CCO

Since its acquisition by American brand Rheem, Gorredijk-based water boiler manufacturer DEJONG has set high ambitions for growth. With a second production facility in Slovakia and entering the global market via OEMs, DEJONG will expand rapidly within the next few years. The analysis-driven and seasoned Chief Commercial Officer builds the international business development strategy and roadmap.

About DEJONG

DEJONG was founded 165 years ago and is Europe’s leading independent manufacturer of stainless steel warm water tanks. In 2024, these tanks play a major role in sustainability as a key component of heat pumps. The company, with its 220 employees and an office and factory in Gorredijk (Friesland), produces more than 150,000 tanks yearly, ranging in size from one to one thousand liters. The tanks are sold to OEMs, often under private labels, and sometimes distributors, who in turn sell them to end customers. DEJONG has a profitable revenue of 70 million euros.

In 2022, the number one American brand in water heating solutions, Rheem Manufacturing Company, acquired DEJONG. Rheem sells products in over 80 countries, unlocking the global market for DEJONG. Rheem is also keen to invest in DEJONG’s production capacity. Through a new factory in Slovakia – the largest plant in the world where such tanks are produced – DEJONG will increase its capacity specifically for large and homogenous bulk orders. Meanwhile, the facility in Gorredijk will focus more on tailored orders and specialized products.

Of course, this exciting new phase has a purpose: exponential growth and increasing global market share. The Chief Commercial Officer will be pivotal in making this happen.

Vacancy: Chief Commercial Officer

The Chief Commercial Officer takes the lead in shaping DEJONG’s global commercial strategy. For an experienced and ambitious commercial leader, this is a thrilling challenge: DEJONG aims to grow its revenue tenfold in the next five years, to at least 500 million euros. For this, a strong vision for the propositions and the customer relations is key – as well as building a solid fact base of global market insights. In addition, and equally important, the CCO will be closely involved in approaching OEMs, building relations, and closing deals worldwide.

Business Development
The CCO will build DEJONG’s global go-to-market and business development strategies. This person will create the commercial roadmap based on a vision as to which clients are most fitting for DEJONG, how to build long-term partnerships with them, and how to continue to add value to their businesses. In this, the CCO works with a team of dedicated account managers and sales professionals and is, importantly, also personally involved in the entire sales process. This includes client visits, pitches, relationship-building, and negotiations – all with a keen eye on long-term added value to both DEJONG and the OEMs. For this, a relentless focus on customer expectations is key – and the CCO champions this focus within the organization.

This role also includes setting up potential new business models for DEJONG. The CCO will inform the approach based on solid analysis – which this person will initiate and oversee – combined with strong commercial leadership experience. This level of analysis, research, and data collection also needs to be present in building an understanding of the different markets (both geographically and from a product or proposition perspective), potential areas for growth, competitive landscape, and customer analyses. This information feeds into the ambitious commercial roadmap that the CCO will build.

People leadership
The CCO also employs strong leadership capabilities. Building relationships internally and externally and challenging colleagues where needed (both in the commercial organization and the MT) are important criteria for success. In terms of customers, the CCO has experience with OEMs and has the maturity to maintain relationships with large, international clients at a senior, strategic level. Given the business model of selling to OEMs, DEJONG’s commercial team itself is small – but each team member is responsible for contracts that ensure DEJONG’s propositions reach hundreds of thousands of end users. The CCO is experienced with this sales dynamic and enables the small commercial team to ensure maximum value via long-term deals with strategically relevant customers.

“The organization is in the process of transforming from an operations-based culture to a commercial culture. The CCO plays a key role in this transformation, by role-modeling strategic commercial thinking and challenging everyone to put the customer first ” – Arno La Haye, CEO Rheem Europe

This is a unique challenge for a seasoned commercial strategist and people leader, who remains as eager as ever to learn and grow. The candidate has at least fifteen years of commercial experience, half of which are in senior leadership roles. The candidate is eager to not only expand and shape the commercial strategy to reach DEJONG’s ambitious growth targets but also to be a part of an involved management team of five, collectively running the company and making decisions based on dialogue and trust.

Interested?

DEJONG is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Gijs Millaard at gijs.millaard@topofminds.com