Director of Sales - Americas

Elessent Clean Technologies•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Director of Sales, Americas – Cleaner Refining leads the regional Sales and Technical Services teams, strengthens customer relationships, and drives profitable growth across Elessent’s refining technology and aftermarket portfolio. The role calls for strong refining industry experience, demonstrated sales leadership, and the ability to develop and motivate a technically experienced team. The successful candidate builds on established customer relationships while pursuing proactive business development, collaboration, and effective sales execution across maintenance and reliability (M&R) and new capacity opportunities. The position reports to the Vice President, Cleaner Refining and leads the Americas Sales and Technical Services organizations. It works closely with Product Management, Technology, Engineering, and Project Execution. The role is based in the United States, preferably Houston, Texas, or Overland Park, Kansas, and involves approximately 30–40% travel based on customer and team needs.

Requirements

Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in the refining or petrochemical industry, including refinery operations, technical sales, engineered equipment, or related commercial roles.
Demonstrated experience leading and developing a sales or business development team.
Strong understanding of the refining market, customer organizations, refinery operations, maintenance, reliability, and capital project decision-making.
Strong people leadership skills, including the ability to motivate, coach, and develop teams.
Ability to build trust and credibility with experienced technical salespeople and refinery customers.
Commercial drive and ability to identify and develop new business rather than relying exclusively on established accounts.
Effective communication skills, including listening, seeking input, and building alignment across diverse teams.
Structured and organized approach, with the ability to set priorities and maintain accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Collaborative leadership style and willingness to work across functions and geographic responsibilities.
Strong analytical and commercial judgment, including assessing opportunity value, customer economics, and business risks.
Comfort using CRM, ERP, and reporting tools to support sales management and decision-making.
Willingness to travel regularly throughout the Americas to support customers and develop the sales team.
Authorized to work in the United States for any employer.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or a related discipline; equivalent experience in refinery operations, technical sales, or commercial leadership will be considered.
Experience selling proprietary process equipment, aftermarket products, technical services, or licensed technologies.
Established relationships within the North American refining industry.
Location in or near Houston, Texas, or Overland Park, Kansas is preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop the Americas Sales and Technical Services teams, setting clear expectations, priorities, and accountability while fostering a collaborative environment.
Build strong relationships with team members and support their development through coaching, customer visits, knowledge sharing, and collaboration with subject matter experts.
Establish a cadence for individual coaching, team meetings, customer engagement, pipeline reviews, and business planning.
Maintain and strengthen relationships with existing refinery customers and develop relationships across customer operations, maintenance, reliability, turnaround, engineering, technical management, and procurement groups.
Drive profitable installed-base growth by identifying maintenance, reliability, replacement equipment, revamp, and debottlenecking opportunities.
Work with Product Management and the sales team to identify and pursue new capacity, technology licensing, and expansion opportunities.
Expand relationships with EPC companies, licensors, and other industry partners to identify and influence opportunities earlier in their development.
Lead strategic customer discussions, commercial negotiations, and escalations as appropriate.
Translate regional business objectives and product strategies into actionable sales plans, customer priorities, and growth initiatives.
Lead regional pipeline management, forecasting, and sales planning, maintaining visibility into opportunity quality, timing, probability, and commercial risks.
Use customer account plans, installed-base information, sales history, and share-of-wallet analysis to identify opportunities and guide resource allocation.
Promote effective use of CRM, ERP, and sales reporting tools to improve sales effectiveness.
Monitor performance against signings, revenue, margin, and other business objectives, identify gaps, and develop corrective actions.
Ensure opportunities advance actively and customer commitments are followed through to completion.
Provide leadership and direction to the Americas Technical Services team to ensure effective customer support, technical responsiveness, and alignment with commercial priorities.
Work with Product Managers to align sales activities with technology strategy, market opportunities, and growth priorities.
Facilitate collaboration across customer accounts, geographic territories, EPC relationships, and technology groups.
Coordinate with Technology and Engineering to provide timely, practical support for customer needs and early-stage opportunities.
Support resolution of customer issues involving technical performance, commercial commitments, project execution, and account relationships.
Promote the capture and sharing of customer knowledge, operating history, and lessons learned.