Full-Time

Sales Leader

Wholesale Sales Manager

Cottingham & Butler

Cottingham & Butler

501-1,000 employees

Independent broker delivering P&C & benefits

No salary listed

Dubuque, IA, USA

In Person

Bachelor's

Category
Sales & Account Management (1)
Required Skills
Lead Generation
HubSpot
Salesforce

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Requirements
  • Four-year degree.
  • Minimum of 5 years of sales management experience, preferably within the employee benefits industry.
  • Strong leadership skills with the ability to hold others accountable.
  • Excellent sales management skills and practices.
  • Ability to hire and develop sales talent.
  • Solid understanding of the employee benefits business.
  • Knowledge of the wellness business and its applicability for companies.
  • Basic knowledge of customer relationship management systems; proficiency in HubSpot and/or Salesforce is a plus.
Responsibilities
  • Supervise all sales executives, including setting activity metrics, holding regular sales meetings, and ensuring that the sales team has the necessary resources to succeed.
  • Accompany sales executives on calls as necessary to close business.
  • Hire, train, and develop new sales executives; implement formal development plans and ensure comprehensive training.
  • Define sales territories to avoid overlap and inefficiency.
  • Develop policies and procedures for handling incoming leads from national portals, conferences/events, and web-generated opportunities.
  • Formulate strategies to increase penetration and engagement with top brokers in the US.
  • Provide feedback to the Executive Vice President on product and pricing requirements to remain competitive.
  • Collaborate with the Executive Vice President on marketing budget, priorities, and conference attendance; suggest new target verticals and distribution channels.
  • Become an expert in the company’s products and differentiation; ensure all sales executives understand and can articulate these differences.
  • Complete other duties as assigned by the Executive Vice President.
Desired Qualifications
  • Obtaining and maintaining a Life and Health Insurance License is recommended but not required.
  • Proficiency in HubSpot and/or Salesforce is a plus.

Cottingham & Butler is a large, privately held U.S. insurance broker focused on property & casualty and employee benefits. It helps clients manage risk by assessing needs, designing and placing insurance programs with carrier partners, and providing ongoing advisory, service, and claims support. Compared with competitors, it differentiates itself through its independence (not owned by carriers), scale, and a promise of consistent, improved outcomes—articulated as Better Every Day: better advice, better service, and better ideas than peers. The company emphasizes challenging conventional wisdom, innovating its services, and improving client results as it grew from 1887 to become the 3rd largest independently held broker. Its goal is to deliver measurable value for clients every day, helping them reduce risk and optimize benefits while maintaining strong growth and industry expertise.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Dubuque, Iowa

Founded

1987

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Hessling arrived from Gallagher Bassett North America, bringing scaled brokerage and claims-operating experience.
  • July 2026 brought Mark Roling, Taylor Orton, and Ryan Butler into expanded P&C leadership roles.
  • The Des Moines office and July 2026 recruitment signal continued Midwest expansion and client coverage gains.

What critics are saying

  • Transportation clients face nuclear verdict and fraud-ring losses, directly highlighted for August 2026 summit speakers.
  • Mike Hessling started January 19, 2026, making execution dependent on a new leadership structure.
  • The 55-seat West Des Moines office needs rapid hiring; missed recruiting slows Midwest growth.

What makes Cottingham & Butler unique

  • Cottingham & Butler is the 4th largest privately held U.S. insurance broker, according to its December 2025 announcement.
  • Its transportation practice convenes 550 trucking executives at the 2026 Transportation Summit in Schaumburg.
  • Its trucking compensation benchmark survey offers niche data, including tank and bulk segment breakouts.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account

401(k) Company Match

Profit Sharing

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Company-paid ST and LT Disability

Maternity Leave

Parental Leave

Subsidized Parking

Company-paid Term Life/Accidental Death Insurance

Company News

Insurance Journal
Jan 22nd, 2026
People Moves: Cottingham & Butler Names Hessling President; Blessing Named Office President of CRC Group Kansas City Operation

People moves: Cottingham & Butler Names Hessling President; Blessing Named Office President of CRC Group Kansas City Operation. Cottingham & Butler Names Hessling President Cottingham & Butler, headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, named Mike Hessling as president. Hessling joins Cottingham & Butler from Gallagher Bassett, where he served as CEO of North America. As president, Hessling develops and executes the company's strategic agenda, with a focus on continued growth and long-term planning. Before Gallagher Bassett, Hessling held roles at Bain & Company, Bridge Strategy Group, and Arthur Andersen. Blessing Named Office President of CRC Group Kansas City Operation CRC Group, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, named Matt Blessing as office president in Kansas City, Missouri, where he will continue to lead the firm's Select binding operations. Blessing is responsible for overseeing underwriting strategy, talent development, and market expansion while supporting retail partners. Blessing brings nearly two decades of experience in underwriting and binding authority operations, with a background spanning underwriting management, portfolio development, and complex risk evaluation across multiple lines of business.

x107.1
Mar 11th, 2025
Cottingham & Butler opening Des Moines-area office

Cottingham & Butler is opening a new office in the Des Moines area.

Bulk Transporter
Feb 9th, 2022
Cottingham & Butler, Inc. launched survey for the 2022 edition of Annual Trucking Compensation & Benefits Benchmark Survey Report on Jan 9th 22'.

Cottingham & Butler recently launched a survey for the 2022 edition of its Annual Trucking Compensation & Benefits Benchmark Survey Report, which includes the only comprehensive breakout of data for the tank/bulk segment.

McLeod Express
Jan 6th, 2022
Mcleod Express, Llc partners with Cottingham & Butler, Inc.

Through its partnership with Cottingham & Butler, McLeod Express employees have access to the PerkSpot Employee Discount Program at no cost to them!