Managing Director Commercial

Reports to: Woongjin IT HQ, Seoul

Structure: One of two Managing Directors. Peer to the Managing Director responsible for the Global Development Center and delivery operations.

Mandate: Build and own Woongjin Asia's Malaysia and Southeast Asia market-facing business.

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS

Woongjin Asia is the Southeast Asian arm of Woongjin Group, a Korean enterprise technology group. Our established strength in Malaysia is delivery: a Kuala Lumpur Global Development Center that builds and supports enterprise systems for Korean corporate clients to Korean quality standards.

Our Malaysian market-facing business is at an early stage. This role exists to build it. You will not inherit a mature commercial organisation, a large pipeline, or an established local brand. You will inherit a delivery capability, a proven product portfolio, the backing of a substantial Korean group, and the mandate to turn those into a Malaysian enterprise business.

We are being direct about this because the wrong appointment costs both parties two years. This is a build role. It will suit a commercially entrepreneurial leader who wants ownership. It will not suit a leader who needs an existing machine to run.

WHAT YOU WILL SELL

Four portfolios, at different stages of maturity in this market:

•   WRMS — Woongjin Rental Management Solution. Rental and subscription commerce platform.

•   WDMS — Woongjin Digital Mobility Solution. Dealer management for automotive sales, service and aftersales. Active dealer engagement underway in Malaysia.

•   SAP Business One. ERP for mid-market enterprises.

•   IT Outsourcing and Managed Services. Delivered from our Kuala Lumpur development centre — a genuine cost and quality advantage over local competitors reselling third-party capacity.

Part of your first-year judgement will be deciding where to concentrate. We are not expecting equal progress across all four.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Revenue and pipeline

•   Own Malaysia-originated revenue and gross margin.

•   Build the enterprise pipeline from first principles — target list, positioning, qualification discipline, forecast integrity.

•   Lead complex enterprise sales end to end, from first meeting to signed contract.

•   Hold commercial responsibility for pricing and deal structure within agreed authority limits.

Market strategy

•   Decide which portfolios, sectors and segments to priorities, and defend that choice with evidence.

•   Position Woongjin Asia credibly against established local and regional competitors.

•   Feed market intelligence back to Group HQ to shape product and investment decisions.

Partnerships and ecosystem

•   Build reseller, system integrator and consulting partnerships that extend reach beyond a direct sales team.

•   Establish the vendor and industry relationships needed for credibility in the Malaysian enterprise market.

Team and organisation

•   Recruit and lead the commercial team, sized to the pipeline rather than to ambition.

•   Set KPIs, sales process and forecasting discipline.

•   Work with the Global Development Center to translate delivery capability into commercial propositions, and to ensure sold work can be delivered.

Executive contribution

•   Serve on Woongjin Asia's executive leadership team.

•   Represent the Malaysian business to Group HQ, including budget, forecast and strategic planning cycles.

•   Contribute to Woongjin Group's wider Southeast Asian expansion.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Specific targets will be agreed on appointment. Directionally:

First 90 days

• Market and portfolio assessment complete. Prioritisation recommendation to HQ. Target account list built. Working relationships established with Group HQ and the Global Development Center.

6 months

• Qualified pipeline established. First reference customer signed or at contract stage. Commercial team plan agreed and first hires made.

12 months

• Repeatable pipeline generating consistent qualified opportunities. Reference customers in at least one prioritised portfolio. Revenue against agreed target.

24 months

• A commercial business that stands on its own — predictable revenue, a functioning team, partner channel contributing, and Woongjin Asia recognised in its chosen segments.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Essential

•   Substantial enterprise sales and commercial leadership experience — typically 12 years or more, including P&L or revenue ownership at country or business unit level.

•   A track record of building, not only managing. Evidence of taking a business, territory or portfolio from early stage to established.

•   Proven success selling enterprise software, ERP, SaaS, IT services, digital transformation or system integration to Malaysian enterprise buyers.

•   An active, current network among Malaysian enterprise decision-makers — CEO, CIO, CFO and equivalent.

•   Comfort operating with limited infrastructure and building process where none exists.

Strongly preferred

•   Direct experience in one or more of: SAP Business One or SAP ERP, Microsoft Dynamics, automotive dealer management systems, rental and subscription platforms, IT outsourcing or managed services.

•   Experience in a subsidiary of a foreign parent, with the reporting and governance that entails.

•   Regional exposure across Southeast Asia.

Not required

•   A degree in any specific discipline. We will weigh evidence of results above credentials.

•   Prior Managing Director title. We are more interested in what you have built than what you were called.

•   Korean language, if the equivalent cross-cultural working experience is there.

HOW WE WORK — READ THIS BEFORE APPLYING

Three things about this environment that candidates should weigh honestly:

•   Korean group governance. Investment, pricing and strategic decisions involve Group HQ in Seoul. You will need patience with consensus-building and the skill to influence a headquarters that is not in the room. This is real, and it is the most common reason senior local hires struggle in Korean subsidiaries.

•   A two-Managing-Director structure. You will own the commercial business; your counterpart owns the Global Development Center and delivery. Decision rights between the two roles are documented and agreed. Success requires a peer who can collaborate rather than compete.

•   Early-stage reality. Support functions are lean. In year one you will do work that in a larger organisation would sit two levels below you. If those three points are energising rather than concerning, we would like to hear from you.

WHAT WE OFFER

•   Full ownership of a market business, with the backing and balance sheet of an established Korean group.

•   A delivery capability already in place — you are selling something we can genuinely build and support.

•   Direct access to Group leadership and a real voice in Southeast Asian strategy.