Senior Distribution Manager

Lonza•Walkersville, MD

3d•$97,000 - $155,000•Remote

About The Position

The Senior Distribution Manager is responsible for developing, managing, and optimizing indirect sales channels by building strong relationships with third-party partners such as distributors, resellers, and Marketplaces. This role drives revenue growth through effective distributor recruitment, enablement, performance management, and compliance. The Manager owns the regional distributor strategy for assigned countries/territories and ensures distributors meet agreed sales targets, service levels, forecasting accuracy, and operational standards. In close collaboration with the Head of Distributor Management, Sales, Marketing, SMEs, and Service teams, the Manager ensures a scalable, high-performing distributor network.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Bioengineering, or related discipline).
Minimum of 3-5 years of sales experience within the life sciences or pharmaceutical industry, with a proven track record of driving revenue and profit growth in complex sales environments.
Strong understanding of customer needs, competitive landscape, and market dynamics across drug discovery, drug manufacturing/QC, and cell & gene therapy segments within biotech/biopharma.
Demonstrated success leading and developing high-performing global sales teams, including talent development, coaching, performance management, and problem resolution.
Exceptional core selling skills (prospecting, funnel management, closing, consultative and technical selling, creating customer value, and delivering effective sales presentations).
Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and analytical abilities.
Outstanding communication, negotiation, presentation, and public-speaking skills, with demonstrated effectiveness across a wide range of audiences.
Ability to work collaboratively across departments and with international teams, including Executive Leadership; strong track record of effective cross-functional partnership.
Effective listener; proactive, independent, and self-directed; team-oriented with a strong work ethic and commitment to continuous improvement.
Willingness and ability to travel across North America approximately 30% of the time to meet business objectives.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred.
Fluency in Portuguese is a plus.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute regional distribution sales strategies to expand market penetration and revenue growth.
Define and align distributor targets, KPIs, and expectations (e.g. sales targets, forecasting accuracy, service levels, payment terms) in collaboration with the Head of DM.
Develop and maintain distributor scorecards to track performance, effectiveness, and market trends.
Manage sales delivery and forecasting for designated distributors, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
Ensure optimal stock levels at distributor warehouses, avoiding overstocking and supply disruptions.
Recruit, evaluate, and contract new distributors in line with regional strategy.
Lead structured onboarding and offboarding processes for distributors.
Manage and grow a portfolio of existing partners, ensuring continuous performance improvement and compliance with company policies.
Resolve conflicts and operational challenges with distributors to maintain productive, long-term partnerships.
Plan, coordinate, and manage distributor training and enablement programs, including product, application, sales process, and compliance training.
Ensure effective utilization of internal support resources (e.g. SMEs, application specialists, service teams, customer support).
Act as the primary interface between distributors and internal teams to ensure timely and high-quality support.
Identify capability gaps within distributor organizations and implement targeted training or coaching plans.
Ensure distributors are service-ready in collaboration with the company’s service organization.
Collaborate closely with Marketing to develop and execute partner marketing programs, campaigns, and sales tools.
Work with SMEs, Product Management, and Service teams to support complex sales opportunities and customer needs.
Develop annual regional distributor business plans, including sales, marketing, and business development activities.