Strategic Growth Leader, Vertical Markets

Timken; North Canton (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Timken in Ohio seeks a Senior Manager – Vertical Marketing to lead growth for strategic vertical markets and priority Key Accounts. You will coordinate cross-functional strategy with Product, Commercial, Operations and Regional teams to define where to play and how to win.

The role manages a small Vertical Market Insights team, develops repeatable processes, and guides activation plans from insight to execution, partnering across functions to drive sustainable growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, Marketing, or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in B2B strategy, marketing, product management, business development, consulting, or related commercial role; industrial market experience preferred.
• Experience leading strategy development, market activation planning, or growth initiatives in complex B2B markets.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and develop team members, including coaching, workstream direction, feedback, and capability building.
• Experience applying and improving structured frameworks, methodologies, or playbooks to identify opportunities, shape strategic choices, and drive growth.
• Strong analytical, synthesis, storytelling, communication, and collaboration skills; able to create and review concise, executive-ready materials.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience aligning cross-functional and senior stakeholders around strategic choices, tradeoffs, and execution priorities.
• Proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint; experience with Power BI, survey tools, CRM data, or other analytical platforms preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead vertical and Key Account strategy development.
• Translate market, application, customer, competitive, and account insights into strategic options for where to play, how to win, and what must be true.
• Define the strategy agenda, key questions, workplan, decision points, and outputs required to move from insight development to growth strategy.
• Manage a small team of Vertical Market Insights Specialists, including workstream assignment, coaching, feedback, and capability development.
• Ensure research, analysis, synthesis, and deliverables meet the quality, rigor, and strategic relevance required to support high-confidence growth decisions.
• Build team capability in Timken’s proprietary strategy processes, frameworks, research methods, and activation planning approaches.
• Coordinate cross-functional strategy work across Product, Commercial, Operations, Finance, and Regional teams.
• Facilitate working sessions to align stakeholders on market attractiveness, customer needs, competitive position, opportunity priorities, and activation choices.
• Surface key assumptions, tradeoffs, risks, and dependencies that must be resolved to advance strategic options.
• Lead opportunity prioritization across assigned verticals and Key Accounts using structured criteria and evidence-based discussion.
• Help teams evaluate market attractiveness, strategic fit, customer value, ability to win, capability requirements, accessibility, and confidence.
• Frame opportunity portfolios that balance near-term revenue potential, capability-building moves, and longer-term strategic growth bets.
• Lead development of market activation plans for prioritized opportunities, including target segments, priority applications, value propositions, channel approach, sales motion, proof points, validation needs, and execution milestones.
• Partner with Product, Commercial, Operations, and Regional teams to define the actions, owners, resources, and milestones required to execute priority opportunities.
• Help build, codify, and improve Timken’s proprietary processes, frameworks, templates, and ways of working for vertical and Key Account strategy development.
• Capture learnings from completed vertical and account strategy work and incorporate them into repeatable tools, playbooks, and team practices.
• Promote consistent use of strategy methods across assigned work while adapting approaches to the specific needs of each vertical, account, or opportunity.
• Create and review concise, executive-ready materials that frame choices, tradeoffs, assumptions, options, and activation requirements.
• Present strategy outputs and implications to senior stakeholders in a way that supports alignment, resource focus, and follow-through.
• Ensure strategy work clearly connects insight, opportunity selection, value proposition, activation planning, and expected growth impact.

Skills

Analytical skills

Storytelling

Communication

Collaboration

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree; MBA preferred

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Power BI

Job description

Timken in Ohio seeks a Senior Manager – Vertical Marketing to lead growth for strategic vertical markets and priority Key Accounts. You will coordinate cross-functional strategy with Product, Commercial, Operations and Regional teams to define where to play and how to win.

The role manages a small Vertical Market Insights team, develops repeatable processes, and guides activation plans from insight to execution, partnering across functions to drive sustainable growth.