Account Manager

Role Purpose

This role is established to drive revenue growth and deepen customer intimacy for Corning’s Photonic Materials business within the telecom/datacom industry. The position serves as the primary commercial interface between passive optical component customers and Corning’s internal cross-functional teams.

The role is responsible for customer management and owns end-to-end commercial accountability for customers across the China region. It also ensures the maximization of sales performance while identifying new growth opportunities that strengthen Corning’s market position in China.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan, execute, and manage end-to-end sales activities for Photonic Materials products across assigned customers in China, delivering budgeted sales targets and profitability goals.
• Develop and execute a multi-year customer strategy to enhance Corning’s value proposition and maximize customer impact through targeted relationship development, opportunity identification, and partnership initiatives.
• Serve as the primary commercial contact for key customers, cultivating strong relationships with stakeholders across Procurement, R&D, Engineering, and Manufacturing.
• Maintain frequent customer engagement to continually assess Corning’s effectiveness in meeting customer needs, while balancing the priorities of both parties to maximize customer penetration and long-term retention.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners, including Engineering, Quality, and Product Line Management, to develop quotations, pricing proposals, and negotiate favorable agreements aligned with global strategies.
• Identify, qualify, and develop new application opportunities by analyzing market segments, the competitive landscape, customer requirements, and key buying factors in order to pursue profitable opportunities for current products.
• Collect and share market, customer, and competitor intelligence to inform sales, marketing, technical strategies, and demand forecasting processes.
• Provide timely market insights, customer intelligence, and pipeline updates to regional leadership, proactively flagging significant issues and risks.
• Translate the voice of the customer into actionable inputs to improve internal capability roadmaps.
• Represent Corning professionally at customer sites, industry events, trade shows, and during regional and overseas travel as required.

Experiences/Education - Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Optics, Materials Science, Physics, or a related technical discipline; a master’s degree is a plus.
• Minimum of 5+ years of progressive commercial experience, ideally within the optical communications industry.
• Demonstrated experience managing key customers, with a track record of delivering sales results, identifying new growth opportunities, and contributing to strategic customer or program execution.
• Proven experience working in a matrixed multinational organization with cross-regional collaboration.
• Fluent in spoken and written English.
• Demonstrated ability to independently organize, prioritize, and manage time, budget, and competing priorities within a matrixed organization to deliver results.
• Strong commercial acumen with proven experience in customer management, market analysis, and business process execution.
• Project management experience, with the ability to coordinate cross-functional initiatives across Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing, and R&D.
• Strong presentation, verbal, and written communication skills suitable for engaging senior external customers and internal leadership.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build productive relationships with peers, leadership, and customers.
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently within the China region.

Experiences/Education - Desired

• Experience working with international teams, with sensitivity to cultural differences among customers and team members.
• Ability to establish direction and create commitment by involving others and gaining alignment on overall business objectives.
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with internal cross-functional teams and customers.