Director of Sales and Marketing

Onward Group•Troy, MI

6d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Sales and Marketing, North America will supervise, coach, mentor, build-up, and efficiently lead the Sales & Business Development Department in the region North America. This role encompasses existing plants in Mexico, USA, and Canada, the regional US headquarters, and future plants in Mexico, the USA, and Canada for all non-German OEMs. The staff includes Key Account Managers, Business Development Managers, and Sales & Marketing Assistants. The Director will manage the department to optimize sales strategy, obtain RFI’s and RFQ’s early-on, secure customer PO’s on time, ensure on-time payments, manage price adjustments, and minimize past-due receivables. This position ensures compliance of internal business processes, strategic and operational directions with present and future customer needs. In close cooperation with the President and parent companies, the Director will create, maintain, develop, and enforce sales strategy, processes, reporting structure, sales roadmap, marketing data, competitive data, prioritized targets, customer relationship action plans, and progress tracking to win and maintain profitable business per the defined roadmap. The role involves developing a robust customer portfolio including but not limited to Chrysler, Ford, and Nissan, and fostering excellent, durable long-term customer relationships across all customer departments. The Director will ensure a highly professional representation of the company's unique offerings and develop creative win-win solutions with parent companies and OEMs. Responsibilities include organizing, preparing, and holding strategic, commercial, and technical presentations, obtaining and responding to OEM questions, planning and leading alternative cost models and P&L scenarios, developing quote packages, and negotiating quotes with OEMs. The Director will also support program management in quoting running changes, negotiate OEM terms and conditions, and initiate or support activities that facilitate program management, customer relations, smooth production launches, and target achievement. This role requires obtaining, checking, filtering, prioritizing, and maintaining up-to-date documentation on future programs, localization, product strategy, technologies, materials, OEM trends, competitor information, pricing, and technologies. Proactive intelligence gathering from suppliers, OEMs, agencies, and parent companies is essential, with information sharing as appropriate. The Director will organize OEM visits to plants and facilities, host Tech Days and special events, support quality and environmental initiatives, and direct the preparation of reports to government/statistical agencies.

Requirements

Bachelor or Master’s Degree in Business/ Economics/ Finance/ Marketing/ Engineering or equivalent
Minimum 15 years’ experience in Sales
10+ years automotive industry experience
Minimum 10 years in a senior leadership role including personnel supervision
Minimum 5 years in a production and/or international environment, with interest for and hands-on approach to production activities
Proven track record in business development
Very organized, strong analytical skills
In-depth knowledge and experience of OEM organizations and OEM sourcing strategies and processes including Chrysler, Ford, Nissan
Strong portfolio of in-depth customer contacts with American OEM’s including top-management levels, OEM purchasing organizations, OEM technical organizations and OEM plants (Chrysler, Ford & GM)
Proven problem-solving skills
Entrepreneurial experience and high motivation to create, implement, enforce and continuously improve cross-functional business processes and standards together with other departments and other sites
High motivation to support steady business growth
Knowledge of Customer Specific Requirements
MS Office (Word, Excel & PowerPoint) Outlook
Market/ Customer Databases
OEM specific (web)applications
Presentation skills
Project management experience
Clear communicator with organized approach and ability to prioritize
Committed team player with motivational drive, flexible and dynamic approach
Proven leadership skills

Nice To Haves

Enhanced professional training on sales subjects preferred
Spanish (Preferred)
German (Preferred)
Experience in a multi-cultural environment is advantageous

Responsibilities

Supervise, coach, mentor, build-up, and efficiently lead the Sales & Business Development Department in the region North America.
Manage department to optimize sales strategy, obtain RFI’s and RFQ’s early-on, obtain customer PO’s on time, obtain on-time payments, price adjustments and minimize past-due receivables.
Ensure compliance of internal business processes, strategic and operational directions with present and future customer needs.
Create, maintain, develop and enforce sales strategy, processes and reporting structure, sales roadmap, marketing data, competitive data, prioritized targets, customer relationship action plans and progress tracking.
Win and maintain profitable business per defined roadmap.
Develop robust customer portfolio including but not limited to Chrysler, Ford and Nissan.
Develop excellent, durable long-term customer relationships with all customer departments (engineering, purchasing, production, management and executive levels).
Develop and enforce a highly professional representation and its unique offerings with our existing customers, potential future customers, and within the industry.
Develop creative win-win solutions with parent companies and OEMs to address requirements for productivity, givebacks, quick savings, LTA’s and other customers’ requests.
Organize, prepare and hold strategic, commercial and technical presentations at the OEMs including answering specific technical aspects or having experts answers in a timely manner.
Obtain document and have answers in a timely manner OEMs’ questions, concerns and needs.
Plan, lead & prepare alternative cost models and systematic P&L scenarios for each project and each plant prior to quoting.
Develop quote packages for the OEMs consistent with past quotes and win quotes from parent and affiliated companies.
Negotiate quotes with OEMs using specific financial and technical argumentation.
Continuously look for opportunities to reduce cost or improve quotes or improve attractiveness.
Update quotes accordingly. Negotiate accordingly.
Support program management in quoting running changes and negotiate changes with OEMs.
Organize and run negotiations relative to OEM terms and conditions, warranty, liability, service parts, quality agreements, miscellaneous contracts and commitments.
Initiate or actively support any activity that facilitates program management, customer relations, smooth production launches, reaching or exceeding financial and strategic targets, and customer satisfaction.
Obtain, check consistency, filter, prioritize and maintain up-to-date documentation of information on future programs, localization, product strategy, future technologies, future materials, advanced developments ate the OEMs, trends, future OEM needs, competitors’ market positions, pricing and technologies.
Proactively obtain intelligence information from suppliers, OEMs, agencies and parent companies.
Share intelligence information with other departments (regional and corporate), whenever appropriate with parent companies, and whenever non-proprietary with other key-business partners.
Organize visits with OEMs of our plants and facilities.
Organize Tech Days and special events at key-OEMs consistent with parent companies’ marketing strategies.
Support the quality initiatives and support the environmental initiatives.
Direct the preparation of reports to various government/ statistical agencies.