Job Description
If you've spent years calling on chemical plants, refineries, ethanol facilities, food & beverage manufacturers, or power plants — and you know your way around a pump curve — we should talk.
This is not an entry-level opportunity. We're looking for an industrial sales professional who has walked the plant floor, earned the trust of reliability engineers and plant managers, and knows how to close.
About Illinois Process Equipment (IPE)
Founded 30 years ago and headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, IPE is a full-service distributor of industrial pumps and systems. We represent world-class brands including Grundfos, Flowserve, KSB, Peerless, Pulsafeeder, Franklin Electric, Ampco, and more. Our team is built on deep industry relationships and a reputation for solving problems that other distributors can't.
What You'll Be Selling
- You'll represent a full line of industrial pump solutions — not a catalog, but engineered solutions — to end users and OEMs across a demanding set of target markets:
- Pumps, systems, service/repair, and energy optimization services
- Target accounts: chemical manufacturers, ethanol and biofuel plants, steel mills, food & ingredient manufacturers, pharmaceutical facilities, power generation, and industrial OEMs
You will be developing relationships at the plant level — with maintenance supervisors, reliability engineers, and process engineers — as well as at the purchasing and corporate level.
Is This You?
- ✔ Great Fit
- You've sold pumps, valves, rotating equipment, or MRO to industrial end users
- You're comfortable walking a plant, speaking an engineer's language, and closing with purchasing
- You know what a pump curve is, and you've used one to spec equipment
- You're a self-starter who can build a pipeline from scratch — cold calls, plant walk-ins, and all
- Your leads come from your own prospecting — not from distributors or a team handing them to you
- ✔ Not a Fit
- You are new to industrial sales and looking to break in
- Your background is commercial, residential, or consumer product sales
- You need heavy management support and leads handed to you to build a pipeline
- You've only sold to distributors or inside sales — no end-user plant-level experience
- Your current role has you managing distributor relationships and relying on their reps to find end users
- Requirements
- You must reside in Illinois or eastern Iowa to be considered for this position. If you do not live in this area, please do not apply.
- 3–5+ years of direct experience selling into chemical processing, power generation, food & beverage, biofuels, steel, pharmaceutical, or heavy industrial facilities
- Demonstrated experience engaging maintenance supervisors, reliability engineers, process engineers, and plant managers at the facility level
- Working knowledge of rotating equipment, pump hydraulics, or fluid handling systems — you don't need to be an engineer, but you need to speak the language
- Strong prospecting skills and a self-directed work style — this territory requires someone who can build from the ground up
- Must reside within the territory — ideal base locations include Peoria, Bloomington, or the Quad Cities; adjacent candidates with strong territory ties will be considered
- Engineering degree a plus, but equivalent hands-on industry experience is strongly valued
- Responsibilities
- Manage and grow a defined sales territory through prospecting, relationship development, and consultative selling
- Call on end users and OEMs across chemical process, steel, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, biofuels, power generation, and general industry
- Engage maintenance, reliability, engineering, and purchasing personnel at the plant level
- Apply value-based selling to match the right product or service solution to each customer's problem
- Represent premium brands including Grundfos, Flowserve, KSB, Peerless, Pulsafeeder, Franklin Electric, Ampco, and more
- Overnight travel as required to fully cover the territory
Compensation & Benefits
- Top performers in comparable territories have exceeded $150K. Base salary is competitive; commission is uncapped and tied directly to your results.
- Base salary + commission (uncapped) — $150K+ earning potential
- Car allowance + full reimbursement of fuel and business expenses
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off and paid holidays
- Paid training
- Home office setup
If you've built a career walking plant floors and solving fluid handling problems, we want to hear from you.
Apply today and tell us about the accounts you've called on and the problems you've solved.
Pay: $75,000.00 - $200,000.00 per year
- Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Cell phone reimbursement
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
- Work from home
- Application Question(s):
- Do you live in Illinois or Iowa? (This is mandatory for consideration)
- Experience:
- industrial sales: 3 years (Preferred)
- Willingness to travel:
- 25% (Preferred)
Work Location: Remote
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