Managing Director
Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany
1. Purpose of the role The Managing Director Europe holds full profit and loss accountability for their European business. The role exists to convert their market position in Europe into profitable, scalable and structurally sound business: setting the commercial frame, controlling the cost base, building the organisation, and safeguarding the margin. The Managing Director Europe defines the commercial terms and market priorities within which sales execution takes place. 2. Accountabilities Financial Full ownership of the European P&L: order intake, revenue, gross and contribution margin, operating cost, working capital and cash conversionAnnual budget and rolling forecast for Europe, with accountability for forecast accuracyPrice realisation and margin protection, including the pricing framework, discount governance and margin floorCost-to-serve across project delivery, commissioning, service, warranty exposure and logistics Commercial Market prioritisation: business cases for entering, scaling, restructuring or exiting European marketsCommercial terms framework – payment terms, warranty terms, liability positions and deal approval thresholdsStrategic partnerships that change the structure of the business: distribution agreements, framework contracts, channel models, and recurring or aftermarket revenue models Organisational Build and lead the European organisation outside sales: delivery, service, technical support and administrationSenior recruitment, organisational structure, performance management and succession for EuropeLead the European implementation of their common operating model as the group integrates Governance Statutory and legal responsibility for the German entity and other European operations, including compliance, contracting authority and corporate governanceRepresent Europe to the CEO, owners and board; translate group strategy into European execution and market reality into group-level planning 3. Decision rights and mandate European budget and cost base – Owns, within board-approved planPricing framework and margin floor – To be confirmed Deals below margin floor – To be confirmed Market entry and exit – Recommends; CEO and board approveSenior hires in Europe, non-sales – Owns, within approved headcountContractual commitments – Owns to a defined threshold – TBDSales targets and quota allocation – Input; owned by CCO and VP Sales Europe 4. Key interfaces CEO – Line manager. Plan, performance, escalationCCO – Commercial method, global pricing alignment, sales resourcing for EuropeVP Sales Europe – The Managing Director sets terms and priorities; the VP Sales owns pipeline, conversion and the sales teamCFO and Finance – Reporting, forecasting, working capital, entity governanceProduct and R&D – Market requirements, roadmap input, product-market fit in EuropeOperations and Supply Chain – Delivery capacity, lead times, cost-to-serveBoard and owners – Business plan, structural decisions, periodic reporting 5. Outside the scope of this role Sales pipeline management, quota allocation and individual deal pursuitLine management of the European sales teamSalesOps tooling, methodology and CRM governanceGlobal product roadmap and pricing architecture. The European application of the pricing architecture sits with the Managing Director 6. RequirementsExperienceThe profile below describes the depth of experience the role calls for. It is intended to calibrate assessment, not to act as a checklist. A candidate who is light on one point but demonstrably strong on the others should be considered.Core Long commercial leadership experience, with substantial time spent in full P&L ownership at country, regional or business-unit level. We are looking for depth and genuine ownership of the result rather than a set number of yearsDemonstrated experience of scaling a business through a step change in revenue while improving structural profitability, not only volumeExperience of leading through senior managers, that is a management team rather than individual contributors onlyCommand of the commercial mechanics of an industrial business – pricing, contribution margin, contract terms, service and warranty economics, working capital Desired Sector background from energy, infrastructure, power electronics, or industrial technology. Commercial judgement and P&L ownership transfer more readily than product familiarity, which can be builtP&L responsibility in more than one company or market, which broadens the judgement the role draws onExperience of leading a business through both growth and contraction – a full market cycle, a downturn, or a restructuring where the cost base had to be taken downExperience of integration, restructuring or post-merger environmentsExperience of operating a legal entity in Germany Capabilities Organisational leadership at scale, including restructuring and difficult people decisions, leading through senior managersExecutive-level credibility within the industryAbility to operate in genuine partnership with a strong VP Sales Europe under a split reporting structure, and to hold a position when the two disagree Language English required. German a strong advantage. 7. Performance measures Order intake and contribution margin – both, not one at the expense of the otherPrice realisation and margin protection against discount pressureCost base, cost-to-serve and working capital disciplineGrowth in recurring and aftermarket revenueStrength, depth and retention of the European organisationForecast accuracy 8. TermsBase salary, performance-linked variable tied to European P&L delivery, and long-term incentive. Structure to be confirmed. Significant travel required.
