resilience.

Building the team and leading through the matrix

• Build a high-performing, accountable leadership team with clear objectives, measures, and decision rights.
• Develop leaders, strengthen succession, and create growth opportunities across functions and regions.
• Deliver results through a global matrix where key capabilities such as pricing, engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing may sit outside the Americas organization.
• Partner with the Managing Director on regional strategy, risk, and investment decisions, and represent the Americas in global leadership forums.

About You

You bring the customer focus of a commercial leader, the technical understanding to guide complex product launches, and the financial discipline of an experienced business unit leader.

Experience

• Progressive senior leadership experience in an engineered B2B manufacturing environment, including complex OEM customers and multichannel routes to market in sectors such as transportation, industrial equipment, electronics infrastructure, access control, or adjacent markets.
• A track record leading a business unit, product line, country organization, or regional operation with full P&L responsibility.
• Experience leading senior managers and delivering results through a global matrix, including where key resources and decisions sit outside your direct organization.
• Experience coordinating complex new product development and industrialization across functions, sites, and geographies.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related field required or equivalent combination of education and experience; MBA or advanced degree preferred.

Strengths we’re looking for

• Business-wide thinking: You understand how commercial, operational, financial, technical, and people decisions work together.
• Commercial and financial acumen: You have strong command of P&L management, pricing, profitability, cost drivers, and working capital.
• Technical credibility: You engage confidently with engineering teams and turn technical value into commercial wins.
• Matrix leadership: You build alignment and momentum across functions and regions without relying only on formal authority.
• Strategic execution: You turn strategy into focused priorities, plans, and sustained results.
• Talent leadership: You build strong teams, develop leaders, and create a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Executive communication: You communicate clearly and persuasively with customers, employees, and senior leaders across cultures.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs.