National Sales Manager jobs

Company Overview

Briarwood Products is a leading manufacturer and supplier of fibre cement roofing sheets, metal roofing, cladding, and insulated panels. Serving agricultural, industrial, and domestic projects nationwide, we pride ourselves on speed, scale, and reliability as a British family business committed to supporting the UK’s farming sector.

Overview

The National Sales Manager will be responsible for leading, managing and developing the Briarwood Products sales function across both Fibre Cement Sheeting and Metal Sheeting product ranges.

This is a commercial leadership role with responsibility for the performance of the internal sales team, external sales team, key account management, sales growth, customer development and day-to-day commercial decisions.

The successful candidate will be expected to provide strong leadership, improve sales structure, drive accountability, strengthen customer relationships and support the continued growth and development of Briarwood Products across the UK, Ireland and Scotland.

RESPONSIBLITIES

• Lead, manage and develop the internal and external sales teams.
• Provide clear direction, structure and support to the sales function.
• Set clear sales targets, objectives and performance expectations.
• Monitor team performance and ensure strong accountability across all sales activities.
• Create a positive, professional and results-focused sales culture.
• Support, coach and develop sales team members to improve performance and capability.
• Ensure the internal and external teams work together effectively to deliver excellent customer service and sales growth.
• Hold regular sales meetings, performance reviews and pipeline reviews.

Sales Strategy and Growth

• Develop and deliver sales plans for Fibre Cement Sheeting and Metal Sheeting products.
• Identify opportunities for growth within existing customer accounts, new customers and new market sectors.
• Support the business in increasing market share across the UK, Ireland and Scotland.
• Review customer buying trends, market activity and competitor behaviour.
• Recommend commercial actions to improve sales performance, margin and customer retention.
• Work closely with the Commercial Director and senior leadership team to agree sales priorities.
• Ensure the sales team has clear focus on both short-term performance and long-term business development.

Key Account Management

• Take overall responsibility for the management and development of key accounts.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with major customers.
• Ensure key accounts receive high levels of service, communication and commercial support.
• Review account performance, pricing, margins, opportunities and risks.
• Support the sales team with major customer negotiations and commercial discussions.
• Identify opportunities to grow share of wallet with key customers.
• Ensure any customer issues are resolved professionally and in a timely manner.

Internal and External Sales Team Management

• Manage the performance of the 5 internal sales team members and 5 external sales team members.
• Ensure all team members have clear roles, responsibilities and sales objectives.
• Improve communication between internal sales, external sales, operations, transport, planning and customer service.
• Monitor customer contact levels, quote activity, order conversion and sales pipeline.
• Ensure CRM, sales reporting and customer records are accurate and up to date.
• Review territory performance and ensure appropriate customer coverage.
• Support external sales visits where required, particularly with key customers or major opportunities.
• Ensure the internal sales team provides strong support to customers and external sales colleagues.

Product Responsibility

• Lead sales activity across both Fibre Cement Sheeting and Metal Sheeting product ranges.
• Ensure the sales team understands product features, benefits, applications and market positioning.
• Work with the wider business to identify product opportunities, customer needs and potential gaps in the range.
• Support pricing, margin management and product development discussions.
• Ensure customers are given accurate product information and appropriate commercial advice.
• Work with operations and supply chain teams to ensure sales activity is aligned with stock, production and delivery capability.

Commercial Control and Reporting

• Prepare and present regular sales reports to the Commercial Director.
• Monitor sales performance against budget, targets and prior year performance.
• Track gross margin, customer performance, product performance and territory performance.
• Ensure sales forecasting is accurate and regularly reviewed.
• Manage sales pipeline visibility and opportunity tracking.
• Support commercial decision-making with accurate data and insight.
• Identify underperformance quickly and put corrective actions in place.
• Support pricing discipline and ensure agreed pricing structures are followed.

Cross-Functional Working

• Work closely with operations, manufacturing, planning, logistics, finance and customer service.
• Ensure customer promises are realistic and aligned with operational capability.
• Improve communication between sales and the wider business.
• Support better planning, forecasting and demand visibility.
• Help resolve customer issues relating to deliveries, quality, stock or service.
• Promote a joined-up approach between departments to improve the customer experience.
• Act as a point of contact for commercial and customer-related matters.

Key Performance Areas

The success of the role will be measured against the following areas:

• Sales growth across Fibre Cement Sheeting and Metal Sheeting products.
• Gross margin performance and improvement.
• Key account retention and growth.
• New customer development.
• Internal and external sales team performance.
• Quality of sales reporting, forecasting and pipeline management.
• Customer satisfaction and service levels.
• Improvement in sales structure, communication and accountability.
• Cross-functional collaboration with operations, planning and customer service.
• Delivery of agreed sales targets and commercial objectives.

EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Proven experience in a sales leadership role.
• Experience managing both internal and field-based sales teams.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to drive sales growth and margin improvement.
• Experience managing key accounts and strategic customer relationships.
• Strong leadership, communication and people management skills.
• Ability to set clear expectations and drive accountability.
• Strong organisational, reporting and forecasting skills.
• Experience working closely with operations, logistics, planning or customer service teams.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities across sales, customers and depot operations.
• Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• Confident using sales data to make commercial decisions.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Must live within one hour of Briarwood Products Head Office in Highbridge, Somerset.

Desirable

• Experience within roofing, construction products, building materials, fibre cement sheeting or metal sheeting sectors.
• Experience working with merchants, distributors, contractors, roofing specialists or construction-related customers.
• Experience improving sales processes, reporting structures and team performance.

Pay: £55,000.00-£60,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company car
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Private medical insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Highbridge TA9 4AG