Director of Sales

Warn Automotive, part of Vehicle Service Group is a world leader in driveline disconnect technology. Our heritage comes from making WWII surplus Jeeps easier to drive on the road with the first unlocking hubs. We continue today by making disconnects for cars, trucks, and SUVs around the world. These trusted technologies come from years of innovation and listening to our customer's needs. We have a bright future ahead so come join our growing team at Warn Automotive.

Company Overview:

Warn Automotive can trace its beginning back to 1948, when Arthur Warn invented the first disconnecting four-wheel-drive hub for surplus World War II vehicles. Since that time, our products have continued to lead the industry with a history of innovation in Powertrain Disconnect technology.

Almost 75 years later, our products are sold to OEMs around the world, enhancing the performance, traction and capability of their vehicles while reducing fuel consumption and emissions to create a more mobile and efficient future.

Operating from our headquarters and manufacturing facility in Milwaukie, Oregon and our customer support center in Livonia, Michigan, Warn Automotive is proud to be part of Vehicle Service Group (VSG) a Dover Company.

Position Summary: 

This position will function as the primary Commercial Contact/Liaison for Warn Automotive within the assigned customers, projects, markets, and/or technologies. This position applies engineering discipline to a sales/liaison function to provide consultative selling in highly engineered environments. To properly interface with our customer base, extensive and diversified knowledge of engineering and manufacturing principles and practices will need to be employed to help create value through engineering integration, as well as, managing the revenue and margin targets.

Acting as the primary liaison between Warn Automotive and the customer on system and product-related issues this role functions as a “utility player” within the Sales group to help support market needs across all of the OEM landscape and provide coverage for other Sales team members in accordance with company needs.

Essential Job Functions Include:

• Manage Sales department and individuals responsible for certain/specific customers and/or products toward success in achieving goals and objectives.
• Participate in and Lead department and projects in support of Warn Automotive’ s strategic and team-specific goals which would include but not be limited to:
• Consistently work with customer contacts and executive decision makers, including but not limited to; project engineers, buyer/planners, quality, executive management, and shop floor personnel to build, maintain, and grow Warn Automotive’ s relationship with the customer.
• Develop, present, and approve business case analysis with support from finance, program management, engineering, manufacturing, and other areas of the organization to fit business objectives.
• Facilitate commercial, technical, and sometimes quality-related communication between Warn Automotive, customer and other supplier partners. Attend meetings at customer and other supplier facilities.
• Facilitate customer and Warn Automotive-led design review meetings, as well as, continuous improvement, value analysis / value engineering, etc.
• Develop new markets, applications, customers and technology outlets for Warn Automotive products, core competencies, and intellectual properties consistent with the business strategy.
• Plan, direct and coordinate the activities of the Warn Automotive team to obtain financial goals and constantly improve our competitive position in the market.
• Develop monthly sales forecast to drive consistent, accurate data for assigned accounts; provide market intelligence on market, customers, competitors, and leading industry trends; evaluate and drive the continuing appraisal of pricing and other policies; and procedures with respect to assigned projects/customers/markets.
• Responsible for driving improvement (mid & long term) to P&L and defined corporate metrics.

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college, Engineering degree preferred.
• Five or more years of professional experience with sales leadership, business development, account management, application engineering, and/or project/product management responsibilities are required.
• Experience in a highly engineered product/industry role with consultative selling environment is preferred.
• Five or more years of experience working with an OEM in the automotive market.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities:

• Successful experience with customer negotiations and leading cross-functional groups.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills commensurate with the job tasks and position necessary to communicate clearly and effectively with internal and external customers while providing exceptional quality of work and outstanding customer service. Ability to effectively, independently, and professionally create and present highly technical sales and marketing presentations to customers and management team in a manner designed to educate, inform and influence. Ability to maintain responsiveness through travel and other internal/customer obligations.
• Technical skills and knowledge including Expert level knowledge and utilization of Microsoft Office software, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and all other software and hardware necessary to perform the essential functions of the position.
• Ability to create, review, comprehend, interpret, process, and evaluate effectively documents written at the highest levels in English, in conjunction with the performance of the essential functions and other assigned job duties.
• Must have mathematical skills equivalent to those required under education and/or experience. Must be capable of comprehending basic finance calculations required for establishing a business case and analyzing projects such as revenue, margin, burden, labor, and other calculations.
• Excellent interpersonal and conflict resolution skills. The ability to work efficiently in, and sometimes lead, a fast-paced work environment while maintaining a calm, rational and respectful demeanor, and communication style in times of stress occasioned by work demands, tight timelines, high expectations, unexpected issues, and other work-related issues or concerns that may cause a heightened level of anxiety, frustration, anger, disappointment, confusion, etc. is required. Proven skill in taking a firm stance on issues within the framework of a team-based culture. Demonstrated negotiation skills that benefit the selling organization.

• Strong technical, troubleshooting, problem solving, research, organizational and analytical skills, both as an individual contributor and as a leader, combined with the ability to prioritize tasks, establish, and meet deadlines. Ability to multitask is essential while remaining flexible with changing priorities and deadlines.

Benefits & Perks:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision start on day one of hire
• Fertility Treatment Coverage
• 10 Paid Holidays and a Generous PTO Policy
• 401(k) with Employer Matching, Profit Sharing, and Annual Contributions
• Bonus Plans
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Employee Discount Programs
• Career Growth, including Onsite Training and Tuition Reimbursement

Work Culture:

At Warn Automotive, we not only respect diversity, we actively seek it. We have a culture that promotes continuous improvement for our products and our people. We provide learning opportunities to help you take your skills to the next level. We value innovation, integrity and ownership in exceeding the high bar we set for ourselves in delivering for our customers.

The characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  The information contained in this job description is for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) and is not an exhaustive list of the duties that may be required for this position.  Additional duties are performed by the individuals currently holding this or similar positions and additional duties may be assigned.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Work Arrangement : Onsite

Bonus Eligible: This position is eligible to earn a discretionary bonus based on performance metrics and other criteria outlined in our applicable bonus plan.

We consider several job-related, non-discriminatory factors when determining the pay rate for a position, including, but not limited to, the position’s responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, a candidate’s education/training, the position’s location, and the key skills needed for the position.  Pay is one of the Total Rewards that we provide to compensate and recognize employees for their work.

Benefits for this position include: a 401(k) savings plan with employer contributions; medical, dental and vision insurance; wellness programs; health savings account, health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts; company paid short-term disability and long-term disability; company paid employee basic life and AD&D insurance; supplemental employee and dependent life insurance; optional accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness insurance; adoption, surrogacy, and fertility benefits and assistance; commuter benefits; parental, military, jury duty, and bereavement leaves of absence; paid time off, including 10 paid holidays per calendar year, paid vacation days beginning at 80 hours annually, 40 hours (Oregon) or 72 hours (Michigan) paid sick leave hours annually or as provided under state and local paid sick leave laws; tuition assistance; business travel services; employee discounts; and an employee assistance program that includes company paid counseling sessions and legal services. Eligibility for benefits is governed by applicable plan documents and policies.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, genetic information, or any other factors prohibited by law.

Job Function : #LI-SB1