Sales Manager, Filtration

Ingevity•North Charleston, SC

About The Position

As a Process Purification Sales Manager, you will be responsible for significantly growing our Process Purification business. You’ll lead direct sales efforts across key segments - including Food & Beverage, Pharma/Specialty, and Water - by identifying opportunities, engaging customers, and closing deals. This is a hands-on, customer-facing role that requires both strategic thinking and tactical execution. You’ll work closely with technical, quality, and operations teams to deliver solutions that meet customer needs and drive business results. We value candidates with direct experience in activated carbon, as well as those who demonstrate strong learning agility and adaptability across industries and technical domains.

Requirements

5–10 years of direct B2B sales experience in industrial markets such as chemicals, materials, water treatment, food & beverage, or specialty applications.
Demonstrated success in managing complex sales cycles, from prospecting to closing, in specification-driven markets.
Experience working with technical and quality teams to deliver customer solutions.
Familiarity with bid processes, performance testing, and competitive analysis.
Strong sales acumen with a proven ability to build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with customers and internal stakeholders.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills.
Analytical mindset with the ability to leverage data and tools for opportunity identification and competitive intelligence.
Ability to quickly learn and flex into new market segments, including water, food & beverage, pharma, and specialty applications.
Strong technical acumen with the ability to translate technical product features into customer value propositions and communicate with both technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt to changing market needs.
Collaborative approach to working across functions and geographies.
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, chemistry, materials, business, or a related field required.
Willingness to travel up to ~50% to customer sites, plants, and industry events.
Hands-on approach to customer engagement, including technical support and troubleshooting.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
Please note: Ingevity does not offer employment sponsorship for this position.
Please note: This is not a position that Ingevity will consider for employment sponsorship. This means that Ingevity will not sponsor in any NIV category (including TN, E-3, H-1B, O-1) or submit the position in the H-1B Registration.

Nice To Haves

Experience with international sales and channel development is a plus.
Direct experience in activated carbon, water treatment, and/or food & beverage businesses is highly valued.
Advanced degree or relevant certifications are a plus.
Segment-specific experience is a plus, but not required; demonstrated learning agility and adaptability are essential.

Responsibilities

Lead direct sales activities to achieve ambitious revenue growth targets in Process Purification.
Identify, qualify, and pursue new business opportunities in municipal water, food & beverage, pharma, and specialty markets - both domestically and internationally.
Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with customers, including plant visits, technical support, and negotiation of pricing and contracts.
Actively prospect and develop sales channels for high-value activated carbon applications, including honeycomb and specialty carbon products.
Own the sales process from lead generation through bid submission (where applicable), performance testing, and closing - leveraging direct contacts, industry networking, marketing leads, and tools like GovSpend and AI-driven intelligence.
Maintain accurate pricing, incoterms, and documentation in relevant databases; manage RFQs and pricing changes with rigor and transparency.
Collaborate with customer service, planning, and quality teams to ensure seamless order fulfillment, documentation, and customer satisfaction.
Respond to customer inquiries and complaints promptly, ensuring corrective actions and continuous improvement.
Ensure compliance with all safety, quality, and regulatory requirements at customer sites and Ingevity facilities.
Participate in ideation and innovation exercises to foster new product development and market expansion.
Attend industry conferences and trade shows to gather market intelligence and represent Ingevity.
Develop and maintain a global carbon usage and competitive intelligence database.