General Manager Sales China (Printing, Packaging, Paper, Chemicals, Coating)

Asia-Pacific Management Consulting GmbH (APMC) is a renowned consulting firm in Germany. Since its founding in 1997, we have supported more than 600 German companies to expand their business in Asia and China. Please see our website www.asia-pacific.de for more information.

Our client is a leading German company with global annual sales of over €1 billion. A 90% joint venture (our client: 90%, Chinese: 10%) was established in China with a production facility (210 staff) in a city 2 hours from Shanghai (with direct high-speed train connection). Current annual sales are RMB 300-400 million (with 5 salespersons and growing/hiring, sold direct to factories in China). To support the company's rapid growth in China, we are seeking an experienced, sales-oriented General Manager with over 10 years of B2B sales experience and at least 3 years of experience as a General Manager (with P&L responsibility) of a production company in China. The candidate will be hired as CSO (Chief Sales Officer, equivalent to General Manager Sales + Board Member) and has the prospective to be promoted to CEO after 6-12 months when the current CEO returns to Germany.

General Manager Sales China (Printing, Packaging, Paper, Chemicals, Coating)

Main tasks

• Overall responsibility for the strategic and commercial management of the business in China, including P&L responsibility. The goal is profitable growth and sustainable market leadership.resulting in a strong balance sheet structure, stable cash flow for further growth and sustainable profitability.
• Development and implementation of a targeted market expansion and growth strategybased on an active value proposition in the market with a clear focus on customer proximity and differentiation from the competition.
• Holistic management and further development of a high-performance organizational structure with direct responsibility for the sales organization, which achieves ambitious sales, revenue and earnings targets as well as healthy working capital targets.
• Representing the company at the highest level to key customers, government agencies, industry associations and strategic partners.
• Building a strong network at the location and in the market as the basis for a long-term, profit-oriented growth strategy
• Ensuring the local implementation of global strategies, taking into account regional market requirements and cultural circumstances.
• Promote a culture of accountability, results orientation, customer focus and continuous improvement.
• Close cross-functional collaboration with R&D, production, supply chain and global business units to ensure customer-centric product and service delivery.
• Member of the global executive management team as Governor APA and responsible for P&L, balance sheet and cash flow for China.

Leadership & intercultural competence

• Inspiring leader with the ability to motivate and develop diverse teams in different functions – with a particular focus on building local specialists and managers.
• Building and establishing a performance-oriented leadership culture based on trust, empowerment and entrepreneurial thinking.
• Bridge builder between Western and Chinese ways of thinking and working with high cultural sensitivity and adaptability.
• Ability to combine strategic vision with operational implementation strength and to act as a driving force.

Experience & Qualifications

• Completed university degree (business administration, engineering, etc.), ideally engineering/technical studies supplemented by an MBA.
• At least 15 years of professional experience, including at least 10 years sales in B2B and at least 3 years of experience as a managing director or general manager (with P&L responsibility) of a production company.
• Proven success in building business and growing sales in China, ideally in industries such as printing, packaging, paper, chemicals, coating or related industries.
• Deep understanding of China's economic, regulatory and cultural environment.
• Strong strategic thinking combined with excellent implementation skills.
• Convincing communication and negotiation skills at all levels of the company and with external partners.
• Experience in international companies with a western corporate structure.
• Fluent in English and Mandarin. German will be a big plus, but not a must.
• Willingness to travel within China and internationally.

If you are interested in our opportunity, please send your resume in English or German to CEO-China@apmc.de
You will be personally informed for web interviews when short-listed.