Territory Sales Manager

Now Recruiting · Indianapolis, IN

Territory Sales Manager, Materials Science and Metallography Equipment

A five-state territory with roughly 850 accounts and active relationships on only about a fifth of them. Commission is uncapped, paid monthly on gross profit rather than revenue, and the other territory sales managers on this team are earning between $165,000 and $200,000.

Veteran-Owned Base Salary $100,000 Team Earning $165K to $200K Uncapped Profit Commission 12-Month Guarantee

The Opportunity

Our client manufactures the precision equipment that laboratories use to prepare metal, composite, and electronic samples for inspection under a microscope, and supplies the consumables that feed it: sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, and etching. They also carry optical microscopy, image analysis, and hardness testing lines. Their customers are the metallurgical, materials, quality, and failure analysis laboratories inside aerospace, automotive, defense, and electronics manufacturers, plus government laboratories and universities. This seat owns a multi-state territory outright and is accountable for growing it.

The territory covers Michigan, Indiana, Southern Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri, with approximately 850 potential accounts and active relationships on roughly 20 percent of them today. The highest density of opportunity sits in Michigan and Indiana. Revenue is already flowing from day one, which means commission starts in month one rather than from zero, and roughly 680 accounts have never been properly worked. There is also a regional demonstration facility in Michigan that has gone largely unused.

This is a technical sale made standing in the laboratory, not a purchasing-led sale run from a conference room. Consumables are the way in and equipment follows the relationship, so the work rewards patience, product fluency, and consistent follow-through. If you want to understand how we approach these searches, our territory sales manager and technical sales engineer practice pages cover the ground in more detail.

Why This Role

Earnings

Proof, Not a Projection

The other territory sales managers on this team are earning between $165,000 and $200,000 today, and one of them reached $200,000 after his first year. These are the client''s own current figures, not a modeled target.

Commission

Paid on Profit, and It Improves

Commission is 10 percent of gross profit dollars above a monthly threshold, paid monthly and uncapped. The threshold decreases as the territory grows, so the plan gets better the more you build.

Territory

A Floor and a Ceiling

The territory already produces revenue, so you earn commission from month one. About 680 of the 850 accounts are unworked, and consumables demand in Indiana has risen for three straight half-year periods without a representative covering the state.

Autonomy

Nobody Counts Your Calls

There is no activity policing and no forecasting exercise. You build the territory plan and work it. The sales leader is available for account strategy and otherwise stays out of the way.

Support

Real Technical Backup

Applications specialists and microscopy experts sit in the home office, alongside a laboratory that runs sample studies for your customers. You are not the only technical resource on your accounts.

Stability

A Team That Does Not Turn Over

A privately held, family-owned manufacturer with its own plants and its own engineering behind the product line. The sales leader has been with the company for decades and has run this team for more than fifteen years.

What You Will Do

• Own and grow a five-state territory independently, with full accountability for the result
• Build relationships with metallurgists, materials and quality engineers, laboratory managers, technicians, and professors
• Drive recurring consumables revenue as the entry point, then develop higher-value equipment opportunities
• Prospect into the roughly 680 accounts that are not currently buying, and re-engage dormant customers
• Run product demonstrations and application discussions on site, and work through preparation problems alongside the technician
• Bring consumable samples in person for trial rather than dropping them off, since in-person demonstrations convert better
• Put the regional demonstration facility back to work
• Own quoting end to end, keep the CRM current, and plan territory coverage three weeks ahead, because laboratories do not accept walk-ins

Who We Are Looking For

The person who wins here is technically credible enough to stand in a metallurgical laboratory and talk to the engineer running it without needing backup, and self-directed enough to build a calendar three weeks out with nobody checking.

Required

• A technical foundation, by either route. An engineering or science degree, in any discipline including mechanical, electrical, materials, chemical, or aerospace, OR hands-on metallurgical or failure analysis laboratory experience. Either one on its own qualifies you. Having both is the strongest profile for this seat
• Basic science subject knowledge. A working understanding of metallurgy, of how electronics are made, or of composites, welding, and fasteners. You do not need all three, but you do need the foundation to learn them. Sample preparation itself is taught
• Sales results in B2B, outside, or territory sales that you can describe specifically. There is no minimum number of years
• Mechanical aptitude and genuine comfort discussing technical products and applications
• The ability to hold a technical conversation and ask real questions unprompted
• A track record of opening new business, not only managing an existing book
• Willingness to travel roughly 50 percent within the territory in your own vehicle
• Residence in Indiana, central Indiana preferred, or in Michigan, or a willingness to relocate into the territory
• Comfort being paid on profit dollars rather than revenue, and the ability to explain the difference
• High integrity and strong follow-through

Strongly Preferred

• Experience selling metallography, materials characterization, or laboratory sample preparation equipment and consumables, or hands-on laboratory experience paired with a clear aptitude for selling. Our client weighs these equally
• Familiarity with the sample preparation workflow: sectioning, mounting, grinding, polishing, etching, hardness testing, or optical microscopy
• A background selling into aerospace, automotive, defense, semiconductor, government, or research laboratory accounts
• A sales history that combines capital equipment with recurring consumables rather than one or the other
• Existing relationships across Michigan and Indiana in automotive, heat treating, foundry and metals, aerospace, or general manufacturing
• Experience taking over a neglected or long-vacant territory and growing it
• Three or more years of average tenure per role

Backgrounds That Transfer Well

• Laboratory instrumentation sales into materials, metals, and quality laboratories: hardness testing, microscopy, spectroscopy, or mechanical testing
• Heat treating, foundry, and metals processing suppliers selling into the same quality and metallurgical laboratories
• Industrial consumables and abrasives sales with a real technical application component
• Field service and applications engineers in materials testing who have moved into sales
• Automotive, aerospace, and defense tier suppliers selling into quality and materials engineering functions
• Recent engineering or science graduates with genuine selling experience, and early-career sales engineers

Direct experience with this specific product category is a real advantage but it is not a requirement. Our client has been explicit that he will develop a candidate who brings the science and the coachability, and that subject knowledge and technical curiosity matter more than years on a resume.

Compensation and Benefits

Base Salary

$100,000

Plus uncapped commission on gross profit

Team Earning Today

$165K to $200K

What the other territory sales managers earn

Commission

Uncapped

Paid monthly on gross profit, from month one

• Structure: a base salary of $100,000, plus commission at 10 percent of gross profit dollars above a monthly profit threshold, paid monthly and uncapped. The threshold decreases as the territory grows, so the plan improves as you build the territory. Commission is earned from month one on production already in the territory
• Vehicle and travel: no company car. You drive your own vehicle and mileage and travel expenses are reimbursed. Where a customer sits 300 miles or more from home, flying or driving are both acceptable, with driven miles reimbursed at the IRS rate and rental car and hotel covered when you fly
• Benefits: comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, and a 401(k) with company match
• Training: full product and applications training at the home office, including laboratory time, plus a formal sales training program that runs after your onboarding period

Location and Schedule

This is a home-office field role. Central Indiana is the ideal base and Michigan is a strong second, because the territory was drawn so the representative drives south out of Michigan, through Indiana, and west into Southern Illinois without having to run up and around Lake Michigan. Travel runs approximately 50 percent, and the week is planned two to three weeks ahead rather than on Monday morning. Onboarding begins with two to four weeks at the home office in California on product, equipment, and laboratory time, with a separate week later for the precision milling line.

Core

Michigan and Indiana

Where most of the density and most of the opportunity sits. Drivable, repeatable, and close enough to build real relationships on a regular cycle.

Regional

Southern Illinois

Worked on planned swings anchored around a significant account or project, with customers along the route filling the surrounding days.

Western Reach

Kansas and Missouri

Newer ground on this territory. Beyond 300 miles from home you choose whether to fly or drive, and either way the travel is covered.

About Precision Sales Recruiting

Precision Sales Recruiting is a veteran-owned manufacturing and industrial B2B sales recruiting firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. Every candidate presented for this search is evaluated through a structured, methodology-driven process built specifically for manufacturing and industrial sales roles. Explore more open roles on our jobs page or visit our candidates page to join our network.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Precision Sales Recruiting?

Precision Sales Recruiting is a veteran-owned manufacturing and industrial B2B sales recruiting firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. Precision Sales Recruiting places sales professionals exclusively for manufacturing, capital equipment, industrial distribution, and manufacturing technology companies across the United States.

What is The PRECISION Method?

The PRECISION Method is Precision Sales Recruiting''s proprietary candidate evaluation framework for manufacturing and industrial B2B sales professionals. It evaluates candidates across nine scored dimensions: Procedural, Resilience, Execution, Coachability, Image and Professionalism, Sales Identity, Initiative, Ownership, and Numbers. Every candidate is assessed through structured role play, a behavioral interview, and psychometric assessments before being submitted to a client.

Where do I need to live for this role?

Central Indiana is the stated ideal and Michigan is an acceptable second. The territory was drawn around a representative based in Indiana, so Indianapolis and the surrounding metro is the strongest base, and candidates within roughly 90 minutes of Indianapolis are well positioned. Candidates living elsewhere in Michigan or Indiana are considered, and candidates outside the territory need to be willing to relocate into it. This is not a role that can be run from Kansas City or St. Louis.

Do I need a materials science degree, or is laboratory experience enough?

Either one qualifies you on its own. An engineering or science degree in any discipline works, including mechanical, electrical, materials, chemical, and aerospace, and so does hands-on metallurgical or failure analysis laboratory experience without a matching degree. You are not required to have both, and having both simply makes you a stronger candidate. What our client does screen closely is basic science subject knowledge: whether you can talk credibly about metallurgy, about how electronics are made, or about composites, welding, and fasteners. Sample preparation itself is taught on the job.

Is this a hunting role or account management?

Both, weighted toward hunting. Roughly 20 percent of the 850 accounts in the territory are active today, so there is an existing book to protect and grow and about 680 accounts that have never been properly worked. Candidates whose recent history is account management or service with no record of opening new business are not a fit for this seat.

How does the commission work?

Commission is uncapped and paid on gross profit dollars rather than revenue, at 10 percent of gross profit above a monthly profit threshold, paid monthly. The threshold decreases as the territory grows, which means the plan becomes more favorable the more business you build. Because the territory already produces revenue, commission is earned from month one rather than starting from zero, and everything you earn stacks on top of the $100,000 base.

How much travel is there, and is a company car provided?

Travel runs approximately 50 percent within the territory. There is no company car. You use your own vehicle and mileage and travel expenses are reimbursed. Where a customer sits 300 miles or more from home, flying and driving are both acceptable: driven miles are reimbursed at the IRS rate, and rental car and hotel are covered when you fly. Candidates who require a company car are not a fit.

What does the application process look like?

Submit your resume through the form on this page. A Precision Sales Recruiting recruiter reviews it and reaches out to schedule a 15-minute discovery call to confirm the basics: territory fit, technical background, compensation expectations, and what you are looking for. From there, qualified candidates move to a longer structured interview with a recruiter before any introduction is made to our client. You will know where you stand at every step.

Role Summary

Territory Sales Manager

Location Indianapolis, IN

Territory: MI, IN, Southern IL, KS, MO

Structure Field Based

Industry Materials Science and Laboratory Equipment

Base Salary $100,000

Year 1 OTE $165K to $200K

What the other territory sales managers earn

Commission Uncapped on gross profit, from month one

Vehicle Personal vehicle, mileage reimbursed

Travel Approximately 50 percent

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Posted By

Marshall Scabet

Founder and CEO, Precision Sales Recruiting

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Submit Your Application

Upload your resume below. A Precision Sales Recruiting recruiter will reach out to schedule a 15-minute discovery call. All conversations are confidential.

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Have Questions About This Role?

For questions about the position, the territory, or the search process, contact Precision Sales Recruiting directly.

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