Distribution Manager

SKF Group; Nilai; On-site; MYR 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SKF Group in Malaysia seeks a Distribution Sales Manager to drive sales operations across distributor networks in the Southern Territory. You will lead pricing governance, opportunities, contracts, and performance reviews to achieve growth and profitability targets, while ensuring disciplined execution across all distributors.

The role focuses on managing distributor relationships, data-driven insights, and cross-functional collaboration with sales, pricing, and finance teams to sustain

Qualifications

• Minimum 5-7 years working experience in business management at an international company.
• At least 3 years in a generalist management role with leadership experience.
• Proven track record in sales management and business development against targets.
• Experience establishing strategic and new business opportunities.
• Strong knowledge of product range and key industrial segments.
• Excellent English communication, with ability to travel domestically/internationally.

Responsibilities

• Manage distributor territory performance and ensure growth targets.
• Lead pricing governance, discount structures, and contract management.
• Drive opportunity management, quotes, and conversion across distributors.
• Monitor KPIs: sales growth, margin, stock rotation, and closures.
• Coordinate with pricing team on price support proposals.
• Prepare sales dashboards and provide insights to distributors.
• Ensure compliance with pricing policies and group rules.

Skills

Strategic Sales & Channel Management

Pricing & Commercial Excellence

Distributor Relationship Management

Data-Driven Decision Making

Negotiation & Contract Management

Leadership & Cross-Functional Collab

Job description

The Distribution Sales Manager is responsible for managing and driving sales operations excellence across Company’s organic business via distributor networks. This role ensures commercial governance, pricing discipline, and consistent execution across all our DDs, while leading performance improvement initiatives and supporting pricing and sales conversion activities. The incumbent will also own and lead the Southern Territory, managing distributor relationships, business growth, and operational execution in the region. This position serves as the focal point for all distributor commercial activities, including pricing support, opportunity management, contracts, communication, and business reviews.

Responsibilities:

What You'll Do

Distributor Territory Management

• Manage distributor business performance across all territories, ensuring alignment with company’s organic growth and profitability targets.

Sub-focus:

• Act as the main lead for Southern Territory distributors, responsible for sales growth, customer coverage, and operational excellence.
• Maintain strong relationships with distributors through regular business reviews, joint visits, and structured performance tracking.
• Monitor monthly order intake, stock positions, and order plans from distributors to ensure healthy sales pipeline and inventory balance.
• Implement corrective actions or development programs to address underperformance or compliance issues.
• Drive open quote follow-up to closure across all DDs, ensuring timely engagement and conversion.
• Track and monitor the win rate of organic distribution opportunities, identifying trends, risks, and improvement actions.
• Oversee and analyze C4C opportunity conversions for territory distributor accounts to ensure data accuracy and sales cadence.
• Conduct SPQ+ reviews and deep dive into high-value quotations (won/ lost) to extract insights and strengthen future pricing and negotiation strategies.
• Support the distribution territory managers in driving opportunity management discipline and maintaining visibility across the sales funnel.
• Conduct distributor mapping and pricing assessments for key and active accounts to ensurecompetitiveness and profitability across the distributor network.
• Manage all distributor contracts, price agreements, and discount structures, ensuring full compliance with company’s pricing policies and legal framework.
• Collaborate with the pricing team to evaluate and validate targeted price support proposals prior to final approval for daily enquiries and price support requests.
• Review and analyze price support requests to ensure alignment with established discount structures and incentive plans, aiming to reduce excessive ad-hoc requests while improvingthe quality and conversion rate of approved support.
• Consolidate and analyze product campaign offers across all distributors tomaintain coherent commercial positioning and consistent value propositions in the market.
• Support the development, rollout, and communication of pricing, discount, and incentive structures throughout the distributor network.
• Monitor distributor KPIs including sales growth, margin, stock rotation, opportunity conversion, and quotation closure rates.
• Conduct periodic distributor performance reviews and proposeimprovements in commercialdiscipline and market coverage.
• Identify and address performance gaps through initiatives such as discount structure rationalization, corrective action plans, or business restructuring where needed.
• Ensure full transparency and timely communication with distributors regarding company updates, campaigns, price adjustments, and performance expectations.

Analytical Support

• Prepare and maintain structured sales performance dashboards, including pricing trends, win/ loss analysis, and distributor opportunity tracking.
• Support digitalization with authorized distributors for the funnel and opportunity tracking via Digi-connect
• Provide regular reporting and insights to distributors on salesprogress, and actively support company’s territory managers in monitoring the sales gaps and support on the keyopportunities and timely roll out of the bulk offers/ product campaigns
• Support annual business planning, forecasting, and budgeting with data-driven recommendations.
• The kind of person we’re looking with

Competency

• Strategic Sales & Channel Management
• Pricing and Commercial Excellence
• Distributor Relationship Management
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Negotiation and Contract Management
• Leadership and Cross-Functional Collaboration

Key interfaces :

Internal:

• Territory Managers, Segment Lead/ Sales Reps, Pricing Team, CEE team, Supply Chain, Marketing, Finance

External:

Qualifications

Required Skills

• Minimum 5-7 years working experience in business management including employment with an international company
• Minimum 3 years in a generalist management role, with proven leadership experience
• Proven track record and experience in sales management/business development, meeting or exceeding targets
• Experienced in establishing strategic and new business
• Strong technical and commercial knowledge of the company’s product range and Key industrial segments
• Strong customer orientation and business driveStrong Negotiation skills and tactical thinking.
• Strong analytical skills
• Performance Management and Strategic PlanningExcellent planning, organizational and administrative skills
• Confidentiality, tact and discretion in dealing with people
• Excellent oral and written communication skills - English
• Flexibility and ability to manage reporting lines in the structure of an international Group(matrix)
• Ability to present findings and recommendations to management via reports and presentationsAbility and willingness to travel (local and international)