Vice President

Company Description

At Lakeshore, we create innovative learning materials and world-class guest experiences for teachers, parents and children. Since 1954, we’ve grown into a global community—with a thriving e-commerce business, multiple catalogs, over 50 stores, a peerless national sales force, plus international offices that support our preeminent supply chain division. But today we’re working better, smarter and faster than ever—and setting our sights even higher. We’re building an infrastructure designed for scalability, embracing data-driven decision-making and using technology to improve efficiency and ensure the best tools for the best work. Most importantly, we continue to invest in a diverse team of inquisitive top talent who fuel each other’s passions and curiosity, take risks, try new things and believe that every new day brings opportunities for growth.

Job Description

The Vice President of Outside Sales is the senior sales leader responsible for driving revenue growth and developing people across an assigned territory. This is not a desk-based leadership role. Our most successful Vice Presidents are highly visible in the field, spending the majority of their time alongside Regional Sales Managers and customers, coaching in real time, advancing opportunities and helping close business.

This role is ideal for a proven sales professional who has spent years winning business personally and who still enjoys being in front of customers. The Vice President owns the performance of the territory through hands-on coaching, ride-alongs, customer engagement and disciplined execution.

The right candidate is a true road warrior who thrives on travel, enjoys being in front of customers and is passionate about helping sales teams win.

Life out in the field looks like this:

• Achieve annual budgeted sales quota and KPI targets for the region.
• Forecast sales and drive revenue growth across your assigned territory.
• Set strategy, priorities, and sales culture for region.
• Spend time in the field conducting ride-alongs with Regional Sales Managers and participating in customer meetings.
• Coach sales professionals in live selling situations, helping them improve prospecting, discovery, presentation, negotiation and closing skills.
• Lead training and onboarding initiatives.
• Personally engage with key customers, decision-makers and stakeholders to accelerate opportunities and secure new business.
• Drive a high-performance culture by celebrating strong performance, coaching for improvement, and taking appropriate action when performance expectations are not met.
• Use data as a tool to drive long-term growth by identifying pipeline gaps, developing action plans, and positioning territories, headcount, and resources where the greatest opportunities exist.
• Recruit and retain high-performing sales talent.
• Travel extensively throughout the region.

What Success Looks Like 

• Achieves annual budgeted sales quota.
• Increased sales productivity and performance across the region.
• Strong customer relationships and increased market share.
• Visible leadership with a high level of customer and employee engagement.
• Successful development of future sales leaders.
• A highly engaged, motivated sales team that feels supported, challenged, and equipped to win.
• A culture of accountability, execution, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

Got the skills and experience? Here’s what we’re looking for:

• 10+ years of successful outside B2B sales experience with a documented history of exceeding sales goals. Multi-sku sales experience a plus.
• 5+ years of experience directly leading, coaching, and driving sales performance within a territory generating $100M+ in annual revenue.
• Demonstrated ability to influence, negotiate and close complex sales opportunities.
• Proven success leading through field coaching, ride-alongs and customer engagement.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to leverage sales data and reporting to identify opportunities, coach performance, and drive measurable results.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to build relationships at all levels.
• Willingness to travel 50%+ of the time.
• Bachelor's degree is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency with Salesforce a plus.

The ideal Regional Vice President is someone who: 

• Thinks and acts like the owner of a $100M business, taking full accountability for the growth and performance of the territory.
• Uses data to identify opportunities, drive action plans, and improve sales performance - but never substitutes reports for customer interaction
• Gets energized by helping salespeople win.
• Loves being in front of customers.
• Is comfortable rolling up their sleeves and working opportunities alongside their team.
• Views travel as an opportunity, not a burden.
• Leads through action, accountability, and example.

Additional Information

And here’s our end of the bargain!

• Salary: $180,000-$200,000
• Uncapped commission structure
• Paid leave for new parents to support work/life balance and family bonding
• Excellent medical/dental and vision coverage—EPO, PPO and HSA
• 401(k) retirement plan with company contribution (because you will retire someday)
• Flexible benefit options—choose what you like, ignore the rest
• Generous employee discount on products

At Lakeshore, we know our diversity makes us stronger, and when everyone feels included and valued, we all win. We strive to embrace our differences and create an intentionally diverse and inclusive community that is representative of the teachers, families and children we serve.

We know we couldn’t do the extraordinary things we’re doing without the people on our team. Thanks to the passion and enthusiasm of this spectacular group, Lakeshore is more than a great place to work—it’s a great experience to be part of. Day in and day out, we give everything we’ve got to create products that instill a sense of wonder and foster a true love of learning. To help maintain this high bar for success, we’re constantly on the lookout for people to join us. So if you’re a down-to-earth professional who shares our desire for making a difference, we’d love to hear from you. 
 
To learn more about Lakeshore, visit www.lakeshorelearning.com/careers 
 
Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
People are selected to become members of the Lakeshore family based on skill, merit and mind-boggling talent—not based on race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital status, domestic partnership status, military status, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, alienage, AIDS or AIDS-related complex status, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. If things aren’t equal, we all lose.

To learn about how we collect and use Applicant information, please visit our Employee/Applicant Privacy Policy.

Lakeshore is an E-Verify employer. We use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees.

Please see the E-Verify Participation Poster and Know Your Rights Poster in English and Spanish for more information. INDRLL1