Sales Director, Manufacturing & Engineering Staffing

About the Role
Onward Search is growing, and we are looking to hire an exceptional Sales Director, Manufacturing & Engineering Staffing to join our team in a 100% remote capacity.

Onward Search is an award-winning recruitment and staffing agency with 19 years of experience connecting leading organizations across the country with exceptional talent. As we continue to expand our staffing capabilities within the Manufacturing & Engineering space, we are looking for an entrepreneurial, hands-on sales leader to help grow our client base, increase revenue, and support the continued growth of this vertical.

The Director of Business Development Managers will be responsible for managing and growing their own book of business while also leading a small team of Business Development Managers. This role is approximately 80% individual production and 20% or less of people management, making it ideal for someone who loves being in the weeds with clients, building new business, and closing deals while also coaching, mentoring and developing a high-performing sales team.

This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in scaling a growing vertical within Onward Search while working with innovative organizations across the manufacturing, engineering, industrial, and related sectors.

Key Responsibilities:

Business Development & Sales

• Own and grow an individual book of business within the Manufacturing & Engineering staffing market.
• Develop and execute a sales strategy to increase revenue and expand the client base.
• Identify and pursue new business opportunities through market research, lead generation, networking, referrals, and other prospecting efforts.
• Build relationships with key decision-makers and hiring leaders across manufacturing, engineering, industrial, and related organizations.
• Develop a strong network of direct hiring manager relationships and continuously identify opportunities for account expansion.
• Utilize our tools, AI, reporting system to research and identify a Focus 50 client list and target key clients and regions to prospect.
• Understand client workforce challenges and provide strategic staffing solutions aligned with their hiring needs.
• Negotiate and close new business while identifying opportunities to cross-sell Onward Search's additional services.
• Consistently meet or exceed established sales, activity, revenue, and gross margin targets.

Team Leadership & Development

• Manage, coach, and develop a small team of Business Development Managers.
• Establish clear goals, KPIs, and performance expectations across the sales team and hold team accountable.
• Provide ongoing coaching around prospecting, pipeline development, account strategy, negotiations, and closing.
• Hold the team accountable to individual and overall business gross margin goals.
• Foster a collaborative, entrepreneurial, performance-driven culture.
• Partner with leadership to identify opportunities to grow the team as the Manufacturing & Engineering business scales

Client & Account Management

• Serve as a strategic partner and primary point of contact for assigned client accounts.
• Drive ongoing sales and account expansion activities across new and existing clients.
• Partner with Client Services Managers, when assigned, to ensure strong client delivery while maintaining ownership of sales and account growth.
• Participate in client intake calls to understand position requirements, hiring priorities, and expectations.
• Manage client communication throughout the recruiting lifecycle, including candidate submissions, interviews, feedback, and offers.
• Identify opportunities to increase job order volume and expand Onward Search's presence within existing accounts.
• Maintain strong client relationships and consistently deliver an exceptional experience.
• Recruiting & Delivery Partnership
• Partner closely with recruiting teams to develop strong talent pipelines across specialized Manufacturing & Engineering positions.
• Ensure recruiters have a clear understanding of client requirements, priorities, and expectations.
• Evaluate and approve candidates for client submission when appropriate.
• Monitor submittal, interview, placement, and start activity to ensure client needs are being met.
• Leverage AI-enabled recruiting and sales workflows to improve sourcing, outreach, matching, pipeline management, and overall efficiency.
• Partner with internal teams to identify strategies for hard-to-fill roles and priority skill sets.

Operational Excellence

• Maintain accurate job, client, candidate, and placement information within Bullhorn and other internal systems.
• Manage job entry, client intake, candidate submissions, interview coordination, offers, locks, assignment updates, and other account responsibilities when a Client Services Manager is not assigned.
• Partner with clients and internal teams to resolve timecard, assignment, or account-related issues as needed.
• Complete required quality check calls and maintain strong ongoing relationships with clients and placed talent.
• Consistently deliver at or above established KPI targets.
• Use sales, market, and performance data to identify opportunities to improve revenue, delivery, and account penetration.
• Consistently demonstrate Onward Search's core values both internally and externally.

How Success Is Measured

• Success in this role will be measured through a combination of individual production, team performance, and overall growth of the Manufacturing & Engineering business, including:
• New client acquisition
• Client and portfolio expansion
• Job order volume
• CV/submittal goal attainment
• Interviews and placements
• Weekly gross margin growth
• FTE growth
• Cross-selling of Onward Search services
• Sales pipeline growth and conversion
• Strong MSP scorecard and/or NPS performance if applicable
• Team achievement against established sales and KPI goals

Requirements

• Minimum of 5+ years of business development and sales experience, preferably within the staffing industry.
• Minimum of 1+ years of leadership or management experience, preferably within staffing.
• Proven track record of building and growing a staffing book of business and consistently meeting or exceeding sales targets.
• Strong preference for experience within Manufacturing & Engineering, technical, industrial, higher skilled trades, or related staffing markets.
• Established network of client and/or direct hiring manager relationships within relevant industries strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of the staffing and recruitment lifecycle, including contingent and contract staffing.
• Experience managing and developing sales professionals in a KPI-driven environment.
• Demonstrated ability to secure new clients, expand existing relationships, and grow revenue.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, interpersonal, and negotiation skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills with the ability to balance individual production with team leadership.
• Entrepreneurial, hands-on mindset with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced and growth-oriented environment.
• Bachelor's degree required.

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to play a key role in growing and scaling Onward Search's Manufacturing & Engineering staffing business.
• Highly visible role with the ability to directly influence revenue growth and the direction of the vertical.
• Opportunity to maintain your own book of business while developing and leading a growing sales team.
• Performance-driven environment with significant earning potential.
• Collaborative and supportive culture built around entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, teamwork, and transparency.
• 100% remote work environment.

Compensation

• $90,000-$100,000, based on experience.
• Commission eligible.
• Comprehensive benefits and PTO package, including 401(k).

About Onward Group Holdings, LLC:

Onward Group Holdings, LLC is a platform of specialized talent and workforce solutions brands that connect leading organizations with expert talent across high-demand industries. The company combines deep domain expertise, proven infrastructure, and an expansive talent network to deliver solutions that go beyond traditional staffing.

With nearly 20 years in business, Onward Group Holdings partners with companies, schools, and organizations to help them build high-performing teams and thrive in the future of work. Its divisions include Onward Search (Marketing, Creative & Technology), Onward Accessibility (Digital Accessibility), Onward Education (K-12 Education), and Talera (Behavioral Health).

We offer competitive compensation, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, and a 401(k) program for eligible full-time employees, along with resources designed to support well-being and career development.

We have built a culture fostered on entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, teamwork, and transparency. If you are energized by connecting people to opportunity, excited by emerging technologies, and motivated by measurable impact, you’ll fit in great with our team.

We’re committed to making every part of our hiring process accessible and inclusive. If there’s any adjustments we can make to support you as you apply and interview, please reach out to [email protected].

Applicants must be at least 18 years old to apply.

Onward is an equal opportunity employer. We value a culture of inclusion and diversity within our workforce and are committed to maintaining a workplace free from prohibited employment conduct, including discrimination or harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, domestic partner status, civil partnership, status as a covered veteran, status in the Uniformed Services of the United States, citizenship and any other characteristic protected by State and Federal law.