Commercial Director

Eileen Richards Recruitment; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A specialist recruitment firm seeks a Commercial Director for a respected engineering group in the East Midlands. You will be responsible for defining and driving the commercial strategy while leading teams to establish strategic partnerships. Ideal candidates will have a strong background in food machinery, excellent communication skills, and proven experience in achieving substantial growth in engineering or industrial sectors. This role offers an attractive salary and significant responsibilities in a manufacturing environment.

Benefits

Bonus & benefits depending on experience

Qualifications

• Proven experience in food-related industrial manufacturing or automation.
• Track record in executing strategies that promote growth.
• Strong analytical and commercial skills are required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a cohesive commercial growth strategy.
• Lead sales and business development efforts.
• Build strategic relationships with key clients.

Skills

Senior commercial leadership

Developing commercial strategies

Managing complex engineered solutions

Excellent communication

Financial literacy

Team leadership

Job description

Commercial Director (Engineering / Machinery Manufacturing)

Leicestershire

c£90,000p.a. + bonus & benefits, depending on experience.

• Are you a commercially driven leader ready to accelerate growth within a high-performing engineering and manufacturing environment?
• Do you have a proven record in selling complex, technical machinery or turnkey engineering solutions within the food machinery sector?
• Are you passionate about shaping strategy, building partnerships, and leading teams to deliver exceptional customer and commercial outcomes?

The Company :

ER Recruitment are working with an established and ambitious engineering group with a reputation for delivering bespoke food-processing machinery and automation solutions. With significant investment and expansion ahead, they are now seeking a forward-thinking Commercial Director to lead the group’s sales and growth strategy across multiple specialist divisions. This is a senior opportunity to define and drive the commercial direction of a fast-growing manufacturing group, leading strategy, partnerships and business development to achieve ambitious growth goals.

Role & Responsibilities of the Commercial Director :

• Develop and implement a cohesive commercial growth strategy to increase turnover, market share and profitability across the Group’s engineering and manufacturing operations.
• Lead and inspire sales, business development and marketing, fostering a high-performance, customer‑centric culture.
• Identify, qualify and convert new market opportunities, building strategic relationships with key clients and industry partners.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, operations and project delivery teams to ensure commercial opportunities are technically achievable and deliverable.
• Oversee brand positioning, marketing communications and value propositions to ensure differentiation and consistency across the Group.
• Working closely with finance, drive pricing strategy, margin improvement and commercial performance through robust analysis, data insight and board‑level reporting.
• Evaluate new market, product and acquisition opportunities, presenting clear business cases to support strategic investment decisions.
• Represent the business externally at trade shows, networking events and customer meetings, acting as an ambassador for the company’s engineering excellence and innovation.

About You as the Commercial Director :

• Proven senior commercial leadership experience within food‑related industrial manufacturing, packaging, process equipment or automation sectors.
• Strong track record in developing and executing commercial strategies that deliver sustained growth.
• Comfortable managing complex, bespoke engineered solutions with long sales cycles.
• Strategic, analytical and commercially astute, able to balance vision with practical execution.
• Excellent communicator and influencer with credibility at board, customer and partner level.
• Financially literate with deep understanding of pricing, margin management and profitability.
• Collaborative, dynamic and inspiring leader who can unite teams behind a shared commercial vision.

Please note by applying for this role you give consent for ER Recruitment to retain your CV for up to 24 months for the purposes of assisting you to find your next role unless you notify us otherwise.

While we aim to get back to all applicants, if you do not receive a response within 7 working days then unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.

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