Professional Regional Sales Manager

Company Overview

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

Job Category

Sales, Marketing & Product Management

Position Summary

Embark on your sales career with hands-on training and mentorship. This exciting opportunity equips you with the skills and experience needed to thrive as a successful Regional Sales Manager (RSM). Collaborate with seasoned professionals, gaining valuable insights into sales, marketing, and relationship-building with key accounts.

The Professional Regional Sales Manager plays a pivotal role in our organization’s growth strategy.

Designed as a bridge between foundational training and full ownership of a sales territory, this position prepares you for the responsibilities of an RSM. As an Associate RSM, you’ll closely collaborate with experienced professionals, acquiring essential knowledge in sales, marketing, and relationship management within the replacement channel portfolio.

This position involves account management and the expansion of key accounts, with an emphasis on mid to long-term planning and direct sales of various products, services, and solutions across multiple business lines for a specific set of existing clients. The ideal candidate will address issues effectively, ensuring that customers receive top-notch service.

They will also aid in the creation of client retention and growth strategies, and in the development of profitable business with assigned accounts.

This role necessitates up to 50% overnight travel and compensation is based on the achievement of sales targets.

• Our ideal candidate would live in the Midwest Market: Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, or Illinois*

Responsibilities

Learning and Development

• Collaborate with the RSM team and Zone Managers to understand the intricacies of the replacement channel business.
• Participate in training sessions, workshops, and field visits to acquire product knowledge, sales techniques, and market insights.
• Shadow experienced RSMs and Zone Managers during customer interactions, presentations, and negotiations to develop sound understanding of needs to drive sales and profitability.

Market Research and Analysis

• Assist in conducting market research, competitor analysis, and trend assessments.
• Compile data on market competitiveness, customer preferences, and industry dynamics.
• Contribute to quarterly reports on market conditions and opportunities.

Relationship Building

• Establish and nurture relationships with distribution partners, dealers, and end users.

Sales Support

• Assist in creating and executing annual territory business plans.
• Collaborate with the RSM team to develop strategies for maximizing market share.
• Contribute to pricing discussions and promotional initiatives.

Support Business Case Construction

• Support development of business cases to justify, set up, alter, or discontinue essential elements such as credit terms/extensions, pricing, programming, and product allocation.

Support Stakeholder Coordination

• Support organizing and deploying key internal stakeholders for dealer and end-user field-based training and education efforts focused on product portfolio, value drivers, features, benefits and proper application.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Network with cross-functional teammates across business units to collaborate on efforts focused on growing and developing relationships with key customers and stakeholders, gathering market and customer feedback, developing selling strategies, developing industry metrics, and focusing on Joint Business Plans (JBPs).

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in business administration, marketing, or a related field.
• Minimum 2 years of experience (or an advanced degree).
• Strong communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.

At Bridgestone, you are Free to Be

We believe people can only provide superior service and quality to others when they bring their whole self to work. We believe in championing all perspectives, individuals and teams because we understand the importance of seeing the world and our business through many different lenses. We are building a team as diverse as the world we serve. So, show us what you are made of, because who you are is what we need.

What we offer

At Bridgestone, what really matters is to foster co-creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations.

Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to “Serve Society with Superior Quality”, for that, we offer you more than just a competitive compensation; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.
• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.
• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.
• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long-term well-being.
• A diverse and inclusive team.

Bridgestone is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is our policy to consider for employment all individuals regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Employment Eligibility

If hired, a Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification must be completed at the start of employment. Temporary work authorization or the need for sponsorship may disqualify you from employment.