Canadian manufacturer of high-performance air purification and filtration equipment. We are now entering an exciting stage of international expansion, with Europe as a major growth opportunity.
We are looking for an exceptional person to join us in Canada, learn our products, technology and business from the inside, and then help us develop and build our European market.
This is not a traditional sales job.
We are looking for someone who is technical enough to understand the products, commercial enough to sell them, multilingual enough to communicate across Europe, and independent enough to build a business without having someone looking over their shoulder.
The opportunity
You will initially be based at our Quebec operation, where you will receive extensive training in:
- Company's products and filtration technology
- Manufacturing and product development
- Applications and technical requirements
- Our sales process and customer base
- Distribution and international business development
- The markets and opportunities we are pursuing in Europe
Once trained, you will increasingly work with European customers and partners during European business hours, while remaining based in Canada.
As the European business develops, there is a real possibility of relocating to Europe and taking on an increasingly important role in the development of company's European operation.
In other words:
You won't simply inherit a territory. You will help build one.
What you'll be doing
You will be responsible for developing new business and relationships across European markets, including:
- Developing distributors, dealers and strategic partners
- Identifying and pursuing new customers and market opportunities
- Managing international leads from first contact through to sale
- Presenting Airpura's products and technical advantages
- Understanding customer requirements and recommending appropriate solutions
- Preparing quotations and commercial proposals
- Training and supporting European sales partners
- Building long-term customer and distributor relationships
- Participating in European trade shows and customer visits
- Monitoring competitors, market developments and emerging opportunities
- Bringing customer and market feedback back to our sales, R&D and management teams
- Identifying opportunities for new products and market-specific solutions
- Working with our internal teams on technical, certification, logistics and commercial requirements
As the European operation grows, your responsibilities and level of autonomy will grow with it.
Who are we looking for?
We're looking for someone who is hungry, curious and independent.
You may already be an experienced international salesperson. You may come from technical sales, engineering, manufacturing or another technical field and have discovered that you have a talent for business development.
What matters most is that you can understand technology, communicate with people and make things happen.
You should be:
- Highly autonomous and self-motivated
- Entrepreneurial and resourceful
- Comfortable working independently
- Technically curious
- Commercially driven
- An excellent communicator
- Comfortable speaking with engineers, distributors, business owners and senior executives
- Organized and capable of managing multiple markets and opportunities
- Comfortable travelling internationally
- Interested in building something rather than simply managing an existing territory
Once your training is complete, you will be expected to operate with considerable independence.
Languages - this is important
Europe is not one market, and language matters.
Fluent English is required.
Strong French and German are highly desirable.
Italian is a major asset.
Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian or other European languages are additional assets.
A candidate who speaks English + French + German + Italian would be particularly attractive.
But we are interested in genuine communication ability - not simply how many languages appear on your résumé.
Technical background
You do not necessarily need an engineering degree.
However, you need to be able to understand technical products and concepts and explain them clearly to customers.
Experience or education in areas such as:
- Engineering / Engineering Technology
- HVAC
- Air quality / filtration
- Manufacturing
- Industrial equipment
- Building systems
- Environmental technologies
- Applied sciences
- Technical sales
would be an advantage.
We can teach you Airpura.
What we need from you is the curiosity and ability to learn it.
International experience
Experience in any of the following would be highly valuable:
- International B2B sales
- Export sales
- Technical sales
- International business development
- Distributor/channel development
- Industrial or manufacturing sales
- European markets
- Opening new territories
Experience developing business where there is little or no existing customer base is particularly attractive.
Where this can lead
This position is intentionally designed with a longer-term objective.
Phase 1 - Learn about the company
Become thoroughly familiar with our products, technology, manufacturing, applications and business.
Phase 2 - Develop Europe
Work European hours from Canada. Build relationships. Develop distributors. Generate business. Learn the markets.
Phase 3 - Build Europe
As the business develops, there may be an opportunity to relocate to Europe and assume a much larger role in the European operation.
Your eventual position could encompass sales, business development, distributor management, market development and potentially leadership of the European commercial operation.
Why join?
You will be joining a Canadian manufacturer at a point where international expansion is becoming a major part of our future.
You will have:
- Significant autonomy
- Direct access to management
- International exposure
- European travel
- The opportunity to develop multiple markets
- A technically interesting product portfolio
- The opportunity to build something rather than simply maintain it
- The potential for a future European-based position
- A genuine opportunity to grow with the business
This job is probably NOT for you if...
You need someone to tell you what to do every day.
You prefer managing an established customer list to developing new business.
You dislike technical products.
You don't enjoy learning.
You are uncomfortable working independently.
You aren't interested in international travel.
But if this sounds like you...
You are multilingual.
You are technically curious.
You know how to sell.
You can walk into a room full of engineers and hold your own.
You can speak with a distributor in Germany, a customer in France and a partner in Italy.
You can work independently.
You like the idea of helping take a Canadian company into Europe.
Then we should talk.
How to apply
Please submit your résumé along with a brief cover letter addressing:
- The languages you speak and your level of proficiency
- Your international or technical sales experience
- Your technical/engineering background
- An example of a market, territory or customer base you developed
- Why the opportunity to eventually work in Europe interests you
Canada-made. Internationally minded. Building the next stage of our business in Europe.
