Commercial Sales Manager, Automotive

  • Job Reference: 00000007-1
  • Date Posted: 14 March 2024
  • Recruiter: Xpandium Coberon Ltd
  • Location: Calw, Baden-Wurttemberg
  • Remote Working: Some remote working possible
  • Salary: On Application
  • Sector: Engineering, Sales & BD, Manufacturing, Automotive
  • Job Type: Permanent, Full-time, W2

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.