Responsibilities:

• Manage the transfer and sharing of information, especially as it relates to our Headquarters in Japan. Focus is on our shared customers with the Japan headquarters and ensuring that activities and communication in Japan and North America are consistent.
• Manage customer satisfaction effort by maintaining a positive relationship and having a comprehensive understanding of customer processes, products, product strategies, organization strategies and motivators/drivers.
• Manage quote responses and price change information for customers resulting from model year changes, design changes and prototype development.
• Manage negotiation for closure on pricing issues by obtaining customer pricing demands and/or criteria including tooling, current program impact, APR, and price strategies for new business opportunities. Specifically, leading contract review, RFQ and prototype pricing processes to achieve profit targets.
• Leads new business development and Tier II supplier quotes, including identifying new business opportunities and strategies to ensure that all the costs are captured including the review of CER’s distributed to affiliate plants to track progress towards completion.
• Manage programs through product development and validation from New Business Award through the life of the program.
• Manage staff ability to monitor program open issues with customers externally and internally to ensure timely resolution, including monitoring and actively controlling significant program activities to maintain program objectives and program profitability including monitoring activities with the customer systems and manage the QIMS system and negotiating contract terms with clients and ensuring contracts are executed as agreed.
• Manage the efforts of staff by assigning and distributing work, scheduling, and prioritizing work assignments, and reviewing completed work while balancing workflow and deadline.
• Guide and assist staff with work activities including providing assistance in the completion of work assignments, as necessary.
• Develop and maintain customer relationships in North America, especially with those assigned from Japan.
• Coordinate with sales team members, Japan HQ, and engineers to develop mutually beneficial proposals.
• Create and implement processes and policies to support the overall business.
• Track, identify and add qualified prospects to sales pipeline.
• Conduct ongoing market research.
• Ensure team assignments and results are consistent with the sales plan.
• Develop processes and tools that support entrepreneurial efforts.
• Ensure team provides world-class customer service.
• Update executives on the status of the program through meetings and/or reports, including tracking and reporting to senior management changes to the program which impact the business case and program profitability. This will include preparing sales call reports to inform management of results of customer meetings.
• *** This position supervises sales account personnel and 2 account managers with normal personnel management responsibilities. Supervisory responsibilities are substantially less than 50% of time. ***
• Japanese (written and oral) language is required due to necessity for communication / creating technical sales documents in Japanese and English. Many customers and products are shared with headquarters in Japan.
• Limited domestic travel as needed (less than 5%).

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or a STEM field related to the automotive sector and 2 years of relevant sales and management experience in the automotive sector.

In lieu of a Bachelor’s degree, the employer will accept four (4) additional years of experience in a related occupation.

Position also requires Japanese (written and oral) language due to necessity for communication/creating technical sales documents in Japanese and English. Many customers and products are shared with headquarters in Japan.

This position also requires experience with one or more of the following OEM web based supplier interfaces: Toyotasupplier.com, WARP, GTOP, EDCIS or E-Quote as necessary to obtain information; experience managing multiple sales accounts and developing new business opportunities in each of the following areas: C.A.S.E. – Connected, Autonomous, Shared, and Electric vehicles; Original Equipment (OE) – Brake Systems and Components; Aftermarket (retail) for brake pads and related products; technical knowledge of brake systems and components; experience leading a team made up of peers, subordinates and managers including demonstrated experience delegating tasks to peers and/or subordinates; experience using strategic and analytical thinking in order to review and manipulate data.