Key Account Director

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Illinois.

📋 Description

• Lead the formulation and oversee the implementation of the customer's intricate strategic plan, ensuring it aligns with overarching business goals and long-term vision.

• Act as the main liaison for senior customer stakeholders, facilitating high-level communications and activities that align with the strategic plan.

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of key account priorities, challenges, and future requirements, identifying innovative approaches for S&C to deliver maximum value.

• Examine complex data and sales statistics to enhance business and marketing strategies, sharing insights with senior leadership and relevant teams within S&C.

• Spearhead the collaborative development of sales forecasts and budgets, working closely with sales leadership, territory sales professionals, and manufacturer representatives to create a unified future pipeline of opportunities.

• Manage and improve customer account management processes to ensure consistency, streamline operations, and guarantee a positive customer experience.

• Build strong, strategic relationships with customers across all relevant departments and executive levels to ensure comprehensive coverage and mitigate risks or gaps in key account management.

• Participate in high-stakes customer meetings to facilitate the closure of significant opportunities, maintain oversight of the account, track deliverables, and determine subsequent actions.

• Strategically enhance and nurture deep engagement, facilitating executive, technical, and sales interactions to achieve sales growth and strategic goals.

• Conduct regular executive-level meetings, presentations, and product demonstrations that highlight S&C's value proposition, products, and services.

• Progress, negotiate, and close high-value sales opportunities utilizing insight selling techniques and advanced knowledge of S&C's technology, products, and industry expertise.

• Craft compelling proposals and deliver impactful sales presentations to promote and generate momentum for sales opportunities.

• Collaborate with senior cross-functional teams to ensure seamless coordination and alignment among sales leaders, executives, product development, sales enablement, marketing, and sales operations.

• Proactively stay abreast of industry trends, competitor actions, regulatory changes, and emerging technologies and markets to develop and update strategic account plans, inform product development efforts, and protect S&C's interests.

• Represent S&C at significant industry events, including trade shows, conferences, and executive meetings, demonstrating leadership and expertise.

• Mentor and coach junior sales professionals and other S&C stakeholders throughout the sales cycle to share insights and knowledge.

• Utilize Salesforce to document and analyze sales activities, providing comprehensive updates on key opportunities and strategic initiatives.

• Monitor and report on key account performance against strategic objectives, budgets, and KPIs to senior leadership, ensuring alignment with overall business goals.

• Engage customers, as appropriate, in the evenings and on weekends to build and strengthen strategic relationships, exhibiting leadership and commitment.

• Travel frequently (up to 80%), primarily domestically with some international travel, to connect with key customers, attend trade shows and conferences, deliver sales presentations, and advance opportunities toward conversion.

• Understand and adhere to all applicable Company policies and regulations.

⛳️ Requirements

• A valid driver's license in good standing and a clean driving record are required.

• Typically, at least ten (10) years of experience in the electric power industry and/or with electric utilities is necessary.

• Experience in Key Account Management is preferred, particularly in the electric power sector with investor-owned utilities.

• A proven track record of success in sales and strategic account management, with strong skills in orchestrating the daily activities of an account team.

• Mastery of electrical power systems and demonstrated success in sales within the electric power systems industry is essential.

• Proven experience in developing sales accounts and generating new business opportunities, synthesizing customer needs with a product portfolio.

• Advanced understanding of sales, market trends, and the competitive landscape, with the ability to consider these factors in developing sales strategies.

• Demonstrated ability to influence customers to quickly adopt new technology/solutions.

• Advanced business acumen, entrepreneurial mindset, and analytical skills, capable of using and interpreting data to inform decisions, solve complex problems, and drive continuous improvement.

• Strong financial acumen and numerical skills to manage budgets, forecasting, and margins within a sales context.

• Excellent negotiation skills to influence and close complex, high-value deals.

• Exceptional communication skills (written, verbal, listening, and presentation), able to engage with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, from senior executives to support staff.

• Creative and persuasive in articulating how solutions meet the unique needs of each customer, successful in presenting to a variety of audiences, from small face-to-face meetings to large conferences and formal presentations.

• Outstanding interpersonal skills to build meaningful relationships based on mutual trust and respect, fostering collaborative working relationships across a diverse audience.

• Excellent organizational, planning, and project management skills, coordinating internal and external resources while managing key account demands.

• The ability to travel as needed.

🏝️ Benefits

• Health and Welfare Benefits: Medical & Prescription, Dental, Vision, Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Account (HSA), Group Life Insurance, optional Supplemental Life and AD&D Insurance, Wellbeing Resources including Employee Assistance Program and Family Forming Benefits (i.e., Adoption and Fertility support).

• Leave Benefits: Vacation Time, Sick Time, Paid Holidays and Company Shutdown days, Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, Other Leaves, Paid Parental Time, and Military Leave.

• Retirement Benefits: 401(k) Retirement Savings and Employee Stock Ownership Plan (KSOP) offering traditional and Roth 401(k) options, as well as an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) component; KSOP participants may receive annual ESOP company contributions of over 11% of eligible earnings (3% Core, up to 3.5% Match, Variable Periodic).