Director Business

Crane Aerospace and Electronics has an exciting opportunity for a Business Director over our Fluid Management segment at our Elyria, OH location.

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).

Job Summary: The Director of Business, Fluid is directly responsible for overall business performance in Crane's Fluid Solution, a core product line serving the Aerospace and Defense industry across all markets.

This position serves as the central leader and is directly accountable for the profit and loss (P&L) of assigned products and customers within the business. The individual in this role will make critical decisions regarding new product proposals, personnel matters, and customer strategies for a highly engineered pump, fuel flow transmitter, and thermal management solutions business. Additionally, they will manage essential activities with all Crane Aerospace & Electronics OEM customers along with the aftermarket operators, reps, channels, and distributors that make up the customers of the business. Effective communication and strategies with both internal and external stakeholders is crucial to ensure the timely and accurate performance of the product, aligning with the Voice of the Customer.


This role has responsibility for business serving customers globally with manufacturing operations located in multiple sites. Given the responsibility of this role, the business director is also viewed as potential successor to the VP/GM roles and will be tasked in those duties as needed to prepare for continued career growth.

Successful candidates will be able to build and own the customer business relationship with Aerospace, and Defense customers who purchase high reliability pumps, thermal management systems, and fuel flow transmitters to achieve business financial and strategic planning objectives while mitigating Crane Aerospace & Electronics risk and liability.

Essential Functions:

• Comprehensive command of business priorities, financials, and customer relationships such that they can represent the overall Solution.
• Leadership role responsible assigned portions of the Fluid Solution, inclusive of pricing, sales/backlog, cost, and strategic initiatives
• Matrixed leadership for operations, supply chain, to ensure quality, delivery, customer satisfaction, profitability, support for the sales channel, sales and product training and competitive analysis
• Working closely with Customer Service Administration and Demand Management
• Primary escalation path for customer issues and responsible for driving cross functional resolution
• Drive business analytics including Annual Operating Plan and Strategic Planning Process, Strategy Deployment, and other initiatives as assigned by VP/General Manager
• Negotiates major business agreements, LTAs, contractual disputes, pricing agreements and major contract changes
• Initiate contract requirements flow-down, ensuring that contract requirements are known and communicated to the appropriate functional groups; Monitor contract performance to ensure compliance
• Manage customer demand and drive comprehensive forecast inputs to ensure successful SIOP and long-range planning of financial performance and operational capacity
• Responsible for the Demand Management and Forecasting processes to align business outlook with specific customer or market segment trends and drive cross-product line alignment
• Maintain responsibility for tracking and recovering all customer claims as well as Crane assertions for out-of-scope requests by customer; Facilitate efficient communication and mediate customer disputes
• Participate with the Sales team and Finance to develop and execute acceptable business cases and winning strategies for new business. Present business case reviews to executive management for final approval.
• Any other task assigned by supervisor or management to support business needs

Minimum Qualifications:

• Experience: 10+ years of experience in business management, program management, sales & marketing, or operations leadership in Space, Aerospace or Defense environment. Bachelor's degree required (Engineering or Business degree preferred) with a Master of Business Administration or equivalent strongly preferred.
• Knowledge:
  • Experience in the aerospace & defense industry is critical
  • Experience in financial reporting methods, cost accounting principles, and business analytics
  • Strong knowledge of price build up process, pricing strategies, and a track record of successful pricing negotiations
  • Knowledge of Aerospace and Defense contract terms and conditions, including successful contract negotiations
  • Experience in an engineered to specification business preferred, with full life cycle results
  • Experience with Demand Forecasting and SIOP processes
  • Experience identifying and driving detailed risks and opportunities to ensure the business is successful meeting customer and company objections.
• Skills/Abilities:
  • Excellent project management skills, including the proven ability to lead and manage cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment
  • Outstanding professional presentation, written and verbal communication skills
  • Demonstrated ability to drive customer satisfaction and financial performance
  • Demonstrated experience in leading and developing diverse teams and proven ability to manage through influence
  • Proven business process management skills including planning, organizational, budgeting, and time management skills
  • Proven ability to make timely and sound decisions; able to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty
• Education/Certification: BS Degree in Business or Engineering or a 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).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's in Business Administration

Working Conditions:

• Standard office environment
• Work requires substantial visual concentration on detail
• Working conditions are normal for a manufacturing environment
• Manufacturing operations may require the use of safety equipment to include but not limited to: eye safety glasses, gowning, masks, hearing protectors, heel/wrist straps and any other required PPE
• May be exposed to unusual environmental conditions such as loud noises, cold temperatures, confined spaces, dust or fumes
• Requires approximately 30% domestic and international travel to support customers meetings, Crane Aerospace & Electronics site visits, supplier reviews, conferences, seminars and trade shows. Total travel time can vary based on the needs of the customer and business.

Top Benefits:

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 6 months of employment

You can see a list of our benefits at or visit our website at 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.

#LI-CK1 #CAE

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. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, general identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.