Field Sales Manager, SF Bay area

Your Role

This is a field-based, customer-facing sales role. The Account Manager is expected to be physically present and call on customers in their assigned territory within the bay area, on site with customers, the majority of the working week. Success in this position depends on face-to-face engagement at the bench, in the lab, and with procurement and decision-makers — not on remote or virtual selling.

Field Presence Requirements

• Live in or relocate on your own to assigned territory within the bay area. Daily presence in territory is a condition of the role.
• Minimum 4 days per week in the field, conducting in-person customer visits; administrative work is completed outside of prime selling hours within Bay area.
• Consistent lab-level coverage: regular, planned in-person visits to top labs, core facilities, and key decision-makers within each key account, with documented call cadence.
• On-site presence at customer locations for product demonstrations, seminars, lunch-and-learns, technical troubleshooting, tender/procurement discussions, and vendor show days.
• Some overnight travel 5% within territory as required by geography; travel to national/regional sales meetings, trade shows and scientific conferences (including occasional weekends).
• Territory routing and planning: build and maintain an efficient territory travel plan that maximizes face-to-face selling time and ensures no key account is covered only remotely.
• Valid driver's license with clear driving record; ability to drive extensively within territory.
• Virtual meetings supplement — but do not replace — in-person coverage.

Essential Job Functions

• Generating and qualifying sales leads through in-person prospecting, lab walk-throughs and on-site relationship building.
• Close profitable business by meeting or exceeding sales goals and objectives.
• Build, grow and manage key accounts in the assigned territory, with in-person presence as the primary engagement model.
• Champion and drive customer awareness of Sigma and its Best-in-Class/innovative technologies and products through on-site demonstrations, seminars and technical discussions.
• Create and maintain relationships with customers face-to-face, to promote penetration, retention and loyalty.
• Devise and implement successful account and territory strategies that support increased sales and the strategic goals of the Academic, Pharma, Biotech, Industrial and/or Testing Discovery Solutions Business Units — including a defined in-territory call plan and coverage model.
• Team with Marketing and the Inside Sales teams from the Academic, Pharma, Biotech, Industrial and/or Testing Research Business Units to identify, develop and close opportunities, serving as the on-the-ground presence for jointly managed accounts.
• Team with Inside Sales to identify and mitigate competitive barriers, increase sales, and surface opportunities for product improvement/development based on first-hand customer and lab observations.
• Work on site with purchasing departments to understand procurement processes and develop strategies to mitigate sales barriers.
• Submit timely sales activity reports, including call reports and territory coverage documentation, and maintain accurate CRM records after each customer visit.

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (BS) in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, or a very close similar science degree
• 2+ years of field sales experience, including demonstrated success covering a geographic territory in person.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in sales and/or territory management.
• Experience in reagent and/or technology platform sales
• Essential: Proven ability to identify, drive and close sales employing a technical and tactical consultative approach in face-to-face customer settings.
• Nuances of account management, including knowledge of purchasing departments, the ability to maintain and grow top labs within key accounts through regular on-site presence, and working knowledge of genomics, proteomics and/or cell-based assays. Experience (practical or sales) in any of these areas is a strong plus.
• Ability to independently manage time, territory routing and priorities while working remotely from a manager and predominantly out of a home office/vehicle.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills. Ability to influence and educate others in person in order to gain acceptance/approval of innovative concepts and products.
• Ability to develop, implement, manage and track strategic and tactical plans both independently and with a team.
• Demonstrated organizational, prioritization and planning skills required for successful account management, territory management and project management.
• Proven ability to work and succeed under minimal supervision, with self-discipline to sustain a high in-person activity level.