Head of Bakery Sales (Director-level)

• Start strong – Medical, dental, and vision coverage begins on your first day

• Recharge and refresh – Enjoy 12 paid holidays, including a flexible floating holiday, and 136 hours of PTO to relax or explore

• Invest in your future – A 7% 401(k) employer match helps grow your retirement savings faster

• Keep learning – Take advantage of tuition reimbursement to further your education or skillset

• Live well – Our wellness incentive program rewards healthy habits

• Get support when you need it – Access to a confidential Employee Assistance Program for personal or professional guidance

• Save smart – Flexible Health Savings and Spending Accounts to manage out-of-pocket expenses

GEA Group's Food and Pharma Division is searching for a senior leader to head our Bakery Sub-Division in North America! This role can be based anywhere within the US and will oversee the sales of our Bakery Machinery in the region.

Responsibilities:

• Seeks to understand each customer’s needs, challenges, and goals, identifying their alternatives to get these addressed and ensuring that every proposed solution addresses their pain points and creates clear value.

• Act as the primary steward of the customer experience within the assigned geography, coordinating equipment sales and service teams to consistently deliver on commitments and strengthen long‑term customer relationships while achieving GEA’s short‑term objectives.

• Engage directly with customers through hands‑on selling and frequent in‑person meetings, dedicating significant focus (60% of time) to strategic customers and Key Accounts to ensure they receive tailored support and proactive partnership. Nurture and grow customer relationships, ensuring existing customers feel supported and valued while expanding the customer base through regular visits, lead follow‑up, campaigns, and promotions in collaboration with R&C, Inside Sales & Support, and Marketing across the Bakery & EFT Business Units.

• Map the market with a customer‑first lens, identifying opportunities where GEA can help customers improve performance, and build a strong, customer‑validated project pipeline across key segments.

• Guide and coordinate day‑to‑day sales activities across all Bakery & EFT applications, ensuring a seamless customer journey from RFQ through installation & commissioning, and working closely with Technical Offer, Inside Sales & Support, and other key functions to deliver timely, high‑quality outcomes.

• Championing customer satisfaction and service excellence, addressing and resolving major issues with urgency and care while driving growth in the Service business through trust, responsiveness, and reliability.

• Develop customer‑aligned sales plans, budgets, and forecasts, ensuring cross‑functional alignment with Sales Area Management, Application Management, Project Management, Engineering, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Logistics to deliver on customer expectations.

• Maintain accurate and insightful CRM data to enhance market visibility

• Manage and support regional Agents (when applicable) to ensure they deliver a consistent, customer‑focused approach, meeting expectations for performance, compliance, and communication.

• Align pricing, discounts, and commercial terms with Business Units, the line Manager, Finance, and Legal to ensure transparency, fairness, and clarity for customers.

• Represent the Bakery & EFT Business Units in customer negotiations, ensuring agreements reflect customer needs while adhering to approved pricing and commercial frameworks.

• Contribute to strategy, business development, and R&D efforts by bringing forward customer insights, competitive intelligence, and market trends. Facilitate VOC/OVOC activities and coordinate joint development initiatives with regional customers, leveraging Test Centers in Italy in close collaboration with Application Managers, Innovation, and Engineering.

• Model GEA’s values, code of conduct, and strategic direction, ensuring the same standards are upheld by R&C FLS and Agents (when applicable) to protect customer trust and brand integrity.

• Deliver the agreed annual country targets: Order Intake for New Machines & Service, GM (%), Hit Rate, Sales, New Customers, Market Share, CRM Pipeline, and Service on-time delivery (OTIF: On Time In Full), always with customer success as the guiding principle.

• Recruit, develop, and lead regional teams, including sales managers (3 Bakery, 1 Extrusion).

Profile And Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Bakery Science, Engineering, or related field preferred.

• 7-10+ years' experience in Sales, Business Development or Project Management lead customer facing roles with direct target achievement responsibility and commercial strategy definition

• Experience working in the Bakery industry is HIGHLY preferred.

• Experience in international Sales is highly preferred

• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills

• Strong understanding of legal and commercial contracting

• Strong understanding of North America market dynamics

• Fluent in English, preferably with a second language (French or Italian)

• Ability to handle complex commercial and technical challenges

• Ability to manage in difficult situations, and to execute under time pressure

• Capability to design, implement and execute a holistic commercial strategy and be the lead for short cycle achievements

• Ability to travel 50-75%

The typical base pay range for this position at the start of employment is expected to be between $140,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year.  GEA Group has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States.

The pay range is not a guarantee of compensation or salary.  The estimated range is the budgeted amount for the position. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, location, qualifications, and other job-related reasons.  You may be eligible for additional rewards, such as discretionary bonus (based on eligibility) and/or equity awards.

Please note: This position is based in the United States and does not offer visa or work sponsorship. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future sponsorship.

GEA is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will therefore receive consideration for employment without regard to age, sex, race, color, religion, world view, national origin, genetics, disability, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other protected characteristic required by applicable law. Applicants with disabilities are welcome and will be given special consideration if they are equally qualified.

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