Director, Head of NA & EU Sales

Key Accountabilities

Customer Account Management & Regional Engagement

• Serve as the senior commercial owner for key customer accounts across the NA and EU, ensuring deep, trusted relationships at all levels of the customer organization.
• Lead and coordinate regional sales teams to deliver consistent, high-quality customer engagement, including regular technical reviews, business reviews, and executive-level interactions.
• Develop and execute tailored account plans for strategic customers, identifying growth opportunities, managing contract renewals, and ensuring customer satisfaction and retention.
• Strengthen enterprise relationship with Tier 1 accounts for joint, long-term technical and product roadmaps.
• Engage with GSAM, Regional DS&S leaders and material BU sales leaders for one-Merck face to customers.
• Pursue integrated solutions across BUs and potentially across Sectors.
• Oversee the resolution of customer escalations and complaints by coordinating cross-functionally with operations, product management, and technical service teams.
• Support Quality performance by driving response for high-power containment, corrective and preventative actions.
• Maintain active presence in key markets through customer visits, industry conferences, and trade events across the NA and EU.
• Build and sustain relationships with key industry stakeholders, including OEM partners, research institutions, and industry associations relevant to DS&S target markets.

Sales Operations Excellence

• Drive sales operations discipline across the NA and EU regions, ensuring robust processes for pipeline management, order fulfillment coordination, and customer contract administration.
• Lead the regional sales forecasting process, providing accurate, timely, and data-driven volume and revenue forecasts to support demand planning and supply chain alignment.
• Collaborate closely with supply chain, planning, and operations teams to translate commercial forecasts into actionable demand plans.
• Ensure all sales-related documentation is created, reviewed, and submitted in accordance with company standards.
• Implement and continuously improve sales process frameworks, tools, and reporting cadences to enhance team productivity and commercial visibility.
• Monitor and report on key sales performance metrics (KPIs) for the NA and EU regions, providing regular updates to senior leadership, including pipeline sufficiency, conversion and win rates.

Business Development

• Identify, qualify, and pursue new business opportunities across the NA and EU, including new customer acquisition, market segment expansion, and new product introduction support.
• Lead the development and execution of commercial plans for target markets and product lines, incorporating market intelligence, competitive analysis, and customer insights.
• Conduct ongoing market research and competitive benchmarking to anticipate market trends, customer needs, and competitive actions.
• Develop and deliver customer presentations, training modules, and marketing communication programs to support new business initiatives and product launches.
• Collaborate with the DS&S Global Marketing Team to develop and execute market strategies, promotional programs, and trade show participation plans.
• Support product positioning and rationalization activities, providing regional market input to global product management and marketing teams.
• Promote a culture of innovation within the commercial and technical teams to identify and develop new growth opportunities.

Risks & Opportunities Identification

• Proactively identify, assess, and communicate commercial risks and opportunities across the NA and EU customer base and market landscape.
• Monitor geopolitical, regulatory, and macroeconomic developments in the NA and EU that may impact customer demand, supply continuity, or competitive positioning.
• Develop and maintain a structured risk register for the region, including mitigation plans for key commercial risks such as customer concentration, pricing pressure, and competitive displacement.
• Identify and escalate supply, quality, or service risks that could impact customer satisfaction or revenue delivery.
• Leverage customer and market intelligence to surface emerging opportunities for volume growth, share gain, or new application development.

Financial Performance (Revenue & Margin)

• Own the P&L accountability for DS&S sales in the NA and EU, delivering against annual revenue, gross margin, and operating plan targets.
• Develop and manage the regional commercial budget, including pricing strategy, margin management, and investment in customer-facing activities.
• Oversee pricing decisions, quote approvals, and margin adjustments for the NA and EU customer base.
• Drive revenue growth through a combination of volume expansion, price realization, and mix optimization across the product and customer portfolio.
• Provide regular financial performance reporting to senior leadership, including variance analysis, outlook updates, and corrective action plans.
• Partner with Finance to ensure accurate revenue recognition, accruals, and financial reporting for the NA and EU regions.

Location: Field Based role that requires approximately 50% travel, including both domestic and international, with the potential to exceed that based on business and customer needs.