The National Sales Manager reports to the VP Executive/GM of Sales and may be assigned to different projects as business needs dictate.  The position location is Alberta/Edmonton/Calgary, Canada and secondarily the greater Toronto area.

The National Sales Manager (NSM) – Canada is accountable to promote and sell all of AFL’s fiber optic, and accessory products to AFL’s current and targeted customers within the Canadian market space.  The Canadian NSM will act as the organization’s liaison between AFL and its Canadian customers.  AFL's Canadian customer base is very diversified, as the company has strong business relationships in the following markets: Electric Utility, Telco, CATV, Oil & Gas, and OEMs.  The overall purpose is to coordinate all of AFL’s sales activities into a cohesive strategy. 

 Job Responsibilities:

• Determine and manage the various sales channels which can be different by market and by geographical region. 
• Work with AFL’s Services business group in Canada to leverage off of existing services relationships to advance the sale of AFL’s products.
• Develop and maintain high level relationships at key accounts and set the overall direction for the corporation in this market space. 
• Engaged with each of the internal product groups by providing market data, customer expectations, and future product needs such that the product group(s) can effectively put together product strategies for said market.
• Work with sales channels to present information to developmental targeted accounts.
• Achieve or exceed planned sales levels for all products at targeted accounts and/or targeted market segments.
• Create long term Strategic Business Development Plans.
• Maintain project tracking / forecast system for the total territory.
• Identify other product offerings that are consistent with our strategies & current or desired core competencies.
• Maintain a high level of knowledge regarding AFL’s products, and their applications. 
• Manage all selling expenses within the established travel & expense budgets.
• Manage and update key customer database (primary contacts for targeted accounts).
• Maintain sufficient knowledge of strategic customer’s business to recognize opportunities and be perceived by the customer as a problem solver.  New opportunities, as well as the business potential, should be communicated to the organization on a timely basis.
• Establish sources to provide information on competitive pricing, market activities, transaction usage and other information about the targeted markets.
• Participate in national and regional trade shows and/or conferences with the objective of maintaining or improving customer relationships and prospecting for new business.

• Four year technical degree.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience selling optical products, components, and equipment for the electric utility and oil & gas markets is highly preferred and selling into the CATV and Telco markets is a plus.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership and supervisory experience leading a sales team.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.  Must be able to clearly articulate thoughts, strategies, and develop logical action plans.
• 65% - 80% travel is required including occasional weekends.
• Possess a proven track record of sales successes & management of multi-million dollars sales plan.
• Must successfully complete pre-employment assessments, background & reference checks

Competencies for Success:

• Looking for a strong and energetic leader who can direct and motivate a sales force for the assigned task.  He/she needs to be a strategic thinker who can provide the right guidance and direction to AFL for product needs in the assigned market.         
• Strong interpersonal skills.  This person needs to lead a team of remote sales managers.
• Extremely strong technical aptitude.  The products this team sells are some of AFL’s most technical products.  The majority of the customers are going to be degreed engineers.  The best candidate will have experience, both educational and work, in dealing with technical issue and solving complex problems.
• Leadership skills as the individual will not only be leading a team of sales managers, but also leading an organization’s strategic direction.
• Ability to deal with senior level management; both internally and externally.