Director of Sales

Northampton, England, United Kingdom

Position : Director of Sales.

Location : Blackstar HQ, Northampton, UK.

The company :

Launched in 2007, Blackstar is globally recognised and respected as an innovator and leader in guitar amplification design. We are a company of musicians who are truly passionate about what we do and understand the importance of great tone.

Blackstar is based in Northampton, with over 80 years’ combined experience in guitar amplification design and production. Our team pioneers change in the industry and has a strong commitment to driving transformational innovation within all of our products. Blackstar, and Carry-on by Blackstar products are the best in the world for design, technology and performance – we create the ultimate tools for self-expression.

Blackstar is a unique environment; it is professional and process-orientated, yet at the same time very dynamic and a fun place to work. Our company values promote equality, diversity and inclusion.

Our team are experts in their field, passionate about music and driven to be the most professional company in the industry. We have a growth mentality; the business is very dynamic and we are constantly striving to grow the business with a true entrepreneurial spirit.

If you approach your work with pride, want to be the best and help to grow our global brand to its full potential, we would love to hear from you.

The role:

We are recruiting an experienced and commercially minded Director of Sales to work alongside the Managing Director to deliver Blackstar’s ambitious sales goals.

This is an absolutely business-critical role and is not for the feint hearted.  Blackstar is a world-class company which operates at a very high pace and is constantly evolving its business and brand proposition. The successful candidate will need high energy, commitment and integrity and a true passion and belief in Blackstar’s products and values.

For the right person – this will be the dream job.

There are three key aspects to the role:

Sales Channel Management.

Managing 50 distributors globally requires an organised approach. Exemplary attention to structure is required to ensure that excellent business rhythm is established and maintained. Developing the sales systems and team is a key-aspect of running an efficient, motivated and effective sales department. The Director of Sales will “own the number” and ensure all distributors are targeted via annual sales plans and budgets.

The Director of Sales will lead initiatives to evolve the “go-to-market-strategy” ensuring that it innovates as the market dynamics change from traditional B2B models to increasing B2B model.

Selling the Products and Evangelising the Brand.

Blackstar is all about the world-beating products that are developed in Northampton, UK. The Director of Sales must be a true brand ambassador with an understanding of guitar technology products and be able to talk with passion about the products and their benefits.

A valued team player.

The Director of Sales is both a key strategic role and also operational one. Working with the Directorial team, you will work on all aspects of the annual business planning and its implementation. You will have a company-first attitude and view the company as a customer of sales just as much as the company serving sales.

You will be a reliable and enthusiastic team player and always be ready to lend a hand to get stuck into opportunities for improvement, both in sales and other areas of the business. We will encourage dialogue between sales and all departments within the business, be that marketing, product development, finance, supply chain or I.T. In particular, liaison with the marketing department is key and it would be beneficial if you have an interest in marketing and someone who has studied marketing as part of their personal development would be interesting.

As Blackstar is such a collaborative team environment it would be preferred if the presence at HQ was as often as possible. We believe that face-to-face interaction is still key. However, we also recognise the requirement for flexibility and this is an area for discussion.

In addition, international travel is a definite part of the role and a willingness to travel according to the company’s requirement will be something that excites and motivates the right candidate.

The key duties and responsibilities will be to:

Leadership and Teamwork

·        Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the Director of Sales manages the Blackstar Sales team, processes and systems. They will ensure that the Sales team are focused and motivated at all times.

·        Driving continuous improvement in departmental efficiency via the development and promotion of world-class sales processes. The Director of Sales will be the role model of a systems-based approach to sales management.

·        As a senior member of the Blackstar Executive Management team, you will contribute to the management of the day-to-day running of Blackstar as a whole.

Strategy and Results

·        Own the creation and delivery of the annual Sales department business plan.

·        Plan, deliver and exceed annual sales growth targets working closely with the Managing Director and the Board of Directors.

·        Monitor market conditions, customer and competitor behaviour and communicate findings to the Board with recommendations for action.

·        Agree annual Territorial Sales Plans with international distributors in all channels to exceed sales and gross margin growth targets.

·        Formulate, plan and manage the annual Sales department travel budget.

·        Ongoing development of KPI reporting.

Relationship Management

·        Manage and influence customer relationships at an international distribution level to increase engagement and deliver results.

·        Communicate, with authority, the benefits of the Blackstar products and evangelise the values of the Brand.

·        Manage the UK sales effort and support the UK Sales team to maintain and develop key UK retail relationships.

·        Support distributor performance, compliance and their interactions with Blackstar to ensure that growth potential is maximised.

·        Travelling to international territories to meet face-to-face with distributors and gather ‘on-the-ground’ market intelligence.

·        Feedback market intelligence to the FD on any changes in the financial status of any customer where such a change might pose a risk or threat to the business

·        Identify distribution gaps and opportunities and propose strategies for improvement.

·        Ensure that the Blackstar Company message and sales requirements are communicated effectively to export distributors’ sales teams around the world.

·        Ensure that all export distributors’ sales teams (at an Area Sales Representative level) have detailed and actionable sales plans that meet the requirement of Blackstar and are tracked and followed through.

·        Ensure progress towards sales objectives in all territories is fed back constantly and effectively to the Blackstar Directorial team.

·        Support Marketing in the coordination and management of the marketing efforts and initiatives globally on a day-to-day basis.

The ideally sought candidate will possess the following:

·        Degree / HND level qualification or above.

·        Experience in a Senior Management or preferably Directorial Sales role in an international distributor management role.

·        A visionary approach to sales and modern sales channel management.

·        A deep interest and understanding of the guitar technology market.

·        A passion for numbers, especially sales/data analytics and the ability to present insights which lead to profitable activity.

·        Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel.

·        Excellent knowledge of sales administration processes, systems and reporting.

·        Experience working in a proactive, target driven, B2B sales environment.

·        Track record of giving excellent customer service.

·        Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to prepare and present data.

·        A strong desire to continue developing their commercial skills to the highest level.

·        Professional, organised, methodical and able to work under pressure.

·        Qualification / experience in implementing and using Business Intelligence software e.g., Power BI / Tableau.

·        Worked within the Musical Instrument market and/or be passionate about being part of the industry.

·        Play guitar or another musical instrument.

·        Knowledge of international logistics / supply chain processes.

·        A marketing qualification.

Package and info:

Salary + Commission + Bonus scheme

Workplace pension

25 days annual leave (+1 day annually after 2 nd work anniversary, up to maximum 30 days)

Comprehensive Private Health Insurance package.

Office hours are 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday, and a willingness to work extra hours as and when required to achieve results.

As a business we appreciate that people have different needs (e.g. caring responsibilities). At Blackstar we always try to support our staff flexibly where practical and possible, working together to ensure the needs of the business are met.

Blackstar Amplification welcomes applications from all, irrespective of disability, gender, gender expression and identity, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, age, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality (subject to UKBA permission), trade union membership and activity, political or religious beliefs, socio-economic background and any other distinction.

If you wish to apply, then please return a completed Blackstar application form, along with your CV and a brief video to introduce yourself in 60 seconds or less to [email protected]