Key Account Manager

The Asahi Kasei Group operates with a commitment of creating for tomorrow.  Our business sectors, Material, Homes, and Health Care, contribute to the development of society by anticipating the changing needs of those around the world. We look for candidates that offer a fresh perspective and a variety of skills to help us achieve our commitment.

We are currently seeking applications to fill the following job opening at Daramic where we develop and manufacture advanced lead-acid battery separators that are driving innovation in transportation and industrial applications with cars, trucks, forklifts, and golf carts as well as ESS.

Company:

Daramic, LLC

Job Description:

Role Summary/Purpose:

The position is responsible for managing customers in North America.  The responsibilities include revenue and volume and market share growth, new business development, new product introductions, value-based selling, strategic planning, strategy execution support, contract negotiations, contract management, project management support, sales forecasting, managing the selling process, customer relationship management (CRM), global customer coordination and responding to engineering and quality related concerns.  This position manages the interface between the customers and Daramic’s organization. The position supports the customer interface with Operations, Integrated Supply Chain, Procurement, Marketing, Legal, Finance, Account and Customer Engineering (ACE) and Technology functions in North America and other global locations. This position will require developing a technical knowledge of the Daramic manufacturing process, products and quality controls. Beyond the products, Sales and Marketing Manager also is responsible for selling Daramic value and identifying new customers or applications for Daramic’s products; including leading and projects that better serve the needs of the customer and industry..

Knowledge & Experience

• Experience selling in a business-to-business environment.
• Experience with strategic marketing principles, project management and value-based selling.
• Solid business experience in North America, including deep understanding of the customers and experience working with suppliers, sales representatives, vendors, partners and distribution channels.
• Proven ability to thrive in results-oriented and fast-paced matrix environment.
• Knowledge of continuous improvement processes, quality assurance systems (ISO9000, TS16949 and others), quality documentation, testing and validation processes.
• Experience in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software tools like salesforce is desirable.
• Ability to travel up to 50% in North America; occasional international travel is possible.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft products, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams and Power BI.

Key Attributes

• Demonstrated ability to reach multiple touch points and multiple management levels at customers.
• Strong business acumen, intellectual, strategic and analytical ability.
• Able to develop trust and close working relationships with customers to promote Daramic’s products. 
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills, including presentation skills. Spanish is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally with a collaborative style that builds trust and strategic relationships.
• Self-starter with strong interpersonal and influencing skills.
• High level of personal integrity, clarity and honesty.
• Able to operate effectively in a diverse cross-cultural environment.
• Autonomous but with a strong team spirit, well organized, and results oriented.

• Responsible for delivering the North American revenue, volume, market share and profitability goals.
• Responsible for management of all sales and commercial activities and customer relationships with assigned accounts including generation of new business, new product launches, maintaining current business, proactive issues resolution, pricing development, monitor accounts receivable (AR) and resolve AR issues, improving service levels and maximizing customer satisfaction.
• Lead Request For Quotation (RFP) and Request For Proposal (RFP) processes starting with first discussions with customer through business award. Respond to requests for quotes, providing detailed price quotes on prospective business opportunities.
• Manage communications and ensure buy-in with internal, external parties and customer accounts.
• Work with the Daramic regional leaders and other sales and marketing managers to ensure customer offerings are in alignment with global and local customer strategies.
• Lead negotiations both internally and externally. Negotiate pricing, terms and conditions that optimize margins. Ability to value-sell and win new business at higher prices than competitors and next best alternatives (internal and external).
• Leverage project management to understand customer schedule and proactively follow both internal and external items to support smooth product and offering launches, including sampling, product validation, production ramp-up and production ramp-down.
• Execute on Daramic’s current strategic and business plans and global strategy to increase profitability and grow market share in the region.
• Understand customer systems including scorecards, supplier ratings, key performance indicators, leading indicators and work with Daramic’s organization to support the required applications and achieve high scorecard ratings.
• Ensure high post-sales customer satisfaction and service facilitating positive long-term relationships and high potential for repeat business with customers, service the customer with a partnership approach.
• Build and maintain close and effective strategic working relationships with external customers and internal departments, in order to understand the voice of the customer and align the business to meet the needs of all stakeholders.
• Monitor, identify and educate the organization on emerging needs, issues, industry and market trends in the region, in order to keep the organization informed about regulations, policies, laws or other changes that can affect Daramic’s competitive position.
• Support and participate in Voice of Customer (VOC) and strategic marketing activities and regional projects.
• Analyze and understand customer strategies, competitive activity, lead-battery and PE separator industry and market, in order to identify market opportunities and develop solutions to customer challenges that create new business opportunities for Daramic.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Technology and other functional teams to identify market trends and needs to develop and manage new product introduction pipeline, business case development and product launch into Daramic’s defined markets.
• Develops and is accountable for regional forecast accuracy by customer and by product line.
• Be the first point of contact for engineering and product quality support pulling in organization resources when necessary.
• Assist customers with all aspects of separator materials in their manufacturing plant, including processing problems, performance concerns and service issues.
• Work with cross-functional teams to develop and grow new market applications.
• Develop and deliver presentations on company products and capabilities.
• Participates in industry conferences and trade shows. Supports and coordinates all aspects related to the organization and preparation for industry conferences and trade shows. 
• Communicate and collaborate with internal functions and departments, and external partners to meet customers’ requirements.
• Ensure general practices are consistent with company policies, safety standards, service standards and applicable laws and regulations.

This is a home office position but requires up to 50% travel to visit customers.  This position will require occasional activities on the manufacturing floor for simple testing, product line runs, etc. 

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required, BA/BS in business, engineering or related technical field preferred; an MBA or advanced degree will be a plus.

Professional experience:

• Must have 7+ years of sales and marketing experience selling technical and engineered products and solutions to customers, preferably in the automotive aftermarket and/or automotive OEM/OES channels and/or battery industry is desirable; experience with lead and flow batteries is not required but will be a plus.

The base compensation range for this role starts at $118,144. * Base Compensation is influenced by many factors including, but not limited to: time in the role, previous experience, skills, knowledge, performance, work requirements, internal equity, and business / economic conditions.

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As an equal opportunity employer, Asahi Kasei believes a diverse workforce will provide us with the ability to continuously support the changes in the economy, society, and environment.