Director of Commercial Operations & Customer Strategy

RICHARDS INDUSTRIALS•Arden, NC

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position will serve as a key member of the site leadership team and act as the primary strategic bridge between our technical sales, application engineering, and corporate leadership. This role is responsible for driving commercial growth, elevating technical sales capabilities, improving the execution and quality of project bids, and ensuring consistent, professional communication with the Richards Senior Leadership Team (SLT). Leveraging extensive executive commercial experience, this leader will guide the Applications Engineering and Sales teams to sharpen customer engagement, investigate value propositions to improve bid competitiveness, and enhance operational discipline. This position will provide the commercial and technical leadership needed to support continued business stability, growth, and long-term development of internal talent. This is a full-time, office-based position in Fletcher, NC. This role would be a member of the four-person Equilibar Site Leadership Team, which includes President David Reed, Director of Operations Tony Tang, and Accounting Manager Janet Stiltner. This team meets twice weekly to address issues and opportunities at the Fletcher site, including personnel, key clients, and financials. Travel to clients, suppliers, partners, and Richards Cincinnati as required to meet financial goals is expected and anticipated to be 25% or less.

Requirements

Executive experience in commercial leadership roles such as Vice President – Commercial, Senior Vice President, General Manager, or CEO (small or mid-sized business).
Demonstrated experience improving technical sales processes, guiding application engineering teams, and driving commercial growth.
Strong understanding of engineered products, customized manufacturing, or technical solution development.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams, manage complex customer relationships, and implement structured business processes.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and executive-level presentation skills.
Strong strategic planning and organizational leadership capabilities.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, business, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
Strong work ethic
Organized and detail-oriented
Motivated and proactive
Curious and creative
Disciplined
Committed to Continuous Improvement
Outstanding Problem Solver
Adaptable, able to thrive in a dynamic work environment

Responsibilities

Lead commercial strategy for the site, including customer engagement, market positioning, and bid development through the delegation of authority (DOA) process.
Establish clear processes for qualifying customer opportunities, determining value propositions, structuring quotations, and aligning engineering resources to maximize winning potential.
Mentor and develop junior technical staff to strengthen customer-facing technical capabilities.
Improve proactive outbound sales activities.
Build and manage key customer relationships to expand business opportunities in existing and emerging markets.
Provide executive-level interface in negotiations, pricing strategy, and contract discussions.
Oversee the Application Engineering team with a focus on improving technical solution quality, bid accuracy, and on-time delivery of customer proposals.
Implement structured project review, risk assessment, and cross-functional handoff processes to improve downstream execution.
Ensure engineering specifications and customer requirements are translated accurately into deliverables for internal teams.
Improve collaboration between engineering, operations, and sales to streamline execution and reduce rework.
Drive strategic initiatives that support site growth, operational effectiveness, and alignment with the broader corporate commercial strategy.
Negotiate strategic vendor buy/resale agreements.
Complex bid strategy and negotiations with key clients such as supplier master agreements.
Developing a living Product Roadmap for Equilibar by partnering with the Product Managers and product engineers.
Assisting with IP development and protection, including the Cincinnati engineering team
Support Leadership with analyzing M&A opportunities, when needed
Identify opportunities to expand product offerings, improve customer value, strengthen competitive differentiation, and communicate these to the broader organization.
Support senior leadership in long-term business planning, financial forecasting, and strategic decision processes.
Provide market insights and voice-of-customer analysis to contribute to product development and engineering priorities.
Drive discipline in technical sales and engineering management practices by introducing structured processes, KPIs, and performance standards.
Mentor junior staff and emerging leaders to strengthen internal capabilities and reduce reliance on external hiring for technical leadership.
Promote a culture of accountability, high performance, and cross-functional collaboration.
Serve as the primary commercial and technical liaison to the Richards SLT, ensuring consistent communication of site performance, sales pipeline, and project execution status.
Prepare executive-level presentations, performance dashboards, and strategic updates for the SLT.
Ensure site-level activities adhere to corporate standards, documentation requirements, and reporting expectations, including the established DOA process, requiring a dotted reporting line to RI Sales Manager Jim Gray.
Align site initiatives with corporate strategy while advocating for site needs and technical constraints.
A regular meeting rhythm: Product Managers for product positioning strategies and product roadmaps
CFO for reviewing financial performance, including quote acceptance, margins, pipeline forecasting, and Work Days 2, 3, & 4 meetings
Equilibar President to set goals and review team performance against goals