Head of Business Operations - Americas & EMEA

Head of Business Operations – Americas & EMEA

Forge Nano is a high-growth advanced materials and equipment company specializing in precision surface engineering via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALDx). Our proprietary technology controls matter at the atomic scale, enabling unprecedented performance improvements across global commercial manufacturing and R&D segments.

Position Overview

The Head of Business Operations (Americas North & South America) & EMEA is an elite, executive revenue leadership role responsible for driving hyper-growth, expanding market share, and scaling our sales infrastructure across North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. This executive will orchestrate commercial strategy execution, market channel development, and regional field operations. They will command a dual-prong sales architecture, managing Direct Sales and Distribution Partner teams to maximize revenue from our laboratory, research, and commercial-scale semiconductor and powder coating equipment lines.

• Department: Commercial Sales
• Location: Hybrid. Frequent presence required at Forge Nano HQ in Thornton, CO.
• Reporting To: Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
• Travel: Up to 70% domestic and international travel.

Organizational Architecture

This executive role commands an international organization with direct and indirect personnel, including regional managers, field applications teams, and technical engineers.

• Americas Region (Direct Reports): Business Development - NA, Semiconductor Sales Account Managers, Director of Applications, Technical Sales Engineers, and Sales Marketing.
• EMEA Region (Direct & Channel Matrix): Regional Technical Director – EMEA, Technical Sales Engineers – EMEA.
• Channel Distributors & Rep Networks: Europe and Middle East
• Cross-Regional Matrix: Maintain dotted-line accountability and continuous operational calibration with the APAC Head of Business Operations to establish unified global sales methodologies.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership & Strategic Scaling

• Org Design & Architecture: Architect, scale, and compress the implementation of multi-year territory and organizational sales plans to support fast-paced revenue targets.
• C-Suite Collaboration: Partner with the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and Chief Operating Officer (COO) to design and execute scalable corporate growth frameworks.
• P&L Accountability: Own regional booking and revenue targets, regional sales budgets, resource allocation, and margin protection across all Americas and EMEA product portfolios.

Commercial Execution & Channel Distribution

• Flagship Portfolio Ownership: Drive sales performance for core equipment lines, including High Volume Manufacturing & R&D semiconductor tools and Advanced powder coating platforms.
• Channel Architecture Optimization: Scale, audit, and manage global third-party equipment distributor and manufacturer representative networks to maximize international market penetration.
• High-Stakes Deal Strategy: Provide executive-level support on multi-million-dollar commercial capital equipment sales opportunities.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Partner with R&D, Product Engineering, and Business Development teams to optimize pricing, options, and proposal accuracy for R&D and enterprise buyers.

Operations Excellence & Modernization

• Operational Modernization: Act as a corporate champion of change. Standardize enterprise workflows across HubSpot, QuickBooks, and internal databases to build a highly disciplined, data-driven sales organization.
• Data-Driven Predictability: Manage HubSpot infrastructures using explicit Customer Journey Stages and algorithmic forecasting weights to ensure high-accuracy pipeline predictability.
• Lean Commercialization: Infuse Lean and Agile principles into the sales engine to eliminate administrative friction and shorten customer purchase cycle velocity.
• Executive Presentation: Lead high-stakes commercial and technical group presentations for internal executive stakeholders, board members, and prospective global enterprise accounts.
• Performance Coaching: Mentor regional sales leaders and technical staff utilizing structured methodologies (e.g., Sandler, Situational Leadership, Miller Heiman) to drive team-wide quota achievement.

Candidate Qualifications

Required Experience & Education

• Education: Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) required (Emphasis in Technology Management or related discipline preferred).
• Commercial Tenure: 15+ years of documented sales excellence and business strategy formulation.
• Complex Long-Cycle Matrix: 15+ years driving high-value capital equipment acquisitions inside complex sales environments featuring multiple buying influences and prolonged capital cycles.
• People Leadership: 15+ years of proven experience building, structuring, and coaching high-performance, multi-tiered sales organizations with direct/indirect reports.
• Distribution Channel Mastery: 10+ years managing and optimizing scientific or semiconductor tool distribution networks.
• Frontier Technology Expertise: 10+ years scaling market commercialization for hardware-software integrated deep-tech solutions.
• Thin-Film Domain Knowledge: 6+ years of direct commercial success selling thin-film equipment or atomic layer deposition (ALD) hardware configurations.

Frameworks & Technical Proficiencies

• Methodologies: Deep foundational expertise in structured frameworks like Sandler Sales, Miller Heiman Strategic Selling, SPIN Selling, Integrity Selling, and Lean Operations.
• Software Ecosystem Mastery: Proficient operations experience with HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipeliner CRM, Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, SharePoint, and Teams.

Total Expected Compensation (OTE) Plan

Total Compensation Range: $355,000 – $495,000+ supplemented by equity.

1. Base Salary: $195,000 – $235,000 cash salary paid semi-monthly. Reflective of Colorado executive market rates for deep-tech hardware roles.
2. Variable Component (Variable On-Target Earnings): $160,000 – $260,000 targeted.
3. Executive Long-Term Incentives & Benefits: Stock option grant commensurate with a Head of Business Operations appointment, matched 401(k), premium healthcare, and standard PTO allocations.