Sales Operations Manager

Description

Company Overview

United Equipment Accessories (UEA) is a premier designer and manufacturer of custom slip rings, hydraulic swivels, hose reels, cable reels, and other engineered rotating components. Since 1952, UEA has built a strong reputation for engineering excellence, innovation, and long-term customer partnerships across industries such as wind energy, industrial equipment, construction, agriculture, medical, and military/defense.

UEA continues to expand into new markets and is committed to doubling its business over the long term. The Sales Manager plays a crucial role in developing the sales team, strengthening performance, and driving disciplined execution.

Learn more at: www.uea-inc.com

Core Values

UEA’s culture is built on long-term thinking, trust, and accountability. The Sales Manager must model, reinforce, and hire to these values:

· Care – empathetic, partnerships, life balance on-time product, responsiveness, meeting expectations, listen, quality.

· Creative Problem Solver – Innovative, What-if, Engaged, a mistake does not mean failure.

· Hardworking & Dedicated – “Can do” attitude, integrity, go above & beyond.

· Knowledge Seeker – Products, processes, attention to detail.

Key Tenants

· Customer Focus – Anticipating needs, solving complex problems, and delivering exceptional solutions.

· Teamwork & Collaboration – Building strong cross-functional alignment between Sales, Engineering, Operations, Customer Service, and Marketing.

· Continuous Improvement – Embracing learning, innovation, and process discipline to improve results.

· Integrity & Accountability – Communicating openly, doing what we say, and owning outcomes.

· Forward Thinking & Adaptability – Driving new market growth and supporting UEA’s long-term vision.

Position Overview

The Sales Manager leads UEA’s seasoned outside sales team by providing coaching, accountability, and disciplined execution of the sales process. This leader bridges the gap between the Business Development Director and the sales team, helping UEA shift toward more proactive new business development while maintaining strong OEM relationships.

Success in this role requires the ability to operate independently in a lean support environment, collaborate across departments, and balance both strategic and tactical leadership.

Reports to: Director of Business Developement Location: Remote or based near UEA headquarters (Waverly, IA). Proximity to a major airport preferred. Travel: Approx. 10–20% (10–15 trips per year), domestic with occasional international travel.

Key Responsibilities

1. Sales Leadership & Coaching

· Lead, develop, and coach experienced outside sales representatives.

· Conduct weekly or bi-weekly 1:1s, ride-alongs, deal reviews, and performance check-ins.

· Promote independence—avoid “hero” selling and enable reps to own their accounts.

· Identify and standardize best practices across verticals and regions.

· Guide time allocation between existing account farming and long-cycle new business pursuits.

2. New Business Development & Market Expansion

· Strengthen the team’s hunter mindset to support UEA’s long-term growth strategy.

· Drive targeted efforts in expanding markets (medical, military/defense, industrial).

· Support segmentation, prospecting, and lead-generation initiatives.

· Partner with Marketing on trade show planning, ROI analysis, staffing, and next-step strategy.

3. Technical, Complex Sales Support

· Support reps in navigating technical, engineering-driven buying environments.

· Help translate engineering concepts into commercial and business value.

· Coach reps in multi-stakeholder navigation: engineering, purchasing, operations, and leadership.

· Support prototype-to-production cycles and strategic opportunity development.

· Troubleshoot technical or project roadblocks through cross-functional coordination.

4. Data-Driven Management & CRM (HubSpot)

· Ensure strong discipline and usage of UEA’s CRM (HubSpot).

· Maintain accurate, timely pipeline data and forecasting.

· Use data to drive coaching, performance insights, and accountability.

· Operate effectively without significant administrative or analytics support.

5. Strategic Planning & Long-Term Alignment

· Build and execute annual sales plans, quotas, and territory strategies.

· Translate UEA’s long-term vision, including the 10-year target, into daily sales execution.

· Bring insights and recommendations to leadership; manage up effectively.

· Align the team toward strategic priorities and emerging market opportunities.

6. Performance Management & Talent Development

· Own hiring, onboarding, coaching, and performance management of the sales team.

· Address performance issues promptly and partner with HR on improvement plans.

· Build a strong bench of future talent and support ongoing professional development.

· Ensure team members meet expectations and executing consistently.

7. Cross-Functional & International Collaboration

· Partner closely with Engineering, Operations, Customer Service, and Marketing.

· Navigate conflict constructively and model collaborative problem-solving.

· Support UEA’s international distributor network and global customer relationships.

· Communicate clearly and effectively up, down, and across the organization.

Skills, Qualifications & Key Competencies

Must-Have

· 7 years of B2B sales experience in industrial, manufacturing, engineered components, or technical solutions environments.

· 5 years successfully leading and coaching outside/field sales teams of experienced, seasoned sales professionals.

· Proven track record in complex, consultative, and engineering-driven sales environments.

· Demonstrated ability to drive new business development while maintaining and expanding existing customer relationships.

· Experience balancing short-cycle existing business with long-cycle new business opportunities and coaching reps to prioritize effectively.

· Ability to operate independently in a lean support environment, with strong organization and self-sufficiency.

· Strong coaching and talent development skills — able to elevate performance across experienced salespeople.

· Strong financial and business acumen, including pricing strategy, margin management, and deal profitability analysis.

· Proficiency with CRM systems (HubSpot preferred), forecasting, and disciplined pipeline management.

· Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills, especially with Engineering, Operations, and Customer Service.

· Ability to travel 10–20% domestically, with occasional international travel.

· Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.

· High integrity, strong accountability, and alignment with a collaborative, customer-focused culture.

Preferred

· Experience in wind, industrial equipment, heavy machinery, medical, or defense OEM markets.

· Experience managing international customers or distributors.

· Familiarity with EOS/Traction systems.

· Experience supporting or evaluating trade show strategy and ROI.

· Experience with strategic selling methodologies (e.g., Miller-Heiman).

· Ability to standardize and scale best practices across a sales team.

Compensation & Benefits

· Competitive base salary

· Performance-based incentives tied to team and company goals

· Full benefits package (medical, dental, vision, 401(k), PTO)

· Professional development opportunities

· Opportunity to contribute meaningfully to a rapidly growing, engineering-driven organization