National Sales Manager

A newly created, build-from-scratch leadership role, own national strategy and a growing outdoor portfolio for an iconic Australian brand.

Salary: $150,000 base + super + commission — reflects the seniority and experience this role requires

Benefits: Interstate travel covered, plus fuel card and toll card

Location: Onsite, Seven Hills NSW (base) — with national travel for conferences and key accounts

Reports to: Operations Manager

Sun Shade Australia® is one of Australia's leading Sun Shade specialists, Australian-owned since 1997. We create safe outdoor spaces for students and staff, alongside the wider community and business sectors. We've delivered over 2,700 shade structure projects across NSW, VIC, ACT and QLD, with our proprietary SSA Superspan System engineered by structural engineers to Australian Standards.

Alongside installation, our Sun Shade ProCare division provides ongoing maintenance and cleaning to extend the life of every structure we build. We're known for our reputation on quality, service, and attention to detail and we're entering an exciting growth phase, expanding our reach and offering across the outdoor space.

We're looking for a highly experienced National Sales Manager to lead and grow our sales function across the country. This is a senior, high-autonomy role for a proven sales leader who can build and direct a team, and who knows how to use technology to keep focus on the work that moves the needle: relationships, strategy, and closing.

● Own and execute the national sales strategy — deciding which markets and channels to prioritise

● Represent us at conferences and trade shows nationally, including regular travel to attend, exhibit, and work booths

● Build and manage advertising placements

● Develop relationships with key decision-makers (schools, associations, districts, distributors)

● Own the quote-to-close process — pricing decisions, approvals, follow-up, and win/loss tracking (site visits and quote drafting are handled by the local team; this role sets pricing strategy and closes)

● Negotiate and close deals with major accounts

●  Set sales targets and track performance, reallocating effort/budget based on what's converting

●  Build, lead, and grow a national sales team over time, continually adopting new technology and AI tools to improve efficiency and keep focus on high-value work

● Report on channel performance and recommend where to expand next

● 10+ years of B2B or institutional sales experience, ideally in education, commercial, or a related sector

●  Proven track record of building a sales team from the ground up, leading it, and driving revenue growth

●  Demonstrated use of modern technology and AI tools to improve sales efficiency and keep focus on high-value work

●  Comfort with regular national travel and representing the business face-to-face at conferences

●  Strong relationship-building and negotiation skills

● Self-starter who's comfortable owning a national territory with minimal oversight

● Familiarity with CRM tools and basic sales reporting

You'll have real ownership over how the business grows nationally, not just executing a playbook, but building the team and systems behind it. This is a senior role with genuine autonomy to shape strategy, priorities, and how technology gets used to drive results, including using AI to sharpen sales efficiency, an area we're actively investing in ahead of most competitors in this space.

A note on fit: this role is built around using AI and modern tools to drive growth and build a high-performing team, not managing sales the traditional way. If you don't have a genuine understanding of how AI can be applied to build tools, processes, and a team around it, this isn't the right role for you.

As part of your application, please submit a short video (5–10 minutes) answering the following questions:

1. Tell us about a sales team you built from scratch, what did it look like when you started, and what did it look like when you left?

2. Describe a time you used technology or AI to improve sales efficiency. What was the result, and what did you personally stop doing so you could focus on higher-value work?

3. Walk us through your biggest deal or account win, how did you identify it, build the relationship, and close it?

4. How do you approach representing a business at a conference or trade show, what makes the difference between a booth that generates real leads and one that doesn't?

5. This role means owning national growth without a large existing team. How would you prioritize your first 90 days?