Commercial Sales Manager, Automotive

Job Description

Our client is an established manufacturer of plastics for OEM and Tier 1 automotive customers. For their operations in Germany, they are looking for an experienced Commercial Sales Manager.

Required Education and Experience

MBA in business administration / finance / economy / engineering

5+ years experience in Automotive Industry

5+ years experience in Automotive Sales and Marketing sector working directly with OEMs and Tier 1 Customers.

Experience and active network with BMW, Stellantis and Seat

Plastic-related market knowledge will be a plus.

Technical background and understanding in Injection Molding Production (drawing requirements, tolerances, materials, production processes, pricing methods, etc.)

Proficient user of Microsoft Office, PLM (Teams center Siemens), ERP (Priority), etc.

Personal Skills

Personal qualities and interpersonal skills

Ability to work in a dynamic and changing environment.

Good interpersonal relationships and excellent communication skills.

Ability to easily work in a multicultural environment.

Excellent presentation Skills.

Positive and open Mindset

Going the extra Mile

Negotiation skills.

Ability to travel as needed and for face-to-face meetings with customers on a weekly basis.

Expect some trips to be conducted on short notice.

Main interfaces

Site Managers.

Technical Sales Engineer.

HQ Account Manager.

Supply Chain and Purchasing Department.

Central Engineering & Innovation.

Project Management.

Quality department.

Customer Purchasing, Quality, Logistics, Development Departments. Sub Suppliers.

Job Description

Full responsibility for new Account / s development and / or Sections of Activity within a strategic account as part of a major account team and / or Operate agents / distributors.

Translate Sales and Marketing plans into detailed action plan to meet goals

Execute Sales and Marketing plans in an effective and consistent manner.

Execute sales plan in parallel with portfolio customers and managing day to day activity.

Essential duties and responsibilities

Understand the Company’s goals, identify gaps in reaching these goals and proactively build action plans to close gaps.

Identify and develop new business opportunities on new applications or product segments

Understand the profitability of the responsible accounts and develop an action plan to improve them.

Coordinate all departments to assure and address the right performance in front of the customer.

Serve as the point of contact with the purchasing department of the customer for pre-sale and post-sale commercial activities apart from ECRs.

Actively participate in the Customer evaluation process for new and existing projects

Responsible for managing the RFQ activities and plan the needed resources.

Propose the offer strategy, Red Lines for quotations and present it in the Management Committees

Work closely with Corporate Engineering and Costing teams to prepare the quotations.

Present quotes to Customer , lead discussions on cost breakdowns, timing, and any other customer expectations.

Lead all negotiations between RFQ and receipt of Purchase Order.

Lead and coordinate customer meetings like offer presentations, negotiations or escalation meetings.

Facilitate open and effective communication channels between sales and marketing team to HQ functions, production sites, customers.

Lead annual price negotiations for serial and Spare part business

Ensure customer payments and frequently the follow up of the open topics.

Lead the Claim Management Process for the specific customer accounts and prepare an action plan to reach the company squeeze targets.

Awareness of competition situation and market shares for the responsible customer accounts.