Global Key Account Leader - Electrical Distribution (EMEA)

Locations: Hybrid within France, Germany, or the Netherlands

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Relationship Management

• Establish and manage high-level global strategic relationships and agreements with partner headquarters and central organizations, as well as other assigned entities.
• Act as a trusted advisor and influencer, providing strategic direction and ensuring alignment across EMEA and global teams.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for Zone communication, issue resolution, channel negotiations, and strategic initiatives.

Account Planning & Growth

• Develop and execute a 3–5-year strategic account plan with global scope (EMEA, Americas, APAC), engaging Corporate Account Managers and Zone/Country sales teams.
• Drive and coordinate sales and marketing plans aligned with divisional and regional objectives.
• Be accountable for achieving global growth targets (Profit Plan and strategic plans per region/zone and division) and meeting partner requirements.
• Contribute to elevating internal and external discussions towards market share growth across the key account sales team within the Electrical Wholesale Segment (EWS).
• Review, challenge, and enrich all Partner Advantage Plan (PAP) proposals from Country Sales Organizations (CSOs), ensuring alignment with corporate agreements.
• Ensure PAP rule compliance within CSOs (internal/external approvals, timelines, Docusign CLM usage, etc.).

Sales Execution & Opportunity Management

• Includes: Account Planning, Call Planning, Needs Discovery, Implementation, and Business Reviews.
• Conduct regular performance reviews with key partner stakeholders and CSOs.
• Drive pipeline management and performance monitoring to quickly adapt to market conditions, supply constraints, and ensure execution of contractual terms (sell-in, sell-out, revenue vs. targets, demand accuracy).
• Promote and embed a data-driven mindset within CSOs.

Strategic Initiatives

• Drive initiatives such as Digital Transformation, Lean Supply Chain, ESG/Sustainability, and Energy Transition to strengthen Eaton’s value proposition.
• Identify and implement new business opportunities to improve account penetration and accelerate growth (market share, share of wallet).
• Enhance digital acumen across key account and marketing teams by maximizing the use of digital tools (e.g., Salesforce account planning) and leveraging internal and partner data platforms to guide strategy and execution throughout the year.
• Deploy Eaton’s standard processes, tools, and programs across global partner locations, with a strong focus on Europe.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Coordinate globally with peers managing strategic accounts in other regions (Americas, Asia Pacific).
• Mentor, coach, and guide junior team members and relevant CSO key account stakeholders to drive high performance and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Communicate, influence, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment with Zone and Country account managers.

Qualifications & Experience

• Master’s degree in Business, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong track record in international sales, sales management, and channel development.
• Deep expertise in the electrical distribution industry.
• Experience operating within complex sales and marketing organizations across multiple go-to-market models and business types.
• Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional, fast-paced, and dynamic environments.
• Strong sales and marketing experience working with diverse channel partners.
• Good understanding of IT systems and digital tools supporting sales and commercial processes.
• Clear understanding of route-to-market strategies and indirect sales channels.
• Familiarity with channel incentive programs and competitive market practices.
• Strong business and financial acumen, combined with channel marketing experience.
• Comprehensive knowledge of channels, products, applications, and market dynamics.

Leadership & Behavioral Competencies

• Strong advocate of ethical standards, sustainability, health & safety, and inclusion, acting as a role model.
• Promotes collaboration across functions and teams to drive effective problem-solving and maximize business value.
• Customer-focused, with the ability to understand and exceed customer expectations.
• Results-driven, with a creative and proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Digital mindset, with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Strong leadership and team-building capabilities, with the ability to align stakeholders and drive consensus.
• High level of personal ownership, initiative, and accountability.
• Ability to communicate effectively across all organizational levels.
• Demonstrated potential to grow into broader leadership roles.
• Fluent in English (written and spoken).

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation and benefits package
• Challenging projects in dynamic collaborative team
• Flexible working solutions
• Eaton encourages internal promotion, whenever possible
• We invest in our employees for the long term – not just with salary and benefits, but with ongoing learning and development opportunities made available through Eaton University
• Reliability, safety, efficiency, and sustainability are at the core of our dedication to improving people’s lives and the environment through power management technologies.
• We put your health and safety first. Wellness at Eaton is more than a program, it’s about changing the environment by offering the right tools to help empower employees to make that happen.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for job applicants and employees. Our recruitment processes use balanced selection criteria and avoid unlawful discrimination against applicants on the basis of their age, colour, disability, marital status, national origin, gender, gender identity, genetic information, race or racial origin, religion, sexual orientation or any other status protected or required by law.