Director of Sales and Marketing - Columbia/Okura

At Columbia we come to work every day driven by the belief that innovation can transform industries, empower communities, and create a more efficient, sustainable world.
With operations spanning five continents and a commitment to excellence in service and support, our purpose extends beyond engineering advanced equipment. We are pioneering innovation and paving a better tomorrow with factory automation solutions worldwide.

Summary: The Director of Sales & Marketing is Columbia/Okura's senior commercial leader responsible for all sales, marketing, business development, customer engagement, and market expansion activities. This role leads the development and execution of growth strategies designed to increase revenue, profitability, market share, customer satisfaction, and brand recognition throughout the Western Hemisphere, including Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

The Director of Sales & Marketing serves as a strategic partner to the President and leadership team, translating corporate objectives into actionable sales and marketing plans. The position is responsible for driving profitable growth through multiple sales channels including direct sales personnel, independent manufacturers' representatives, engineering and design-build firms, OEM partners, systems integrators, and strategic channel relationships.

Success in this role requires the ability to combine traditional consultative selling and relationship management with modern digital selling methodologies, AI-enabled sales tools, data analytics, marketing automation, and social selling strategies.

The Director of Sales & Marketing is expected to create a high-performance culture focused on customer success, technical expertise, accountability, continuous improvement, and commercial excellence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

- Align sales and marketing strategies with company strategic plans and long-term growth objectives.

- Translate strategic initiatives into measurable departmental goals and action plans.

- Develop and maintain annual sales plans, marketing plans, budgets, forecasts, and growth strategies.

- Identify emerging markets, industries, customer segments, technologies, and partnership opportunities.

- Monitor competitive activity, industry trends, and market conditions.

- Participate in company strategic planning and leadership activities.

- Drive profitable growth while maintaining target margins and business objectives.

Sales Leadership

- Establish annual, quarterly, and monthly sales objectives.

- Lead all commercial activities related to prospecting, account management, pipeline development, forecasting, and customer growth.

- Develop and execute strategic account plans for key customers and target industries.

- Establish effective territory assignments and channel coverage plans.

- Monitor opportunity pipelines and forecast accuracy.

- Participate directly in major customer pursuits, contract negotiations, and executive-level customer meetings.

- Review and approve major quotations, proposals, contracts, and supply agreements.

- Ensure disciplined execution of Columbia/Okura's consultative sales process.

Marketing Leadership

- Lead the development and execution of the company's overall marketing strategy.

- Ensure alignment between marketing initiatives and sales objectives.

- Oversee:

Branding strategy

- Website development and optimization

- Digital marketing campaigns

- Trade show programs

- Industry events

- Public relations activities

- Content marketing

- Product launches

- Lead generation programs

- Customer engagement campaigns

- Develop thought leadership programs that position Columbia/Okura as an industry leader in robotic palletizing and automation.

- Measure and improve marketing effectiveness through analytics and ROI measurement.

Customer and Market Development

- Maintain relationships with key customers and strategic accounts.

- Regularly visit customer facilities to identify opportunities and strengthen executive relationships.

- Develop new customer relationships and strategic partnerships.

- Support channel partners, manufacturers' representatives, OEMs, and systems integrators.

- Actively identify and pursue new market opportunities and emerging applications.

- Ensure superior customer experience throughout the sales and project lifecycle.

Cross-Functional Leadership

- Partner with Engineering, Applications, Service, Operations, Project Management, and Finance to ensure successful customer outcomes.

- Coordinate internal resources to provide responsive and timely customer support.

- Ensure effective handoff from sales to project execution.

- Advocate for customer interests throughout the organization.

- Promote collaboration and communication across departments.

Digital Selling & Commercial Excellence

- Success in this position requires expertise in modern digital selling technologies and data-driven sales management.

- The Director of Sales & Marketing is expected to champion and actively utilize:

CRM & Sales Technology

- Sugar CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent systems.

- Pipeline management and opportunity tracking.

- Forecasting and performance analytics.

- Customer lifecycle management.

- Sales activity reporting and KPI dashboards.

Social Selling

- LinkedIn Sales Navigator and related prospecting tools.

- Executive-level digital networking.

- Personal and corporate brand development.

- Customer engagement through social platforms.

- Digital lead generation and account targeting.

Marketing Automation

- Marketing automation platforms.

- Email nurturing campaigns.

- SEO and SEM strategies.

- Website analytics.

- Lead scoring and conversion management.

- Webinar and virtual event technologies.

Artificial Intelligence & Sales Productivity Tools

- The Director is expected to lead adoption of modern AI-enabled business tools such as:

- Microsoft Copilot

- Generative AI platforms

- Proposal development software

- Research automation tools

- Customer intelligence platforms

- Market analysis technologies

- These tools should be leveraged to improve customer engagement, sales productivity, proposal quality, forecasting accuracy, and overall commercial effectiveness.

Talent Development

- Recruit, develop, coach, mentor, and retain high-performing sales and marketing personnel.

- Conduct regular coaching sessions, field visits, and performance reviews.

- Create succession plans and leadership development opportunities.

- Foster a culture of continuous learning and professional growth.

- Lead departmental continuous improvement initiatives.

- Ensure team members remain current on products, technologies, markets, and sales methodologies.

Supervisory Responsibilities

- Responsible for the overall direction, coordination, development, and performance of all direct reports.

- Establish clear goals, accountability measures, and performance expectations.

- Recruit, interview, hire, develop, and retain top talent.

- Administer performance evaluations, coaching, corrective measures, and recognition programs.

- Lead organizational planning and resource allocation within the Sales and Marketing organization.

- Drive employee engagement and professional development.

Competencies

Leadership

- Inspires, develops, and motivates teams to achieve ambitious business goals.

- Creates alignment between individual objectives and organizational strategy.

Commercial Excellence

- Expert understanding of consultative sales, capital equipment sales processes, and strategic account management.

- Ability to develop and execute growth strategies.

Digital Business Acumen

- Strong understanding of CRM, digital selling, marketing automation, AI technologies, and data analytics.

- Ability to leverage technology to improve commercial performance.

Communication

- Exceptional verbal, written, presentation, and executive communication skills.

Strategic Thinking

- Ability to evaluate business opportunities, market conditions, and long-term growth initiatives.

Customer Focus

- Builds trusted relationships and consistently delivers customer value.

Financial Acumen

- Strong understanding of financial analysis, forecasting, budgeting, profitability, and business performance metrics.

Innovation

- Demonstrates creativity, adaptability, problem-solving capability, and a continuous improvement mindset.

Knowledge, Skills and/or Abilities:

Knowledge

- CRM platforms (Sugar CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent).

- Microsoft Office Suite.

- Digital marketing technologies.

- AI-enabled productivity and selling tools.

- Packaging automation, robotics, material handling, or industrial automation industries.

Skills

- Strategic planning.

- Leadership and team development.

- Business development.

- Negotiation and contract management.

- Financial analysis.

- Forecasting.

- Data analytics.

- Presentation and communication.

- Project coordination.

Abilities

- Ability to travel extensively throughout assigned territories and markets.

- Ability to analyze market data and sales performance metrics.

- Ability to lead complex commercial initiatives.

- Ability to develop relationships across all customers organizational levels.

- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Education and/or Experience:

- Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or related field required.

- MBA or advanced degree preferred.

- Minimum 10 years of progressive sales leadership experience.

- Experience in packaging machinery, automation, robotics, material handling, industrial equipment, or related capital equipment industries preferred.

- Demonstrated success leading multi-channel sales organizations.

- Proven track record of achieving revenue growth and profitability objectives.

- Experience leading both sales and marketing functions strongly preferred.

- Experience with CRM systems, digital marketing, and modern digital selling methodologies required.

Physical Demands   (The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions) :

Columbia Okura offers a full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, prescription drug, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, short and long term disability, 401(k), incentive compensation, paid holidays, paid time off, and tuition reimbursement. Equal Opportunity Employer - Women and Minorities are encouraged to apply. Columbia does participate in E-Verify. To apply for this exciting career opportunity today, please apply online at www.columbiamachine.com
Job Type: Full-time
Benefits:
•    401(k)
•    401(k) matching
•    Dental insurance
•    Employee assistance program
•    Flexible spending account
•    Health insurance
•    Life insurance
•    Paid time off
•    Professional development assistance
•    Referral program
•    Tuition reimbursement
•    Vision insurance

Schedule:
•    8 hour shift
•    Day shift
•    Monday to Friday
Ability to commute/relocate:
•    Vancouver, WA 98661: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)
Work Location: In person

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills and/or Abilities: 
Knowledge- Software
•    (CRM) Customer Relationship Management – Sugar or SalesForce preferred
•    Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) 
Skills
•    Analytical, organizational, communication (written and oral), and problem-solving 
•    Building interpersonal relationships with customers and internal and external staff
•    Technical aptitude, ability to deal with abstract and concrete variables with high attention to detail         
•    project management 
Abilities
•    Ability and willingness to travel as needed (Clients, Territory Agents, Channel Partners, Trade shows, Trade Associations, etc.)
•    Spread sheet development and analysis
•    Mathematics: Accounting and Financial mechanics and analysis
•    Sales forecasting
•    Technical data analysis

Education and/or Experience:                               
•    Bachelor’s Degree required
•    Advanced Degree preferred
•    Ten(10) + years of professional experience      
•    Proven success in meeting and/or exceeding monthly, quarterly and annual sales growth