Sales Manager

We're hiring a true hunter who can also close—someone who thrives on finding the right customers, getting in the door, building relationships from cold, and carrying deals all the way through to signed agreements. You'll take direction from our Head of Sales on which customer profiles to pursue, then own the full funnel: research, identification, outreach, qualification, Proof of Concept (POC) test, pricing negotiation, and close.

This is a full-cycle role with real ownership. You'll build your own pipeline rather than inherit one, and you'll be accountable for converting it into revenue.

Chicagoland preferred but remote in the Midwest an option.

• Take target customer profiles from the Head of Sales and translate them into a concrete account list
• Research target accounts deeply—understand their operations, scrap/metal-loss pain points, decision-makers, and buying triggers
• Identify and reach the right contacts through cold outreach (email, phone, Linked In, events, industry channels)
• Build genuine relationships with technical and economic buyers at foundries, metal suppliers, and producers
• Qualify leads rigorously and advance them to a committed POC test
• Partner with the technical team to scope and run POCs, then translate results into a business case the buyer can champion internally
• Lead pricing and commercial negotiation and close deals, navigating multi-stakeholder approvals and procurement
• Maintain a clean, well-documented pipeline and forecast accurately against quota
• Hand off closed customers cleanly to the team responsible for deployment and account growth

• A steady, growing pipeline of qualified accounts moving through POC to close
• Closed-won revenue against quota, with accurate forecasting along the way
• A reputation with prospects as a credible, persistent, well-prepared contact who understands their economics
• Repeatable playbooks that shorten the path from first touch to signed deal

• A self-starter who is energized by hunting—comfortable with cold outreach and rejection, relentless about follow-up
• A proven closer with a track record of owning large-ticket deals from first contact through signature
• Strong research instincts; you figure out who matters at an account and what they care about
• Excellent written and verbal communication; you can earn a busy operator's attention and hold a room of plant managers and finance leads
• Commercially sharp—comfortable building ROI cases, structuring proposals, and negotiating price and terms
• Organized and disciplined about pipeline hygiene, forecasting, and follow-through
• Coachable—you take direction well and act on it fast
• 5+ years of experience in large-ticket, full-cycle B2B sales

• Experience selling into industrial, manufacturing, metals, or capital-equipment markets
• Familiarity with technical or hardware sales and longer, consultative sales cycles
• Experience with pilot- or POC-led sales motions and converting trials into contracts
• Comfort discussing operational/financial value (cost of scrap loss, yield, recovery economics)
• Early-stage startup experience where you built pipeline and process from scratch

Final title and compensation will reflect the depth of your experience in metals or trading.