The Pilot Group - French Sales Team Manager
Central Manchester (10minutes walk from Victoria with free parking)
Hybrid working - 3office days
£50,000 + bonus
ESL connects the demand and supply of electrical components. As the world shifts to a more electric future, ESL helps customers procure their needs in this space by thinking and operating differently.
The company joins supply chains together in a simple and easy-to-deliver way. We operate globally offering fast deliveries and making things easy both for our customers and our suppliers, developing long-term relationships with them.
ESL is headquartered in Manchester and operates with a strong international presence. It was founded by two female entrepreneurs 19 years ago (both are still in the business), and the company has 75+ amazing people with brilliant skills.
The Role – French Team Sales Manager
A Sales Manager’s role at ESL has two core activities; lead, develop, and empower a high‑performing sales community to achieve the assigned goals, and to contribute to the overall sales result through personal contribution.
This role exists to translate business strategy into actionable sales plans, build strong internal relationships, and drive sustainable commercial success. Through coaching, data‑driven decision‑making, and cross‑functional collaboration, the Internal Sales Manager ensures the team consistently meet targets, strengthens our market presence, and supports the long‑term profitability and growth of ESL.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Performance Management
- Lead, coach, and develop a high performing sales team through regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and tailored development plans.
- Set clear expectations for activity, behaviours, and results, ensuring accountability across the team.
- Motivate and inspire the team to achieve and exceed revenue, margin, and KPIs.
- Drive a strong culture of collaboration & continuous improvement.
- Oversee day to day sales activities, including prospecting, pipeline management, territory planning, and qualification.
- Ensure the team follows structured sales processes, CRM discipline, and accurate data entry.
- Review and challenge pipeline quality, deal progression, and forecast accuracy.
- Identify areas for improvement in sales techniques and team structure.
Personal Contribution
- Lead from the front by managing own set of customer accounts
- Consistently achieving all personal targets set for the financial year
Talent Management & Recruitment
- Recruit, onboard, and retain top sales talent to support the growth strategy.
- Identify skills gaps and implement development programmes or coaching interventions
- Create a supportive, inclusive environment that encourages accountability and high performance.
Reporting
- Track and report on sales performance, forecasts, and KPIs to senior leadership.
- Ensure compliance with company policies, pricing frameworks & standards.
- Serve as an escalation point for customer or internal issues related to the sales process.
Collaboration
- Work closely with Regional Sales Managers/Market Makers, Purchasing, and Buying, to ensure execution of consistent and cohesive go to market strategies.
- Contribute to the wider Sales Management Team (SMT) peer group.
- Collaborate with HR on training, recruitment, and onboarding of sales talent.
Essential Experience
- Must be fluent in French
- Must be able to demonstrate experience of leading a sales team and managing individuals in a performance‑driven environment while carrying a personal target.
- Must have the proven ability to coach, mentor, and develop sales talent to achieve high performance.
- Must be experienced in conducting performance reviews, setting KPIs, and driving accountability.
- Must have excellent communication and influencing skills across all stakeholder levels within the organisation.
- Must be able to attend business trips to France.
Recruitment Agencies;
The Pilot Group operates a strict PSL and will not accept any unsolicited CVs sent to any member, employee, representative or business unit of the Pilot Group. Any unsolicited introduction will be treated as a CV ‘sent in kind’ and as such The Pilot Group rejects all liability to pay any such fees for an unsolicited introduction.
Recruitment Candidate Privacy Policy | The Pilot Group
Skills Required
- Fluent in French
- Proven experience leading a sales team and managing individuals in a performance-driven environment while carrying a personal target
- Ability to coach, mentor, and develop sales talent to achieve high performance
- Experience conducting performance reviews, setting KPIs, and driving accountability
- Excellent communication and influencing skills across all stakeholder levels
- Willingness and ability to attend business trips to France
- Experience with pipeline management, territory planning, CRM discipline, and forecast reporting
What We Do
Established in 1991 Vickers are the leading energy management controls company. We specialise in energy efficiency and design, manufacture and install advanced energy management systems (EMS). Working alongside existing industrial heating systems, Vickers' EMS significantly increases energy efficiency by between 25-43% on average, reducing energy bills and cutting carbon emissions. Based in Trafford Park, Manchester, we install our advanced technology across the UK, Europe and USA. Our dedicated team includes specialist engineers and highly trained account managers to ensure we deliver an energy saving strategy that is 100% right for each business, supported by excellent customer service. Our technology is used within a wide range of business sectors including manufacturing, logistics, garden centres, retail, aviation, transportation and many others, with customers from Stagecoach to Wyvale.
