Strategic Account Manager

Strategic Account Manager

INFICON is a leading provider of innovative instrumentation, critical sensor technologies, and Smart Manufacturing/Industry 4.0 software solutions that enhance productivity and quality of tools, processes, and complete factories. These analysis, measurement and control products are essential for gas leak detection in air conditioning/refrigeration and automotive manufacturing. They are vital to equipment manufacturers and end-users in the complex fabrication of semiconductors and thin film coatings for optics, flat panel displays, solar cells and industrial vacuum coating applications. Other users of our vacuum-based processes include the life sciences, research, aerospace, packaging, heat treatment, laser cutting and many other industrial processes. We also leverage our expertise in vacuum technology to provide unique, toxic chemical analysis products for emergency response, security, and environmental health and safety.

Job Description

On this journey the SAM will play a strategic and vital role in unlocking INFICON potential and in achieving the company's long term strategic goals. The SAM will be responsible for managing the relationship with one of INFICONs strategic and most important customers.

As a SAM for this specific role your overall responsibility is to orchestrate all interactions and development with our major customer, with a long-term business (P&L) view and enabling delivery of consistent, predictable and repeatable business results towards 2030 and beyond.

Main activities and responsibilities

As a SAM your overall responsibility is to orchestrate all interactions and development with one of our major OEM customers where the main activities and responsibilities are:

• Leadership: Strategic Account Management
• Understand the customers business, their market and organizational needs
• With the support of the Industry Consultant, derive customer's main problems, pain points and strategy into a differentiated value proposition and targeted fair share in upcoming CAPEX and OPEX investments.
• Define long-term bold account aspiration and strategy, set short term goals to drive impact.
• Create and maintain and execute the strategic account plan, updated when relevant with input from the SA Team.
• Conduct regular account coordination activities with the INFICON strategic account team, namely the local Key Account Managers in countries where the customer has operating sites, and other important INFICON stakeholders.
• Review the global strategic account plan with the executive sponsor and senior management to continuously align with overall INFICON strategy.
• Growth: Scouting for/capturing opportunities
• Accelerate existing projects to support customer's immediate goals.
• Early identification of global growth opportunities from all potential revenue streams at the account including expanding our share of wallet, creating new applications, services, consumables and new business areas.
• Support the local sales and application teams following the customer's buying cycle.
• Coach and provide input to opportunity plans owned by local Sales Managers
• Drive towards aligning customer and INFICON R&D roadmaps and establishing integrated partnerships across functions from the beginning to end of the product cycle.
• Facilitate early entry into new application areas and fab locations within this account.
• Communication & Information
• Drive our agenda and strategy on a continuous and proactive level. Create and set the narrative that moves forward the account strategy.
• Ensure the relevant customer buying center members know the business impact of INFICON's latest solutions (e.g., innovation roadmap sharing, modular design, new supplier partners) and facilitate similar sharing from customer to INFICON.
• Maximize customer sponsorship of INFICON at executive level
• Ensure all relevant opportunities, activities, and relevant information are visible in the chosen communication channel (Teams/CRM)
• Encourage cross-region and cross-functional interaction between INFICON and the customer organization. Ensure omni-channel consistency and quick responses.
• Relationship management: Strengthening the relationship
• Map, build, and strengthen relationships to strategic stakeholders in the customers' organization.
• Establishing the SAM Diamond: multi-level relationships between INFICON and the customer.
• Conducting Scheduled Business reviews with the customer and INFICON account
• Organize the right meeting with the right people to discuss the topics that matters most (e.g., executive meetings, engineering workshops, technical roadmap presentations).
• Deal making: Negotiate Profitable and Fair Deals
• Drive holistic value creating and value capture for the account, long-term and short-term.
• Close deals by using creativity and by mastering the art and science of negotiation.
• Master all elements of business contracts, including solid understanding of legal aspects.
• Proactively initiate and facilitate global framework agreement, H&S and CSR activities (if applicable) to ensure INFICON solutions are fully approved as Tier 1 supplier by the customer.
• Ensure consistency between T&Cs offered in individual markets.

Qualifications

As a SAM is a strategic role and is operating simultaneously on inter-organizational, intra-organizational and interpersonal level it is a challenging role that require strong cognitive attributes and competences.

Cognitive attributes as:

• Reflective, careful listener and open to new ideas.
• Pertain to diplomacy and analytic mindsets.
• Able to connect people and information and get things done, primarily based on sound analysis, experience, out-of-the-box-thinking and creative strategies.
• Able to recognize and attend to multiple points of view simultaneously.

Competences as:

• Strategic thinking and planning allowing you to create line of sight between INFICON's 2030 aspirations, the strategy and the activities with the customer.
• Exceptional executive-grade presentation skills providing timely and relevant data to inform and solicit decision making or consensus inside INFICON as well as with the customer.
• Conflict resolution inside INFICON as well as with the customer in a way that does not damage the relationship but drives growth and fair deals.
• Ability to lead complex contract negotiations and is very strong in contract management.
• Strong financial and business acumen and able to use it for the benefits of INFICON as well as for the customer.
• State of the art funnel-to-forecast management competencies
• Deeply developed interpersonal competences enabling you to build strong relationships on all levels with the customer, to act comfortably in social business meetings and to use verbal and nonverbal communications and affect the mood of individuals and groups.

Besides being able to handle the mentioned responsibilities and carry out the main activities at a high level consistently and to a large extent possess the cognitive attributes and competences, following qualifications apply for the SAM role:

Education and Experience

• Minimum Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, Computer Science, or related field. Master's degree is a plus.
• +10-15 years of experience in Semiconductor front-end wafer manufacturing, sales, account management, or business development within the industry.
• Experience negotiator incl. contracts
• Proven track record of managing and growing strategic accounts.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams (e.g., Sales, Product Development, Supply Chain).

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of the industry, including current trends, technologies, and key players.
• Technical proficiency with CRM software, MS Office Suite, and other sales enablement tools.
• Familiarity with the product development lifecycle and the ability to grasp complex technical products and solutions.

Other Requirements

• Willingness to travel as required to meet business needs (<40% overall)
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, prioritize effectively, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and drive, with a strong commitment to excellence and accountability to take active part in supporting the INFICON journey beyond your own Strategic Account.

Additional Information

Total on target compensation: $205,000-$270,000

Your total cash compensation is structured for performance and growth, with earning potential that includes a base salary of $145,000 $190,000, in addition to a commission + profit sharing model for an additional