Sr. Manager Strategic Accounts

Job Purpose

This role serves as both AEC and our customers’ focal for coordinating and driving every aspect of a designated set of strategic customer relationships. This individual will work diligently to establish and grow outstanding relationships throughout their customers’ procurement and engineering organizations with the ultimate objective to earn top-tier supplier position, and thus ensuring first and last look for AEC of all desired opportunities.

Job Responsibilities

• Build an outstanding set of professional and productive relationships with each assigned account to improve customer service and satisfaction and position AEC for profitable growth.
• Act as the “voice of the customer” to assure that AEC looks outward, not inward, as it develops new products, technologies, services, and Customers & Marketing strategies and processes.
• Participate with Operations, Business Segment leadership, and your customers leadership in developing product line and business segment strategies, and apply to your customers.
• Participate in the development of specific sales objectives, strategies, goals, and plans for each assigned customer.
• Take an active role in the development and execution of each agreed upon customer relationship plan.
• Aid in annual sales planning activities.
• Develop and provide visibility of assigned customer key organizations / personnel including supplier management / procurement, engineering, program management and leadership involved with the selection and use of AEC products.
• Maintain an engagement plan on each assigned account with everything the business needs to know regarding your assigned accounts, including but not limited to: Customer overview and key initiatives; current contracts and programs we’re delivering to (including current end dates); sales history and up-to-date forecast; quality and delivery metrics (internal and customer data); current relationship / communication plan; visit schedule and most recent meeting results and actions summary; plus new business development initiatives and opportunities.
• Make regular visits and/or telephone calls in accordance with each agreed relationship plan. Complete visit reports (including summaries of conference calls) as required to keep business stakeholders informed.
• Strive to earn a “seat at the customer table” during product definition and decision phases to help introduce and promote our technologies and get a leg-up on opportunities.
• Document all opportunities and assess for compatibility with established growth plan. Make recommendations to the business on opportunities AEC should pursue and drive to success.
• Partner with AEC Engineering, Contracts, Operations, and Estimating / Proposals Management and play an active role in the proposal development and negotiation process.
• Monitor competitor activities and public domain strategies, and report on key developments.
• Aid in the estimation of market share and penetration.
• Report market news related to assigned customers / market on a weekly basis for roll-up.
• Investigate new accounts that fit the strategic growth strategy and develop those that apply.
• Represent AEC in the best possible and professional way in all forums such as at the customer, during business travel, attending conferences, or participating in trade shows.

Qualifications/Characteristics

• 100% remote domicile is possible if in reasonable proximity to assigned customers.
• Co-location with one of our AEC operations or headquarters when it makes sense in relation to designated accounts is seen as valuable for the customer and the individual chosen for this role.
• More than 50% travel can be expected to build appropriate relationships with our customers and our operations supporting them.

Skills

• Proven ability to solve complex problems and deliver exceptional results within a sophisticated global manufacturing environment where cross-functional / cross-cultural teamwork is essential for success.
• Willingness to perform “hands-on” work while practicing effective delegation.
• Demonstrated understanding of Lean/Six Sigma principles.
• Proven to be action oriented, results driven, decisive, and customer focused.
• Global perspective of business environment and technology.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Demonstrated ability to favorably impact Sales and Marketing performance through the successful implementation of Business Development best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver exceptional results within a relatively unstructured, tightly-resourced, high-growth organization would be a significant competitive advantage.
• Strong working knowledge of the development and qualification/certification process in the aerospace industry as the pathway for new engineered products production opportunities.

Education and Experience

• Undergraduate degree, preferably in Business or Engineering required.
• MBA desired but not mandatory if breadth and depth of experience qualifies as significant.
• Seven or more years of aerospace industry Sales, Account Management and/or Engineering experience in engineered products required.
• Five or more years of this background must have been spent in a customer-facing role within the aerospace composites industry desired.