Regional Sales Manager at Essity North America Inc. in Chicago, Illinois

Job Description:

Regional Sales Manager - Professional Hygiene (Great Lakes)

Who We Are 

Essity is a global leader in health and hygiene with our corporate headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and North American headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. We are a multi-billion-dollar company that is committed to breaking barriers to well-being. Essity does this through innovative brands in the areas of Professional Hygiene, Consumer Goods, and Health & Medical Solutions.  

The TORK brand offers professional hygiene products and services to customers worldwide ranging from restaurants and healthcare facilities to offices, schools and industries. Our products include dispensers, paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, sanitizers, napkins, wipers, and also software solutions for data-driven cleaning. Through expertise in hygiene, functional design and sustainability, TORK has become a market leader that supports customers to think ahead so they’re always ready for business. TORK is a global brand of Essity, and a committed partner to customers in over 110 countries.

Working at Essity is not just a career; it is a chance to directly make the world a healthier, more hygienic and safer place. With impactful innovations coupled with sustainable solutions, we strive to reach more people every year with the necessary and essential solutions for well-being. At Essity you will find a caring and compassionate culture where we remain grounded in our beliefs & behaviors.  

At Essity: This Is What We Do

About The Role

Essity Professional Hygiene is looking for an experienced Regional Sales Manager. Management responsibilities will be to lead a sales region within the United States, with responsibility for sales results, and leading and executing the business strategy for Professional Hygiene – North America. The Reginal Sales Manager will assure that agreed sales growth, retention and profitability targets are achieved, according to set goals for the area of responsibility. The Regional Sales Manager is responsible for working in close collaboration with own Sales Director and the Commercial Planning team that is responsible for creating regional plans towards distribution partners. The Regional Sales Manager is responsible for end customers and distribution partners relationships and the development of those relationships. The Regional Sales Manager is to work in strong collaboration with National Distribution leads, Segment leads, Virtual Sales and Key Account Managers to incorporate end customer plans. Additionally, the Regional Sales Manager is responsible for implementing and executing North America Go-to-Market strategies and best practice standards and policy within the business and elevate the success of own Sales force team.

This will be a remote position responsible for covering the Great Lakes Region. The ideal candidate should live within the geographic region or near a major US international airport with ability to travel often.

We’re looking for people who embody our values, aren’t afraid to challenge, innovate, experiment, and move at a fast pace. We’re always looking for ways to improve our products and ourselves. If this is you, we’d love to talk.  

What You Will Do

• Secure implementation and goal achievement of agreed sales plan from the Sales Director and the Commercial team with sales force. Thought leader for team in market knowledge, segment, end customer and distribution partnerships.




• Builds and develops strong relationship with end customers and distribution partners with clear communication. Follows customer marketing directives, and overall BU directives, to ensure targets are met regarding distribution partners satisfaction and retention and profitable growth.




• Negotiates and owns Top-to-Top relationship with end customers & distribution partners in own area of responsibility. Creates end customer & distributions partner business plans.




• Leads own area of responsibility on sales forecast, business reviews, financial forecasts and agreed Sales KPI´s.




• P & L accountability for own area of responsibility according to agreed annual budget.




• Secures own area of responsibility Go-to Market business with optimal end customer & distribution partnerships set up including hygiene solutions, strategic product mix (which contributes to profitability) profitable growth, retention & churn according to agreed goals and budget.




• Secures agreed pricing levels aligned to strategic and local pricing benchmarks which contributes to profitable growth in own area of responsibility.




• Positions Essity and TORK as the partner of choice and preferred brand with end customer &-distribution partners in own area of responsibility.




• Builds and develops strong relationship and collaboration internally within sales and related functional teams such as Commercial Planning, Marketing, Logistics, E-Commerce, Sales Operations, HR etc.




• Actively develop own sales force competence in own organization and secure talent pipeline succession for the NA S & M organization and is regularly doing active performance management.




• Insures that self and own sales force has a high degree of competence that it is correlating with the organizational capability demands such as knowledge and skills in and of sales & business systems, sales & sales technique, analytics, leadership, product-& hygiene solutions, customer & organizational & administration competence.




• Leads own organization according to Essity Leadership platform “Leading People”.




• Leads & develops own sales force in order to achieve maximum efficiency for NA S & M.

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s degree desired, preferably in business or sales & marketing. Experience in lieu of education will be considered.




• 10+ years of proven successful sales and business leadership




• Ability to travel overnight 40% of the time to domestic locations




• Proven experience from Sales B2B.




• Prior experience working in a matrixed organization and cross-functional team atmosphere.




• Have successfully lead change.




• Demonstrated capability to understand growth strategies and translate those into practical sales plans and best practices.




• Excellent Business acumen and sound sales financial understanding.




• Strong negotiation skills – is able independently negotiate with top customers within area of responsibility. ​




• Digital savviness – Experience working CRM systems (i.e. Microsoft Dynamics) preferred and working knowledge of Microsoft Office




• Questions the status quo, explores new possibilities, proposes change initiatives.




• Customer success obsession and a bold passion for working towards results and customer satisfaction. 




• Well-structured and strong planning skills – are able to tailor made offers for customers and provide added value and insight for customers.​




• Strong executional skills – Important to follow through and execute on business intent.​




• Excellent leadership impact and ability to coach, develop and challenge own team regarding their development needs, gaps and operational plans. 




• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships on all levels




• Ability to set goals and have the drive to achieve them, both personally and for direct reports




• Strong drive for results and sense of urgency




• Confidence in own ability to succeed and possess a winning attitude.

About Our DEI Culture 

Guided by our Beliefs & Behavior, our culture is the foundation that connects our history with our future. At Essity, care, collaboration and inclusion are more than buzzwords, they are practiced on an everyday basis. And with a purpose of breaking barriers to wellbeing, promoting gender equality and enable customers and consumers to lead a fuller life at all stages of life, DEI is in our core. 

As we work in diverse teams across geographies, cultures and professional areas, inclusive leadership is something we expect from ourselves and each other. In our leadership platform, we express this as leveraging the power of differences. From experience we know that diverse and inclusive teams are key to innovate and profitably grow our business while simultaneously address our ambitious climate targets. 

What We Can Offer You 

At Essity, we believe every career is as unique as the individual and empower employees to reach their full potential in a winning culture motivated by a powerful purpose. 

Compensation and Benefits

$140,000 - $155,000/annual salary range + annual sales incentive + benefits 

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors such as knowledge, skills, and experience.  

Along with competitive pay you will be eligible for the following benefits: 

• United Healthcare PPO / EyeMed Vision Insurance / Delta Dental Insurance 




• Wellness program provided through Rally  




• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 




• 401(k) with employer match and annual employer base contribution 




• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance 




• Employee Assistance Program 




• PTO offering with Paid Holidays 




• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, and accident insurance 

• Employee discounts program 




• Scholarship program for children of Essity employees.   

Collaborative and Caring Culture | Empowerment & Engaged People | Work with Impact and A Powerful Purpose | Individual Learning & Career Growth | Health & Safety Priority | Sustainable Value Together| Innovation| Sustainable Working Life | Competitive Total Rewards 

Additional Information

The Company is committed to equal employment opportunity and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified candidates and employees pursuant to applicable law. We value and encourage diversity and solicit applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

If you require reasonable accommodation as part of the application process please contact EssityHRNorthAmerica@essity.com

Together, we are improving lives, every day

Working at Essity is not just a career; it is a chance to directly make the world a healthier, more hygienic and safer place. With impactful innovations coupled with sustainable solutions, we strive to reach more people every year with the necessary and essential solutions for well-being.

Application End Date: