Crane Aerospace and Electronics has an exciting opportunity for a Strategic Account Executive.

About Crane:

Crane Aerospace & Electronics supplies critical systems and components to the aerospace and defense markets. You’ll find Crane Aerospace & Electronics in some of the toughest environments: from engines to landing gear; from satellites to medical implants and from missiles to unmanned aerial systems (UAS).

Located in the epicenter of United States aviation manufacturing, Crane Aerospace & Electronics delivers industry-leading aerospace & defense power and fluid solutions. Our products are rugged enough to fly 5 billion miles from Earth on NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft and innovative enough to be featured on Eviation’s Alice all-electric aircraft. You’ll join a group of aerospace professionals committed to engineering excellence and work in a community tucked between the idyllic Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains. Start the next chapter of your career with Crane Aerospace & Electronics!  

Job Summary:

The Strategic Account Executive will play a crucial role in cultivating and expanding our key customer relationships to drive revenue growth and execution of business strategy. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Sales & Marketing, the successful candidate will lead development and execution of strategic account plans and ensuring exceptional customer satisfaction. The scope of responsibility includes relationship development, account strategy, and new opportunity capture with a primary emphasis on sustained, long-term growth with Military Ground Vehicle prime contractors and systems integrators.

The Strategic Account Executive is a key member of the CA&E Sales & Marketing team whose peers include individuals with business development and management responsibility within the Product Line Verticals, as well as other leaders within the Sales & Marketing functional group. As a key member of the Sales & Marketing team, the Strategic Account Executive will collaborate with peers to continuously evaluate, evolve, and implement customer growth strategies.

Essential Functions:

The Strategic Account Executive is charged with development and execution of the company's growth strategies for his/her assigned accounts.  The Strategic Account Executive collaborates closely with the Vice President of Sales & Marketing, VP/GMs, and Product Line Business Directors to help influence and shape product strategies which align with customer and market needs.  The overarching objective is to drive growth across all product line verticals in support of strategic initiatives.

As the primary leader and CA&E face to the Military Ground Vehicle prime contractors, this role must elicit personal trust and confidence from both internal and external customers as well as other team members by maintaining the highest ethical standards. This individual must be at home in an environment where highly connected customer relationships and responsiveness is a strongly held value that must be upheld.   Key functions of the role include:

Customer Relationship Development: Develop and maintain strong, long-lasting relationships with Military Ground Vehicle prime contractors, acting as a trusted advisor and partner to understand their business needs and objectives. Key Account Strategy: Design and implement comprehensive account strategies aligned with the company's overall growth objectives. These strategies should focus on driving customer retention and identifying opportunities for expansion. New Opportunity Capture: Identify and assess potential new business opportunities within existing key accounts and develop tailored plans to pursue and secure these opportunities, while continuously exploring ways to enhance the value we bring to customers. Growth Emphasis: Have a relentless focus on achieving growth targets, both in terms of revenue and customer portfolio expansion, while maintaining a priority on profitability and overall customer satisfaction. Collaborative Engagement: Work closely with other cross-functional teams, including Business Development, Engineering, Marketing, and Operations to align customer growth strategies with overall business objectives and ensure a cohesive approach to customer success. Performance Tracking and Reporting: Maintain a robust system to track and measure key performance indicators (KPIs) related to customer growth, presenting regular reports to the Vice President of Sales & Marketing, and the executive leadership team. Market Intelligence: Stay informed about industry trends, market dynamics, and competitive landscape, incorporating this knowledge into strategic decision-making and customer growth initiatives.

Key Competencies:

Leadership: Leading by example and demonstrating high personal energy and influence in every interaction, he/she shall have the ability to energize and motivate the organization around the growth vision and direction. He/she will be comfortable working with diverse teams in different environments and cultures. Strategic Orientation: The Strategic Account Executive will develop customer strategies and plans that incorporate competitive issues, trends in the industry, and external factors. He/she must understand how to integrate market and competitive trends, and other issues into a coherent vision for growth and link this vision into a series of initiatives and priorities that are compelling and logical. Collaboration and Influencing: He/she must be a good listener who uses fact-based persuasion and passion to influence key stakeholders. Gaining the support and involvement of key internal constituencies will be critical to success, as will influencing those important customer decision makers. The Strategic Account Executive must therefore have excellent skills at influencing outcomes and shaping and catalyzing dialogue across and outside the organization. Credibility and integrity are critical to effectively command the respect and trust of key individuals. Results Orientation: The Strategic Account Executive shall be a visible, dynamic, and engaged leader who is driven to deliver results and profitable growth through development and deployment of successful customer strategies. He/she must have the ability and determination to move growth initiatives forward, using performance metrics and benchmarks to track progress. He/she must create and demonstrate value for internal and external customers. The Strategic Account Executive will have a strong track record of driving results, even when there are obstacles or adverse circumstance working against the business by taking initiatives to offset these negative trends in the short term. Personal Presence and Strong Interpersonal Skills:  Ability to inspire and give confidence to all stakeholders with solid interpersonal and presentation skills. Strong entrepreneurial drive is vital and must be balanced by a spirit of team play and cooperation across functional lines. The Strategic Account Executive must elicit personal trust and confidence from customers and other team members by maintaining the highest personal standards. This individual must be at home in an environment where responsiveness to internal and external customer needs is a strongly held value. Self Confidence, Customer Focused, and a Strong Work Ethic.  A high degree of self-confidence should be combined with the sensitivity to the opinions and needs of others. The Strategic Account Executive will have a customer-focused style coupled with a “make-it-happen” mentality. The role requires an independent thinker who can push back, and challenge program plans in a constructive manner.  A personal bias for action, a high sense of urgency, and a strong work ethic are required, as are high personal values and standards.

Business Acumen:

Experienced Seasoned Senior Level Commercial Leader with Exceptional Sales Acumen: Proficient in prospecting, value articulation, problem solving, handling objection, and negotiation.  Energized by opportunity capture and closure. A “Hands-on” Approach:  The Strategic Account Executive must balance strategy and execution, and an ability to get ‘hands-on’ making it a point to spend a significant amount of time with his/her peers and with the customers. Comfortable Communicating with Executive Leaders: Excellent written and verbal communication skills coupled with the ability to interface with both internal and external executive management is essential.

Minimum Qualifications:

Experience: Proven track record of at least 5 years in strategic sales or business development in the Military Ground Vehicle market with a strong emphasis on achieving significant growth. Exceptional understanding of strategic account management principles and best practices. Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels. Analytical mindset with the ability to derive insights from data to drive decision-making. Results-driven with a strong customer-centric approach. Creative problem-solving skills and adaptability in an evolving market. Proficient in CRM and sales enablement tools. Knowledge: In-depth knowledge of sales and account development processes, systems, and tools.  Technical knowledge and functional understanding of military tactical and combat vehicles / engines / defense electronic systems.  Hand-on knowledge and experience in government contract terms and negotiation tactics and strategies. Education/Certification: BS Degree in a Business, Marketing or Engineering discipline required. Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree in Business, Engineering, or another related field. Eligibility Requirement: This position may require access to Controlled Data or Information. Where the position requires such access only US Persons will be considered. As a US Department of Defense contractor, we are bound by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

Location:

Remote office in the Detroit / Upper Midwest area in close proximity to the Military Ground Vehicle prime contractors.

Travel:

20% - 50% of time depending on remote location

Top Benefits:

Several factors contribute to actual salary, including experience in a similar role or performing comparable job responsibilities, skills, training, and other qualifications. Some roles may be eligible for participation in performance-based bonus programs. 

As a team member at Crane Aerospace and Electronics, you’ll enjoy:

Benefits: Health care, dental, vision, life and disability insurance starting the first day of the month Time Off: 15 days of paid time off that start accruing your first day at Crane and 12 paid holidays per year. 401k Retirement Plan: 401k plan with company match Education Reimbursement: eligible after 90 days of employment Flexible work schedule: This position is eligible for our Crane Flex Remote schedule which allows for the option of full-time work-from-home.  Some conditions apply which will be discussed during the interview process. Full policy to be provided after hire.

You can see a list of our benefits at https://www.craneae.com/company/careers or visit our website at www.CraneAE.com for more information on our company and great opportunities.

We are committed to operational excellence and world class processes.  We employ Lean manufacturing techniques to optimize manufacturing efficiency and accuracy on all product lines. Our products are known for their technical strength, proven reliability and overall value.

In our efforts to maintain a safe and drug-free workplace, Crane Aerospace & Electronics requires that candidates complete a satisfactory background check.  FAA sensitive positions require employees to participate in a random drug test pool.

This description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work being performed by employees within this classification.  It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Crane Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, pregnancy, medical condition, genetic information, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected under federal, state, or applicable local law.

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