Shakespeare - Business Manager - Marine

SHAKESPEARE COMPANY LLC, a Jadex Inc. company, is a US-based manufacturer of both industrial and consumer products for a wide variety of industries and applications. 

Shakespeare® industrial products are tailored to the customer’s unique needs and include custom engineered nylon resins, performance monofilaments, and conductive fibers used as raw materials in finished goods ranging from automotive components to medical applications.  The company operates under the Shakespeare®, Rino-Tuff®, and Weed Warrior® brands in the lawn & garden category and is a major player in the mass merchant channel as the primary universal fit solution for trimmer line, heads, and accessories.  The brand is known worldwide within the marine electronics industry for marine radio antennas with a portfolio of connectivity solutions and accessories to help keep boaters connected and safe.  Maintaining communications is of utmost importance to military forces across the world and Shakespeare®’s line of military antenna products plays a critical role in achieving mission success.

The Business Manager – Marine is the commercial lead for the global marine electronics product line and is responsible for improving our market position and delivering the revenue, gross profit margin, and segment earnings targets for each budget year.

Specific responsibilities for the Business Manager will fall into several categories, including building and maintaining important client relationships, pursuing sales leads and prospective clients, delivering customer presentations and proposals, negotiating and closing business transactions with key customers, developing business plans that include marketing strategies, maintaining and communicating sales forecasts, maintaining an extensive knowledge of current market conditions, and reporting to key staff and marine team members.

This position can be summarized as follows:

1. Execute a global strategy for Sales and Gross Margin growth in line with corporate objectives and building contingency plans to ensure consistent delivery of targeted growth.
2. Identify/create new business opportunities in the marine electronics channel. To be successful, it is imperative to stay close to customers, sales representatives, distributors, suppliers and consumers to develop a comprehensive portfolio of products that will deliver the growth for our Marine business growth.
3. Manage Key Accounts and develop a global standard for delivering sales presentations and determining standardized program elements.
4. Manage staff of Sales, Product Management and Customer Service to deliver best-in-class products and customer service. This includes shared management of international Sales personnel with Managing Director of Shakespeare UK.
5. Define and execute global marketing strategy to solidify and strengthen Shakespeare’s position in the market.

Key Responsibilities
(Other duties may be assigned)

1. Identify new product opportunities and work successfully with the Product Development Engineer to develop and launch the products to the market.
2. Develop & manage the annual Marine Electronics business plan and strategic initiatives.
3. Manage and revise annual business plans, budgets, and forecasts as needed.
4. Identify and execute marketing and promotional vehicles to deliver Sales and Gross Margin plan.
5. Coordinate customer meetings, sales calls, and communications related to sales programs and opportunities.
6. Analyze market trends and customer needs to identify new business development opportunities.
7. Develop dynamic business presentations and implement a presentation standard to be executed globally.
8. Establish and communicate annual sales quotas to the Sales Representatives and provide them with sales reports in a timely manner.
9. Manage all Sales Representative contracts and drive year over year improvement.
10. Work with the entire Marine Electronics team to develop a global Marine sales program.
11. Via regular communications with the customers and sales reps, provide product needs and forecasting to the Supply Chain Team to ensure appropriate stock levels and product availability.
12. Attend trade shows and industry association events to solidify and improve the company’s visibility and market position.

13. Ensure compliance with all legal requirements for products and packaging.

14. Provide in-depth market, industry and competitive analysis and positioning.

15. Participate in opportunities to develop both personally and professionally.

Required Skills

• Display a high level of critical thinking in cross-functional process analysis and problem resolution for new and existing products.
• Excellent teamwork skills including international team exposure.
• Ability to lead teams and drive projects to completion.
• Ability to exercise tact and good interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority.
• Project management skills.
• Group facilitation skills.
• Time management skills.
• Analytical skills.
• Problem solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills.
• Ability to be pro-active with a strong sense of urgency and attention to detail.
• Ability to read, understand and communicate technical documentation.
• Be a self-starter, a highly motivated person able to work in a fast-paced environment that is continually changing.

Required Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or Engineering (MBA preferred)
• 7-10 years of relevant sales experience (marine category preferred)
• Experience in strategic planning, marketing, and product development preferred

The above statements describe the general nature and level of responsibilities for this position, and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of this position. Company management may assign other relevant, business-related duties.

At Jadex, we don’t just accept difference — we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products, and our community. Jadex is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.