Director Of Sales

Aston Carter•Spokane Valley, WA

9d•$145,000 - $180,000•Remote

About The Position

This role leads the development and execution of a comprehensive sales and market-growth strategy for resilient metal seals and related engineered components. You will own key strategic customer relationships, drive new business creation, expand strategic accounts, and guide a high-performing sales organization in aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, and related industries. The position combines hands-on strategic account leadership, technical sales engagement, and disciplined sales operations to deliver sustainable revenue and margin growth.

Requirements

Bachelors degree in Engineering, Business, Marketing, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
Five or more years of progressive B2B technical sales, business development, account management, or commercial leadership experience in aerospace, defense, precision manufacturing, engineered components, or a closely related industry.
Three or more years of sales leadership experience or demonstrated responsibility for directing sales representatives, account strategies, or cross-functional pursuit teams.
Proven success in creating new business, expanding strategic accounts, entering new segments, or increasing market share beyond passive or organic demand.
Experience with long-cycle, specification-driven sales in complex technical environments.
Ability to interpret engineering drawings, specifications, materials, tolerances, and application requirements well enough to conduct credible technical discovery and coordinate robust technical solutions.
Experience with forecasting, pricing, margin management, proposals, negotiation, CRM discipline, and measurable sales performance management.
Background in national accounts, technical sales, and business development within aerospace and defense or precision manufacturing.
Demonstrated strength in strategic account management, including planning, execution, and relationship development with key customers.
Ability and willingness to travel approximately 25% to 35% based on customer and business needs.
Must be authorized to work in the US.
Must pass pre-employment drug screening.
Must meet pre-employment background screening requirements, including those required under US Export Control Regulations (ITAR).

Nice To Haves

Experience selling into Aerospace & Defense markets with a focus on engineered components or precision manufacturing solutions.
Hands-on experience in Technical Sales environments where performance, reliability, and compliance are critical customer requirements.
Exposure to resilient metal seals or similar high-performance sealing solutions is beneficial.
Comfort working with cross-functional teams spanning Engineering, Production, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Contracts.
Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage effectively with technical teams and executive stakeholders.
Proven ability to build, mentor, and develop sales teams in a results-driven environment.
Track record of using CRM, ERP, and customer portals to manage complex opportunities and drive data-based decision making.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the companys overall sales and market-growth strategy, including defining target segments, priority accounts, value propositions, channel approaches, and annual revenue and margin objectives.
Build a structured market-development process that identifies whitespace opportunities, new programs, competitor displacement prospects, and applications where resilient metal seals can be specified into customer designs.
Own key strategic customer relationships and personally lead selected pursuits, including technical discovery meetings, executive reviews, negotiations, and account-development plans.
Lead, develop, and support assigned sales personnel, including contracts, sales support, sales order, program coordination, and outside sales team members.
Establish clear sales roles, goals, performance standards, coaching routines, succession plans, and accountability mechanisms to drive consistent results.
Develop a strong command of the companys products and applications to discuss seal geometry, materials, coatings, temperature, pressure, vacuum, leakage, deflection, and performance tradeoffs with customer technical teams.
Translate customer needs into clear internal requirements and coordinate technical responses with Engineering without making unapproved design, performance, quality, or delivery commitments.
Establish and maintain structured processes for opportunity qualification, bid/no-bid decisions, quotations, pricing, margin review, approvals, and follow-up for both new and repeat business.
Partner internally on commercial terms, negotiations, export-control considerations, customer flow-down requirements, and complex proposals to ensure compliant and profitable deals.
Create and maintain disciplined forecasting and pipeline management, including metrics such as order intake, revenue, backlog, win rate, quote conversion, sales cycle, retention, new-account growth, and market share.
Ensure accurate and timely use of CRM, ERP, customer portals, and reporting systems, improving visibility from lead and RFQ through award, order, delivery, and post-delivery follow-up.
Coordinate closely with Production, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, and Finance to balance customer priorities with operational capabilities and profitable execution.
Represent the organization at customer sites, industry events, trade shows, and business-development activities, building productive relationships across OEM, Tier, government, and commercial channels.
Monitor competitors, market trends, customer concentration, program risks, and emerging applications, and recommend actions that protect existing business and create sustainable growth.
Prepare and present sales plans, forecasts, performance results, risks, and corrective actions to the General Manager and leadership team.
Perform other related duties as assigned to support the broader commercial and organizational objectives.