Distribution Channel Manager

Overview

FUCHS is the world's largest independent supplier of innovative lubrication solutions, covering almost every industry and application. Our products and solutions keep the world moving; our 6,000+ employees in over 50 countries are visible through their entrepreneurial spirit, ideas, and skills.

Location:

Harvey, IL, US, 60426

Moving your world by focusing on your success:

FUCHS offers a challenging and rewarding working environment where employees are encouraged to develop and grow. We stand behind our core values: trust, creating value, respect, reliability, and integrity. Our culture fosters creativity and empowerment, values work/life balance, and gives you the freedom to excel. We aim to nurture your capabilities, ideas, and career.

FUCHS offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience in a similar position. The salary range for this position is up to $160,000 per year and up to three manager shares, but actual salary will vary depending upon experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• The Distribution Channel Manager reports to the Vice President of Commercial Excellence and is responsible for developing and optimizing FUCHS’s distributor network across all divisions in the United States including:
  Industrial, Specialty, Automotive, and Mining. This role builds the channel into a true extension of the FUCHS commercial organization, driving distributor performance, market coverage, and profitable growth across the full FUCHS portfolio. Working closely with Pricing, Demand Planning, Customer Service, and Marketing, the Distribution Channel Manager equips distributor partners to shift from order-taking to consultative selling of the complete lubricants-plus offering, including technical services, oil analysis, and reliability programs.
• Develop, manage, and continuously evaluate the distributor network and channel structure recommending additions, exits, or territory realignments, onboarding new partners in underserved territories, and establishing clear territory assignments and account mapping to eliminate channel conflict.
• Develop annual joint business plans with each distributor including: volume targets, growth initiatives, product-mix goals, and marketing activities. Also responsible in setting budgets, goals, and growth targets aligned to FUCHS objectives.
• Establish distributor scorecards tracking sales growth, product-mix penetration, inventory turns, payment performance, and lead conversion, and conduct regular business reviews against plan.
• Collaborate with distributors to identify, pursue, and close new end-user business. Act as a technical and commercial resource and execute lead-generation programs through joint calls, end-user training, and product demonstration events.
• Support distributors in transitioning from order-taking to consultative selling, equipping their teams to position the full FUCHS lubricants-plus offering, including technical services, oil analysis, and reliability programs.
• Design and deliver product, application, and technical training for distributor sales teams, and develop certification or tiering programs that reward high-performing partners with enhanced support, co-marketing investment, and preferred positioning.
• Partner with Pricing, Demand Planning, Customer Service, and Marketing to ensure consistent pricing, product availability, and service levels, and to localize co-branded materials and campaigns for distributor deployment.
• Drive distributor adoption of FUCHS digital tools — ordering portals, technical resource libraries, and CRM-based opportunity tracking — and maintain accurate account business plans, performance reports, and pipeline updates in CRM.

Percentages indicate the approximate share of time dedicated to each area and may vary with the maturity of the channel and business priorities.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Science, or Business
• 5–10 years of lubricants distribution experience, with exposure across industrial, automotive, or specialty markets preferred
• Proven B2B sales experience in a technical field preferred
• Experience building or managing distributor scorecards,…