Sales Director & Managing Director, Norway

Sales Director & Managing Director, Norway

Xylem is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company dedicated to advancing sustainable impact and empowering the people who make water work every day. As a leading water technology company with 23,000 employees operating in over 150 countries, Xylem is at the forefront of addressing the world's most critical water challenges. We invite passionate individuals to join our team, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations through innovative and sustainable solutions.

We are looking for a commercially strong, engaging and execution-oriented leader to join us as Sales Director & Managing Director, Norway.

This is a high-impact country leadership role with broad commercial and host-function responsibility. You will lead Xylem's $60M Transport division in Norway, with full accountability for commercial performance, while also serving as host-function Managing Director for Xylem's other divisions in the country.

The Norwegian Transport division is part of Xylem's Nordic Transport organization. In this role, you will report to the Nordic Transport leadership and serve as a member of the Nordic Leadership Team. You will contribute actively to the Nordic growth agenda, transformation priorities and operating rhythm, while translating Nordic direction into clear country execution and accountable results in Norway.

This means combining clear country ownership for Norway with active contribution to the wider Nordic Transport agenda.

The mandate is clear: accelerate profitable growth, sharpen commercial discipline and build a stronger platform for long-term performance. The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on execution and requires a leader who can challenge legacy ways of working, create clarity, raise standards and mobilize people behind change.

You will own orders, margin, pricing, funnel quality, go-to-market execution, account development and sales capability building for the Transport division. In parallel, you will represent Xylem in local legal, statutory and external matters and help ensure strong coordination across functions, segments and divisions.

This is an opportunity to take a visible leadership role in a business with strong market relevance and significant potential.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial leadership and profitable growth

• Take full ownership of commercial performance for the Transport division in Norway, including orders, profitable growth, margin, pricing, funnel health and execution quality.
• Translate Nordic Transport strategy into a focused Norway growth plan with clear priorities, measurable outcomes and disciplined follow-up.
• Drive a sharper go-to-market approach across direct sales, channel partners, project business, aftermarket and digital growth opportunities.
• Improve commercial intensity, account planning, pipeline conversion, win rate, pricing realization and value-based selling.
• Build senior relationships with key customers, consultants, contractors, distributors and strategic partners.

Leadership and transformation

• Lead and coach the commercial organization with energy, clarity and high expectations.
• Build a culture of accountability, pace, collaboration and customer focus.
• Mobilize teams behind priorities and drive change with speed, discipline and pragmatism.
• Balance immediate business delivery with long-term capability building and strategic direction.
• Challenge legacy ways of working and improve execution through structure, follow-up and continuous improvement.

Governance, forecasting and performance management

• Lead a disciplined operating rhythm for commercial reviews, forecasting, performance tracking and countermeasure actions.
• Ensure high-quality forecast inputs, robust business cases and clear follow-up against targets.
• Operate with high standards of governance, transparency, accountability and compliance.
• Act as an active member of the Nordic Leadership Team, contributing to Nordic Transport strategy, performance reviews, cross-country collaboration and shared transformation priorities.
• Play a visible role in strategic planning and annual business planning for Norway.

Country and host-function leadership

• Serve as host-function Managing Director for Xylem Norway, representing the company in local legal, statutory and external matters while supporting alignment across Xylem's divisions in the country.
• Enable effective collaboration across shared functions including HR, Finance, Tax, Communications and support services.
• Maintain strong stakeholder dialogue across segments, divisions and functions, driving alignment and corrective action where needed.
• Coordinate country communication rhythms and contribute to a consistent employee experience across the Norway organization.

Who you are

You are an energetic and credible business leader with the commercial edge, leadership presence and execution discipline needed to create traction.

You bring structure without bureaucracy, pace without losing people and accountability without losing trust. You are comfortable setting direction, making decisions and following through.

You perform well where transformation, stakeholder complexity, matrix leadership and performance pressure come together. You know how to lead in a matrix, influence without formal authority and build commitment across teams and functions.

Most importantly, you inspire confidence while raising standards. You create clarity, energize teams and turn strategy into action.

What you bring

• Significant leadership experience in sales management, general management or commercial operations, ideally in an international matrix organization.
• A proven track record of delivering profitable growth, commercial transformation and margin discipline.
• Strong capability in balancing short-term performance delivery with long-term business development.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through change, increase organizational pace and drive execution excellence.
• Strong financial and analytical skills, including forecasting, budgeting, business case development and performance management.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to represent the business internally and externally.
• The ability to work with governance, discipline, transparency and accountability in a demanding corporate environment.
• Experience in water, infrastructure, industrial, capital equipment or service-intensive sectors is highly valuable.
• Fluency in English is required; Norwegian or another Scandinavian language is a strong advantage.

Why join Xylem?

This is an opportunity to take on a role with real influence and visibility.

You will join a business with strong market relevance, a meaningful mission and significant opportunity ahead. You will have the opportunity to shape commercial performance, strengthen leadership and accelerate transformation in Norway, while contributing directly to the wider Nordic Transport agenda as part of the Nordic Leadership Team.

At Xylem, purpose and performance go hand in hand. You will work in an international, collaborative environment where people development, inclusion and diverse perspectives are valued.

Location and travel

• Location: Remote within Norway, preferably in Oslo, Stavanger or Bergen.
• Travel: Domestic and international travel of approximately 40% is expected.

Apply

If you are excited by the opportunity to lead growth, build capability and drive meaningful change in a business with strong potential, we would love to hear from you.

To learn more, please contact Leila Sayyad, Corporate Recruiter, at Leila.sayyad@xylem.com.

At Xylem, diversity, equity and inclusion are core to who we are. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong.