Business Development Manager - Midwest USL

U.S. Lubricants; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 89,000 - 121,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Lubricants seeks a Senior Business Development Manager – Midwest to drive profitable growth across Nebraska, South Dakota, and surrounding markets, focusing on Omaha and Sioux Falls.

You will manage a large book of business, build distributor relationships, and win new end users in the Midwest. The role emphasizes field-based selling, territory planning, and cross-functional leadership, with ~50% travel.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of successful B2B field sales or strategic account experience with a sizable territory.
• Experience selling lubricants, chemicals, or industrial products is strongly preferred.
• Ability to prospect, build a pipeline, negotiate, and close profitable business.
• Knowledge of distributor/reseller sales models and end-user opportunity development.
• Strong consultative selling, presentation, and relationship-management skills.
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout the territory (approx. 50%).

Responsibilities

• Own the Omaha, Nebraska and Sioux Falls, South Dakota sales territory for profitable growth.
• Prospect and win new business with distributors, fleets, industrial end users, and municipalities.
• Build and execute a disciplined territory plan with revenue, gallon, and margin targets.
• Maintain a strong field presence through customer visits, calls, referrals, and events.
• Grow distributor relationships and expand product penetration in local markets.
• Lead complex opportunities from qualification to onboarding and account development.
• Collaborate with Operations, Supply Chain and Marketing to ensure service levels and execution.
• Maintain accurate Salesforce data for accounts, opportunities, and forecasts.
• Provide market intelligence and recommendations to leadership for commercial actions.

Skills

Territory Sales

B2B Sales

Account Management

Negotiation

CRM / Salesforce

Channel Partners

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

Position Summary

The Senior Business Development Manager – Midwest is a field-based, senior individual contributor responsible for profitable growth across Nebraska, South Dakota, and surrounding Midwest markets, with a primary focus on Omaha and Sioux Falls.

This role will manage, retain, and expand an established book of business while developing new relationships with lubricant distributors, resellers, fleets, industrial and manufacturing customers, construction and agricultural accounts, municipalities, and other large commercial end users. The expected focus is approximately 60% existing-account growth and retention and 40% new-business acquisition.

The role combines disciplined prospecting, consultative selling, territory planning, strategic account development, and cross-functional leadership. Success is measured by customer retention, new customer acquisition, gallon and revenue growth, gross-margin contribution, forecast accuracy, and consistent field execution.

Job Responsibilities

• Own the sales territory centered on Omaha, Nebraska and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with responsibility for developing profitable growth throughout the assigned Midwest market.
• Actively prospect and win new business with lubricant distributors, resellers, large fleets, industrial and manufacturing operations, construction companies, agricultural businesses, municipalities, and other high-volume end users.
• Build and execute a disciplined territory plan that identifies priority markets, target accounts, channel partners, competitive conversions, and specific revenue, gallon, and gross-margin opportunities.
• Maintain a strong field presence through planned customer visits, organized sales calls, referrals, networking, industry events, and targeted prospecting, balancing expansion of the existing book with focused new-business development.
• Develop and grow distributor relationships by helping partners expand their business, improve product penetration, pursue end-user opportunities, and effectively position U.S. Lubricants solutions in their local markets.
• Manage, retain, and expand assigned strategic accounts by building multilevel relationships across ownership, procurement, operations, maintenance, and executive leadership; create documented account plans for priority customers and execute strategies that increase share of wallet.
• Use a consultative selling approach to uncover customer challenges, understand equipment and application needs, quantify value, and recommend the right product, packaging, equipment, delivery, and service solution.
• Confidently sell and support a broad portfolio that may include automotive, heavy-duty and industrial lubricants, coolants, diesel exhaust fluid, chemicals, related equipment programs, packaged products, and value-added services.
• Coordinate with Product Management and technical resources to provide product recommendations, competitive cross-references, training, trials, and application support when needed.
• Lead complex opportunities from initial qualification through proposal, pricing, negotiation, contracting, onboarding, implementation, and ongoing account development, ensuring clear ownership, timelines, and customer commitments throughout the sales cycle.
• Partner with Pricing and Finance to structure competitive offers that protect profitability, including pricing, freight, equipment, volume commitments, contract terms, and margin expectations.
• Serve as a senior commercial resource within the sales organization by sharing market knowledge, reinforcing sales-process discipline, and informally coaching peers when appropriate; this role has no direct reports.
• Collaborate closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Customer Experience, and Marketing to ensure accurate onboarding, reliable execution, strong service levels, and long-term customer satisfaction.
• Maintain accurate and timely activity, account, opportunity, pipeline, and forecast information in Salesforce or the company-designated CRM.
• Provide leadership with actionable market intelligence regarding competitors, pricing, product demand, customer needs, channel activity, risks, and emerging opportunities within the territory; translate insights into recommended commercial actions.
• Meet or exceed annual targets for new business, revenue, gallons, gross margin, strategic account growth, and customer retention.
• Represent U.S. Lubricants and U.S. Venture professionally in the market and serve as a trusted advisor who builds long-term, mutually beneficial customer relationships.
• Live our values of High Performance, Caring Relationships, Strategic Foresight, and Entrepreneurial Spirit.
• Find A Better Way by championing continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to improve customer value, efficiency, accuracy, and standardization.
• Continuously learn and develop professionally, including product, application, industry, CRM, and sales-process knowledge.
• Support corporate efforts for safety, government compliance, and all other company policies and procedures.
• Perform other related duties as required and assigned.

Qualifications

Required

• 7+ years of successful B2B field sales, business development, territory management, or strategic account experience, including demonstrated ownership of a sizable territory or book of business; experience selling lubricants, chemicals, petroleum products, industrial supplies, fleet solutions, or through distribution is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect, build a pipeline, open new accounts, negotiate agreements, and consistently close profitable business.
• Working knowledge of distributor and reseller sales models, including the ability to support channel partners while also developing large end-user opportunities.
• Ability to understand customer operations and translate business, equipment, and application needs into practical product and service solutions.
• Strong consultative selling, presentation, negotiation, relationship-management, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Financial and commercial acumen, including an understanding of pricing, freight, gross margin, volume commitments, and account profitability.
• Disciplined use of CRM, pipeline management, forecasting, account planning, and Microsoft Office tools.
• Entrepreneurial, goal-driven, action-oriented, resilient, and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently from a home office while remaining highly connected to the broader team.
• Well organized, responsive, and capable of managing multiple opportunities, customers, deadlines, and internal stakeholders.
• Valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record.
• Ability to travel regularly throughout the assigned territory, including frequent day travel and periodic overnight travel; approximately 50% travel is expected depending on customer and business needs.
• Ability to reside in or near Omaha, Nebraska or Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, engineering, chemistry, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant industry experience.
• Experience with automotive, heavy-duty, industrial, fleet, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, municipal, or commercial lubricant applications.
• Experience using Salesforce or a comparable CRM platform.
• Formal lubricant training or industry certifications such as CLS, OMA, MLT, or CLT.

Compensation

The target annual base salary for this position is $105,000. U.S. Venture's compensation range is specific to location and takes into account a wide range of factors that are considered including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Compensation details listed in this posting reflect the base annual salary only, and do not include bonus or incentives, if applicable. In addition to base compensation, U.S. Venture offers a competitive benefits package.

DIVISION

U.S. Lubricants

Employment Eligibility

U.S. Venture will not offer sponsorship for employment status (including, but not limited to, H-1B, TN, E-3, F1, CPT, OPT, STEM OPT, visa status and other employment‑based nonimmigrant visas) for this position. Accordingly, all applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis and must not require U.S. Venture’s sponsorship to continue to work legally in the United States. In general, U.S. Venture does not sponsor candidates for nonimmigrant visas or permanent residency except when there is a specific business need.

Recruiter Policy

U.S. Venture will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed recruitment Master Service Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without an agreement, U.S. Venture shall reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, shall be deemed the property of U.S. Venture.

Equal Opportunity Statement

U.S. Venture, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or other protected characteristic.

Contact

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may call Human Resources at [phone].

40-45-801-8450