Business Development Manager

This search is being conducted by FireSeeds, a retained executive and leadership search firm specializing in purpose-driven organizations.

CLIENT SUMMARY

Hope Industrial Systems is a privately owned manufacturer of industrial flat panel monitors and display solutions serving the industrial automation market. Founded in 2000 as a family-owned business, the company has built an industry-leading reputation for quality, reliability, and exceptional customer service by focusing exclusively on industrial monitors. Guided by Biblical principles, integrity, and a customer-first philosophy, Hope Industrial has grown organically into the one of the world leaders in its industry without outside investors.

Hope Industrial has cultivated a collaborative, family-oriented culture centered on humility, ownership, and doing the right thing. As the company continues to grow, it is creating a Business Development Manager role to expand relationships with existing customers, pursue new opportunities, and help drive the next phase of growth while preserving the values and culture that have made the company successful.

POSITION OBJECTIVE

Hope Industrial Systems is seeking a Business Development Manager to launch and grow a proactive outbound sales function focused on expanding existing customer relationships and developing new business opportunities within the industrial manufacturing market.

This newly created role will complement the inside sales team by driving strategic business development through relationship-building, trade shows, and targeted outreach. The ideal candidate is a consultative sales professional with strong business development skills, technical curiosity, and a genuine commitment to representing Hope Industrial's values and customer-first approach.

POSITION KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop new business opportunities within industrial manufacturing companies throughout North America.
• Expand relationships within existing customer accounts by identifying additional plants and manufacturing locations.
• Build relationships with controls engineers, plant managers, operations leaders, and other manufacturing decision-makers.
• Generate outbound opportunities through networking, referrals, trade shows, and strategic prospecting.
• Collaborate closely with the inside sales team to transition opportunities through the sales process.
• Become a product expert by completing hands-on product assembly and internal training during onboarding.
• Represent Hope Industrial at industry trade shows and customer events.
• Maintain accurate activity metrics and performance reporting through EOS scorecards and CRM tools.
• Promote Hope's value proposition of quality, transparency, reliability, and customer service.
• Support long-term growth initiatives while maintaining the company's culture and customer-first approach.
• Identify opportunities for product trials and expansion into new manufacturing facilities.
• Work cross-functionally with engineering, customer service, and operations while respecting the company's standardized product strategy.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE NEEDED

• Minimum of five years of successful outside B2B sales experience serving industrial manufacturing customers.
• Proven experience developing new business rather than solely managing existing accounts.
• Experience selling into manufacturing environments, ideally hardware or industrial equipment.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing organizations and how to identify key decision-makers.
• Experience calling on controls engineers, plant managers, manufacturing engineers, operations leaders, or similar technical buyers.
• Excellent relationship-building and consultative selling skills.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect, network, and create new opportunities independently.
• Comfortable working with established processes, accountability metrics, and EOS systems.
• High character, integrity, humility, and servant leadership mindset.
• Ability to thrive within a collaborative, team-oriented sales culture.
• Willingness to learn technical product knowledge and manufacturing applications.
• Hardware or industrial equipment sales experience is preferred over highly customized engineering or software-only solutions.