Business Development Manager

Overview


Valon Kone is a pioneer in the rotor debarking technology industry. The main office in Lohja, Finland, employs nearly 110 production and administrative staff. In addition, we have offices in Austria, Sweden, and the USA. Valon Kone was acquired by Kadant Inc. (KAI) in 2017. Valon Kone's North American headquarters (VKNA) are located in Saltillo, MS.

We currently seek to fill the position of Business Development Manager to sell VK North America Aftermarket products and Capital Equipment by deploying value-added process knowledge, troubleshooting skills, and technical expertise in a predominantly sawmill customer base. The Business Develoment Manager provides VKNA customers with the best possible service for their debarkers through collaboration, innovation, and reliability.

The ideal candidate will be located in the Southeastern United States or Eastern Canada, ideally located to VKNA clients. The Business Development Manager will travel regularly to customer saw mills and will work remotely from their home office when not traveling.

Responsibilities

• Develops and executes aftermarket growth strategy (parts, service, upgrades).
• Owns sales forecasting, pipeline management, and performance tracking.
• Identifies market opportunities and drives revenue growth.
• Owns and manages strategic customer accounts.
• Develops long-term customer relationships and retention strategies.
• Conducts regular customer visits to identify needs and opportunities.
• Leads upselling and cross-selling initiatives.
• Defines pricing strategy and margin targets.
• Benchmarks with competition.
• Monitors profitability across customers and products.
• Increases market presence through visits, trade shows, and networking.
• Identifies new customers and develop new business opportunities.
• Monitors market trends and competitive activity.
• Identifies capital equipment opportunities through aftermarket interactions.
• Detects upgrade, replacement, and expansion needs.
• Supports capital sales with customer insight and installed base knowledge.
• Aligns inside sales activities with commercial priorities.
• Acts as escalation point for key customer issues.
• Ensures alignment between sales and operations.
• Maintains accurate customer and machine data (CRM).
• Tracks KPIs, pipelines, and sales performance.
• Provides insights and reporting to management.

Qualifications

• Excellent verbal and written communication, including professional presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Outstanding sales and negotiation skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to function well in a high-paced and at times stressful environment.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• An associate degree, or equivalent work experience, is required, along with two years of higher-level outside sales experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Candidates with additional sales or marketing certifications are preferred.
• Must have personality traits which would enable employee to function appropriately with customers under adverse conditions.
• Experience in the sawmill industry is also preferred.

Physical Requirements

This position requires the ability to occasionally lift approximately 50 pounds. Must be able to work in typical office conditions, including sitting for long periods of time while doing computer work. At customer sites, will be required to climb stairs and ladders, stoop, bend, and crawl into customer equipment (work in confined space) to assess and troubleshoot problems. While at customer sites, may be required to negotiate ramps and uneven floor surfaces with exposure to a typical shop environment, i.e., extreme heat, cold, dust, noise, fumes, and other elements. Capable of hearing or have an awareness of the operation of forklifts and cranes moving through customer facilities and must wear required personal protective equipment as needed. Extensive travel is involved, requiring the ability to negotiate typical airport obstacles and the capability of tolerating long international flights on occasion, as well as drive long distances. Position also requires good manual dexterity and hand/eye coordination to work with tools at customer sites.

Safety

Due to frequent visits at customer sites and mills, this position is safety sensitive. In order to ensure a safe work environment for our employees and our customers, all Kadant employees in safety sensitive positions will be subject to random drug testing.

Travel Required

Must be able to handle prolonged and frequent travel. Approx. 50-70%.

Equal opportunity employer as to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.