Regional Sales Manager
Christchurch
- Lead a team of six across a high-potential region
- Field-based role with autonomy and ownership
- Build structure, momentum and results
- Great package! Base salary + vehicle + bonus
About Fern Energy:
Fern Energy is a New Zealand-owned fuel distribution business operating nationwide. With around 160 people across its tanker fleet, sales teams, logistics and support functions, Fern supplies bulk fuel and fuel solutions to rural and commercial customers across the country. Based in Christchurch, Fern is a growing business with a flat structure, a hands-on CEO and a culture where people take real ownership of their work.
What’s the role?
Reporting to the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, the South Island Regional Sales Manager leads a team of six Fuel Specialists covering from north Canterbury southwards. Your team manages existing customer relationships and drives new business development across rural and commercial accounts.
This is a field-based leadership role. The expectation is that you're on the road with your team, out visiting customers, and actively driving the performance and growth of the region.
The South Island has significant potential. The incoming manager will find a team that's ready to be led well and an opportunity to build structure, momentum and results in a region that matters to the business. Fern is open to the successful candidate working remotely from either Dunedin or Invercargill.
What you’ll bring:
These are the essentials:
- A proven track record leading sales teams, with experience managing performance, building pipeline discipline and coaching people to deliver
- Success in a distributed or field-based sales environment - someone who gets alongside their team rather than managing from a distance
- Strong new business capability, with the ability to identify, pursue and convert opportunities in a relationship-driven, longer-cycle environment
- The commercial discipline to use data and reporting tools to drive decisions and hold the team accountable
- Self-sufficiency - you can set your own rhythm and don't need significant day-to-day direction
These are advantageous:
- Experience in fuel distribution, rural/agricultural sales, or a related commercial sector
- Familiarity with the South Island market and its key industries
You'll also be able to demonstrate:
- People leadership: You build accountability with consistency, coach rather than just direct, and get the best out of a diverse team
- Commercial focus: You understand margin, pipeline quality, and what it takes to grow a region profitably.
- Presence in the field: You're most comfortable out with the team and customers
- Strategic thinking: You can see the bigger picture while staying close to the operational detail
- Stability and credibility: The team has had significant change - you bring the kind of calm, clear leadership that earns trust quickly
Culture
Fern feels like a business where people know each other and are invested in each other's success. The business is agile by nature - decisions get made quickly and people are given real ownership of their roles. The office is open plan and the executive team is accessible and engaged. If you've come from an environment where change moves slowly, Fern will feel like a breath of fresh air. Fern also has a strong community focus; their Fuel for Schools programme has put over $2M of resources into rural schools and their Fuel for Good programme supports young people in need.