Business Development Manager

About Hirose

This is an exciting opportunity to join Hirose, an organization that for almost a hundred years has been pioneering thousands of new connectors and defining industry standards in consumer electronics, industrial automation, high-speed backbone computer infrastructure, automotive, and medical applications. A compact company of smart people, Hirose uses the talents of every employee to bring innovation and put big technology in small packages.

Reporting into the Sr. Regional Sales Manager, this position is responsible for new business development and managing the sales activities within Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky to drive pipeline, increase sales, and implement strategic corporate directives. This is a hybrid position based in our Livonia, MI office.

Responsibilities

• Exceed yearly territory sales goals.
• Grow the number of Hirose customers, the sales pipeline, and increase conversion dollars surpassing year-over-year targets.
• Accountable for local distribution success; growth in Point-of-Sale revenue (POS), new design registrations, design wins, existing customer penetration, and new account development.
• Develop strategies and implement meeting plans to exceed quarterly meetings metrics, optimize customer satisfaction, and maximize Hirose revenue and profitability.
• Actively engage with distribution sales and management to position Hirose, review and drive metrics, develop partnerships, uncover opportunities, win opportunities, and make joint sales calls.
• Identify, build, and expand relationships with distributors, manufacturer representatives, and key decision makers and influencers within the customer base.
• Utilize selling strategies based upon key value-add categories such as technology, risk, service, investment, timing, and pricing to achieve successful design wins.
• Collaborate with Hirose’s customer support roles to optimize service to customers (Field Application Engineer, Segment Managers, Inside Sales Reps, Customer Service Specialists, Technical Support Engineering, Quality Engineering).
• Create and deliver customized and targeted product presentations.
• Conduct frequent opportunity reviews with Distributor Account Managers to drive accountability, insertion, and involvement with the largest revenue potential opportunities and customers.
• Maintain Hirose’s distributor registration program, resolving conflicts, and processing expeditiously.
• Complete quote activities from beginning to end in a timely manner.
• Provide support to customers throughout development and production, keeping both customers and the organization informed of progress.
• Manage and prioritize opportunities at all active and targeted accounts.
• Become the foremost Hirose expert on your customers and their industries, guiding Engineering, Product Management, and Marketing to meet customer and industry needs for the future.
• Position Hirose as a key supplier for current and future business opportunities at top customers.
• Establish executive relationships for top-tier accounts.
• Act as the customer interface for two-way communication between Hirose and customers.
• Create, coordinate, and execute a global strategy for international accounts.
• Comply with Hirose sales policies, pricing guidelines, and best practices.
• Demonstrate Hirose’s philosophy of “connecting wisdom”; take the lead, pursue the cutting edge, achieve differentiation, and be the first to obtain consumer approval.
• Build close relationships with Hirose Japan personnel; assist with periodic customer visits by Japanese engineers and other Hirose personnel.
• Create, encourage, and contribute to a collaborative team environment.
• Work closely and regularly with the Segment Teams and Product Management to knowledge-share, determining product fits and opportunity targets.
• Continually strive for and have conversations with management and team members on self-improvement and professional development.
• Identify, evaluate, and coordinate the development of potential product lines with top accounts and potential customers.
• Provide direction and closed-loop feedback to implement New Product Introduction (NPI) plans with Marketing, including target account identification, promotion schedule, samples, and pricing.
• Monitor the product development process driving the Hirose team to meet customer commitments and milestones.
• Maintain awareness and develop a point of view on industry trends to anticipate customer needs.
• Interface with industry groups and standards committees, as necessary.
• Responsible for recording and maintaining current and accurate data for customer meetings, projects, and opportunities within Salesforce.
• Complete all required report outs (e.g., monthly forecasting), reports, and presentations within their respective deadlines.
• Interact with and support Hirose management for a multitude of organizational initiatives and deliverables.
• Provide input and participate in discussions to establish yearly sales goals.
• When applicable, complete tasks per ISO9001-2008 requirements.

Requirements

• BS/A degree in Business or Technical field required.
• 3+ years outside sales experience in the electronic component industry required.
• Must possess the technical knowledge to fully comprehend customer requirements and provide appropriate Hirose product solutions.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent project management skills.
• Strong organizational skills; ability to manage multiple assignments while meeting deadlines and quality standards.
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written) to work with both external and internal customers; able to clearly and concisely communicate across different cultures.
• Excellent presentation skills including creating PowerPoint presentations.
• Ability to resolve issues and escalate in a timely fashion to meet customer needs.
• Computer literate and proficient in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Self-motivated with a positive attitude and great energy.
• Must be able to travel up to 50% of the time.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
• The employee is frequently required to sit, stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, climb or balance, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• The employee will also need to travel to tradeshows and company events.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 40 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Normal office environment.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.