District Manager, Food Manufacturing

Role Summary

The District Manager is responsible for driving profitable sales growth, strengthening customer relationships, and leading the sales and service team within the assigned district.

The role develops and executes the district business strategy, manages sales performance, and ensures the effective delivery of Ecolab’s products, services, and technical solutions. In addition to leading the district team, the District Manager will personally manage selected strategic customer accounts and pursue new business opportunities.

Key Responsibilities

District Business Management

• Develop and execute the district business plan, sales strategy, and customer-growth priorities.
• Achieve district sales, profitability, customer-retention, and account-growth targets.
• Prepare sales forecasts, budgets, workforce plans, and territory-coverage strategies.
• Establish sales and performance targets for the district team and regularly review progress.
• Monitor sales volume, opportunity pipelines, active pursuits, account performance, and market developments.
• Provide regular business updates, performance reports, and action plans to management.
• Structure and allocate sales and service territories to support effective customer coverage and business growth.

Sales and Business Development

• Develop and manage the district opportunity pipeline and account-acquisition plan.
• Pursue strategic prospects and lead customer proposals, commercial negotiations, and contract discussions.
• Implement sales initiatives, account action plans, and targeted price increases.
• Monitor competitor activities, customer trends, and market developments, and communicate relevant insights to management.
• Plan and conduct customer seminars, technical presentations, and other activities that promote Ecolab’s products, services, and solutions.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the account managers and service team to achieve individual and business objectives.
• Manage employee performance and provide regular coaching, feedback, training, and development support.
• Ensure team members possess the required sales, technical, product, and customer-management capabilities.
• Create a collaborative and accountable team environment focused on customer service, safety, and performance.
• Supervise and train sales representatives to achieve agreed sales and service targets.
• Recognise development needs and implement appropriate capability-building plans.
• Monitor sales incentive payments to ensure alignment with established performance outcomes.

Technical Service and Customer Value Delivery

• Oversee the sales and technical service delivery of Ecolab’s product and service offerings within the district.
• Ensure customers receive consistent, high-quality service and technical support.
• Coordinate the appropriate sales, service, and technical resources to address customer needs.
• Support the resolution of technical, operational, and service-related issues, escalating where appropriate.
• Maintain high levels of customer satisfaction by ensuring quality and compliance.
• Identify and communicate the measurable value delivered through Ecolab programmes and solutions.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in food science, microbiology, chemical engineering, chemistry, environmental engineering or related discipline.
• At least ten years of experience in:

• Food or beverage manufacturing, including production, QA or QC; and/or
• Sales or business development within F&B, food safety, industrial hygiene or water treatment.

• Good understanding of food-manufacturing operations and customer needs.
• Experience developing business plans, qualifying opportunities, presenting value propositions and closing deals.
• Ability to engage plant stakeholders across multiple functions and organisational levels.
• Exposure to CIP, sanitation, industrial water treatment, process utilities or sustainability improvement is advantageous.
• Strong people management, commercial judgement, communication, analytical and relationship-management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in industrial water treatment, specialty chemicals, or a related technical-service industry.
• Experience managing both a district team and strategic customer accounts.
• Strong understanding of sales and technical-service delivery models.
• Demonstrated ability to drive profitable growth, develop talent, and improve customer retention.
• Ability to work effectively across sales, service, technical, and functional support teams.