Permanent - Sales Pursuit Lead - Ekurhuleni (East Rand) - South Africa

Purpose of the role:

The purpose of the Sales Pursuit Lead is to convert developed opportunities into structured, disciplined pursuits that maximise conversion probability while protecting commercial integrity, margin, and delivery certainty. They should provide a consistent and repeatable pursuit framework that enables effective execution across both strategic, complex opportunities and standard, repeatable solutions, without reliance on individual-driven approaches ensuring that opportunities are appropriately developed prior to pursuit activation, with clear client understanding, defined scope, and aligned commercial intent.

To enable scalable revenue growth by embedding disciplined pursuit strategy, governance, and cross-functional alignment across Business Development, Sales, Sales Engineering, Proposals, and Estimation.

Key Responsibilities:

Opportunity Intake & Deal Readiness

• Own the development of opportunities within the Sales team to ensure they are sufficiently understood, positioned, and ready for pursuit
• Ensure opportunities are progressed beyond transactional engagement through clear client understanding and ongoing engagement
• Determine when Business Development involvement is required based on complexity and strategic context

Pursuit Strategy & Conversion:

• Define and lead the pursuit strategy for each opportunity
• Align stakeholders on win approach, differentiation, and positioning
• Own conversion outcomes across all pursuits

Commercial Ownership & Margin Protection:

• Own the commercial approach for each pursuit
• Ensure alignment between value, pricing, and client expectations
• Maintain margin integrity and prevent unnecessary discounting

Cross-Functional Coordination:

• Coordinate Sales, Sales Engineering, Proposals, and Estimation
• Ensure alignment between commercial intent, technical solution, and pricing inputs

Governance & Decision Discipline:

• Co-own bid / no-bid decisions within Sales
• Ensure adherence to governance processes and escalation of key risks
• Maintain clear, deliberate decision-making across pursuits

Pipeline & client Engagement Discipline

• Own accuracy and progression of the pursuit pipeline within CRM
• Ensure ageing opportunities are actively progressed through client engagement led by the Sales relationship owner

Proposal & Close Readiness:

• Ensure opportunities are fully prepared prior to proposal development
• Own readiness for negotiation, commercial positioning, and close
• Ensure continuity of client engagement through to close

Repeatable & Continuous Improvement:

• Embed consistent pursuit practices within the Sales team
• Improve deal quality, conversion effectiveness, and commercial discipline

Minimum Requirements:

• Relevant tertiary qualification in Chemical, Metallurgical or Mechanical Engineering (not negotiable)
• 5-10 years progressive experience in external sales
• Experience in sales of equipment to the modular mining preferred, general mining and petro-chemical industries
• Experience working with a CRM system
• Experience evaluating RFQs and working with tenders and proposals
• Demonstrated ability to canvas and engage with new clients, build relationships, and convert leads into revenue.