APAC Sales Director

The APAC Sales Director leads all commercial activities across the Asia-Pacific region. This role is accountable for delivering profitable growth across core segments (glass, industrial, chemicals) as well as managing the distribution and agent portfolio across a highly diverse, multi-market geography.

The position blends strategic leadership with front-line execution—owning key customer relationships, driving pricing discipline, and leading a lean regional commercial organisation across multiple time zones, cultures, and trade corridors in a supply-constrained, globally traded commodity environment.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Leadership & Growth

• Own regional sales delivery (revenue, volume, margin)
• Develop and execute a differentiated commercial strategy balancing contract exposure
• Drive portfolio mix improvement

Market Leadership

• Lead commercial strategy across core segments and SME and distribution
• Navigate global supply/demand dynamics, logistics constraints, and trade competitiveness
• Optimize allocation decisions to maximize value

Key Account & Channel Management

• Own relationships with strategic regional and multinational customers as well as regional resellers and distributors
• Lead complex contract negotiations
• Manage and optimise distributor networks where applicable

Pricing & Margin Management

• Establish and enforce pricing governance aligned with global benchmarks and regional dynamics
• Drive disciplined execution of price increases, surcharges, and contract resets
• Partner closely with finance to monitor contribution margins and profitability

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing APAC commercial team
• Build strong commercial capabilities in negotiation, value selling, and market intelligence
• Set clear KPIs and drive accountability across the region

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Partner with supply chain and operations on demand planning, allocation, and service reliability
• Align with product management on portfolio strategy and innovation priorities
• Support logistics optimisation across domestic and export flows

Forecasting & Market Intelligence

• Lead robust demand forecasting and sales & operations planning inputs
• Provide actionable insights on competitor behaviour, pricing trends, and end-market demand

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 10+ years of commercial experience in industrial minerals, chemicals, or adjacent commodity markets
• Fluent in English. Business fluency in other languages in the region are desired – Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, etc.
• Demonstrated success managing large, contract-heavy B2B accounts in cyclical or supply-constrained environments
• Deep knowledge of APAC markets, including China, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, and Australia; familiarity with regional trade flows, container logistics, and import/export dynamics