Commercial Sales Operations Manager - U.S. Lubricants

US Venture•Appleton, WI

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Commercial Sales Operations Manager leads and manages the commercial operations function for U.S. Lubricants (USL), covering sales operations, pipeline management, inside sales leadership, customer growth, and back-office sales support. The role improves sales execution, CRM discipline, opportunity conversion, and cross-functional coordination to help USL meet or exceed revenue and profitability goals established in the strategic plan and annual budget. This position is based on-site in Appleton, Wisconsin, Monday through Thursday. Optional remote work on Fridays may be available as business needs allow. The role may require travel up to 10%.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, sales, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
Five or more years of progressive experience in B2B sales operations, inside sales, business development, commercial operations, or a related function.
Demonstrated experience managing a sales pipeline, improving opportunity progression, and supporting forecasting activities.
Experience leading, coaching, or coordinating inside sales, sales support, or customer-development activities.
Proficiency with CRM systems, including account, contact, activity, lead, and opportunity management.
Demonstrated ability to create and interpret sales reports, dashboards, pipeline analytics, and customer-development insights.
Experience generating new business through inbound lead follow-up, outbound prospecting, account development, and consultative selling.
Working knowledge of pricing, quoting, margin considerations, order processes, and cross-functional customer support.
Strong process-management skills, including the ability to identify gaps, establish standards, and improve adoption and accountability.
Ability to collaborate effectively across Sales, Customer Experience, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and other business functions.
Excellent written and verbal communication and listening skills, with the ability to communicate professionally with customers and internal stakeholders.
Ability to build positive business relationships and lead through influence as well as formal authority.
Action-oriented, self-motivated, organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook, and ability to learn other business systems.
Ability to travel up to 10%.
Must be currently authorized to work full-time in the United States and must not require U.S. Venture sponsorship to continue working legally in the United States.

Nice To Haves

Salesforce experience is strongly preferred.
Lubricants, industrial distribution, automotive, manufacturing, chemical, or related B2B industry experience.
Experience with Salesforce reporting, dashboards, workflow automation, and data-quality management.
Experience managing house accounts, strategic accounts, OEM programs, or multi-channel customer-development programs.

Responsibilities

Lead, manage, and continuously improve USL commercial operations, including sales processes, pipeline governance, CRM administration, reporting, and back-office sales support.
Lead and support inside sales, establishing goals, activity standards, service expectations, and performance measures that drive profitable growth.
Generate and develop sales opportunities through inbound lead follow-up, outbound calls and emails, dormant-account reactivation, and targeted prospecting.
Manage lead qualification, assignment, follow-up, and conversion so opportunities move efficiently through the sales funnel.
Own pipeline management and forecasting support, including opportunity-stage discipline, aging analysis, next-step follow-up, and identification of stalled or at-risk opportunities.
Maintain accurate and complete CRM records, including accounts, contacts, activities, tasks, opportunities, lead sources, and customer development plans.
Develop dashboards, reports, and commercial insights that show sales leadership pipeline health, activity, conversion, customer growth, and business risks.
Oversee and support OEM, strategic-account, and new-customer setup, coordinating information and handoffs across Sales, Customer Experience, Finance, Supply Chain, Marketing, and other functions.
Provide field sales and customers with timely, accurate information about products, availability, pricing, applications, promotions, and delivery expectations.
Partner with sales leadership and field representatives to develop opportunities and structure proposals supporting revenue, gross-margin, and return-on-investment objectives.
Manage assigned house accounts and customer-development initiatives to retain customers, expand product penetration, recover lost business, and identify opportunities using a consultative sales approach.
Support quote, order, and customer follow-up activities as needed, ensuring accurate records, responsive communication, and smooth handoffs to the appropriate service or sales team.
Evaluate current and potential customers to identify whitespace, cross-sell opportunities, inactive accounts, customer attrition, and priority growth targets.
Select, implement, administer, and improve sales automation tools, CRM workflows, reports, and other commercial-process technology.
Identify sales-process bottlenecks and implement practical improvements that increase efficiency, accuracy, accountability, and standardization.
Develop and maintain sales tools, price sheets, product resources, templates, and other enablement materials.
Coordinate with Marketing on campaigns, promotions, lead-generation programs, and follow-up processes, and provide feedback on lead quality and commercial outcomes.
Liaise across Sales, Customer Experience, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance, and other support functions to resolve issues and improve customer experience.
Assist with customer complaints or service issues and coordinate internal resources for timely resolution.
Drive adoption of USL’s go-to-market strategy as a Lubrication Solutions Provider.
Live the company values of High Performance, Caring Relationships, Strategic Foresight, and Entrepreneurial Spirit.
Champion continuous improvement and quality-control efforts that improve efficiency, accuracy, and standardization.
Continuously learn and develop professionally.
Support corporate safety and government-compliance efforts and comply with company policies and procedures.
Perform other related duties as required and assigned.