Business Development & Commercial Strategy Leader

First Quality•Gates, OR

About The Position

Founded over 35 years ago, First Quality is a family-owned company that has grown from a small business in McElhattan, Pennsylvania into a group of companies, employing over 5,000 team members, while maintaining our family values and entrepreneurial spirit. With corporate offices in New York and Pennsylvania and 8 manufacturing campuses across the U.S. and Canada, the companies within the First Quality group produce high-quality personal care and household products for large retailers and healthcare organizations. Our personal care and household product portfolio includes baby diapers, wipes, feminine pads, paper towels, bath tissue, adult incontinence products, laundry detergents, fabric finishers, and dishwash solutions. In addition, we manufacture certain raw materials and components used in the manufacturing of these products, including flexible print and packaging solutions. Guided by our values of humility, unity, and integrity, we leverage advanced technology and innovation to drive growth and create new opportunities. At First Quality, you’ll find a collaborative environment focused on continuous learning, professional development, and our mission to Make Things Better®. We are seeking a Business Development and Commercial Strategy Leader for our First Quality Print & Packaging company. We are a dynamic, reinvented flexible packaging company with 13 years of proven expertise in film extrusion, printing, and lamination. Treating our organization as a high-growth startup, we've undergone a complete top-down and bottom-up transformation to position ourselves as the future of the industry. Our vision is bold: to become the #1 flexible packaging provider in North America by scaling into a multi-billion-dollar empire. We're lean, mean, and tech-forward—leveraging automation and innovation to eliminate non-value-added work while fostering a fluid, silo-free culture where everyone rolls up their sleeves. This role is the final piece of our executive team puzzle, reporting directly to leadership and driving our aggressive growth agenda. We're seeking a visionary, hands-on leader to spearhead business development and commercial strategy. This is not a desk job—it's an opportunity to immerse yourself in our operations, build strategies from the ground up, and execute with relentless drive. You'll drive sales growth by targeting significant business with large, growing, and credible organizations across North America, expand our asset base, enter new lines of business, and align short-, mid-, and long-term initiatives to achieve explosive growth. If you're humble, honest, reliable, respectful, and a true team player who thrives in a collaborative environment where nothing is above or below you—from negotiating with global giants to pitching in on the plant floor—this is your chance to help build an empire.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, or a related field; MBA strongly preferred.
10+ years of proven leadership in business development and commercial strategy within the flexible packaging industry (or closely related sectors), with a track record of driving significant revenue growth and market expansion through relationships with large, growing, and credible organizations.
Deep expertise in flexible packaging processes (extrusion, printing, lamination) and market dynamics.
Strong network of industry contacts, including established connections with key decision-makers at major North American enterprises, enabling day-one access and success in securing high-impact business.
Proficiency in technology tools, including ERP, CRM, analytics platforms, and emerging automation technologies to optimize operations.
Exceptional communication, negotiation, and problem-solving skills with a creative, results-oriented mindset.
Personal qualities: Humble, honest, reliable, respectful, and a collaborative team player who shares our ambitious vision and has the appetite to do whatever it takes—from high-level strategy to hands-on execution.
Ability to thrive in a lean, startup-like environment with heavy investment in growth, embracing fluidity, innovation, and a commitment to building the company of the future.

Responsibilities

Strategic Vision and Planning: Craft and execute a comprehensive long-term growth strategy, including market analysis, competitive assessments, and identification of key opportunities to scale us into a multi-billion-dollar leader in North America.
Business Development and Sales: Leverage deep industry knowledge to drive revenue growth by pursuing major accounts with large, credible, and expanding organizations, forge strategic partnerships, and expand into adjacent lines of business while building horizontal and vertical growth pipelines.
Team Leadership and Culture Building: Assemble and mentor a high-performing business development team, promoting innovation, excellence, and our core values of humility, teamwork, and adaptability in a lean, fluid organization.
Customer and Market Engagement: Strengthen relationships with key North American customers—focusing on large and growing enterprises—anticipate evolving needs, and drive initiatives to ensure our offerings exceed market demands. Conduct in-depth market research to uncover trends, emerging opportunities, and customer insights.
Product and Innovation Leadership: Champion product expansion in flexible packaging, staying ahead of technological advancements and recommending new solutions that align with our tech-enabled, automated future.
Networking and Partnerships: Tap into an extensive industry network to secure alliances, identify acquisitions, and unlock new revenue streams, with immediate access to doors at major, credible organizations.
Performance Management: Establish KPIs, track progress, and refine strategies to ensure measurable results and continuous improvement.
Operational Integration: Fully embed in the company culture—collaborate across functions, support plant operations as needed, and contribute to our "all-hands" ethos in a no-silos environment.

Benefits

Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
Paid time off (three-week minimum)
Medical, dental and vision starting day one
401(k) with employer match
Paid parental leave
Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $2500)
Bundle of joy benefit (year's worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
Tuition assistance
Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums
...and more!